June 26, 2025

The General Assembly session is over, and it’s bad news for riders. While the General Assembly leadership deserves credit for giving RIPTA $15 million and, importantly, ensuring that this level of funding is sustainable and will be available to RIPTA year after year, this is not enough to overcome McKee’s budget that grossly underfunded RIPTA. McKee had more than enough information to know that his budget ought to give RIPTA the funding that it needed to prevent service cuts and job loss.

Instead the governor used the lack of completion of an efficiency study of RIPTA as a reason not to give RIPTA full funding. And yet the efficiency study results available thus far came to the conclusion that RIPTA’s average operational costs compared favorably to other agencies. It also found RIPTA has lower administrative costs than other systems. The study identified only a few “efficiencies” that RIPTA might make to the tune of two to four million dollars. And RIPTA’s budget would still be in the red.

Lawmakers too would have seen the predictions of what the austerity budget does to RIPTA. The predictions were widely reported in the news.  At least 90 jobs would be lost and 20% of RIPTA service cut. Entire lines would have to be cut, hours and frequency cuts on other routes and good union jobs lost. Rural service will likely be disproportionately harmed. But people across the state may not be able to get to jobs or to shop. Fewer people will be able to access needed medical and social services.

This austerity attitude towards RIPTA comes, ironically, as things at RIPTA are going very well. Under the leadership of CEO Chris Durand, drivers received raises and the number of skipped trips declined. Frequency and reliability are well known components of increasing the use of public transit. Durand has also overseen innovative ways to increase ridership, such as timely service to Amazon’s facility to match shifts and getting major employers like Omni Hotel and Miriam Hospital on the Wave to Work program that benefits their workers. Under his leadership. RIPTA is running a pilot of a Summer Youth Pass program for teens, enabling them to get to summer jobs and programs at a discount, entirely grant-funded.

Senator Sam Zurier led a last-minute attempt to increase RIPTA’s funding. We are grateful to the senators who voted for Zuirer’s amendment. It received bipartisan support and came close to passing. We appreciate the sustainable funding offered by General Assembly leadership. But it is not enough to prevent service cuts and job losses. It’s time to stop playing politics with people’s lives and livelihoods, using the efficiency study timeline as an excuse not to fully fund RIPTA, when plenty of evidence from study drafts shows that RIPTA is run well.

The General Assembly session is over and it’s bad news for riders. Some progress was made, and the General Assembly deserves credit for not only giving RIPTA $15 million, but also ensuring that the funding is sustainable and available to RIPTA year after year. Unfortunately this amount was not enough to overcome Governor Dan McKee’s budget choices that grossly underfunded RIPTA. Currently RIPTA is underfunded by about $14-$18 million. This could have been entirely avoided. 

No less than five different reports have been issued by the agency running the efficiency study. The conclusions it has come to so far is that RIPTA has average operational costs compared to other agencies, lower administrative costs and only a few “efficiencies” that can be made, to the tune of two to four million dollars. This is likely a overestimate since it includes items such as pursuing more federal funds, an unusual recommendation given the current federal administration. Even if RIPTA were to somehow achieve these unlikely goals, they’d still be $14 million dollars in the red. 

And lawmakers knew this headed into the final session, as multiple news agencies reported that over 90 jobs would be lost and 20% of RIPTA service cut if the General Assembly went forward with its austerity budget for RIPTA. They decided to underfund it anyway despite a last-minute attempt by Senator Sam Zurier to increase RIPTA’s funding. We are grateful to those General Assembly members who voted for Zuier’s amendment. It received bipartisan support.

What does this austerity budget mean for RIPTA? Entire lines cut, hours and frequency cuts on other routes and good union jobs lost. This is likely to disproportionately affect rural service. Most devastatingly, when RIPTA cuts a fixed route, the RIDE service along that route will also be cut. Those with disabilities will be isolated in their homes. RIPTA service connects people to other services and we will see fewer people being able to access them, especially now that federal cuts to programs make it harder for people to obtain the services they need. If a person needs to make additional trips to certify their Medicaid in person, how will they do that

with no bus to take? 

It’s particularly sad that this austerity attitude towards RIPTA has developed when things at RIPTA are actually going very well under the leadership of CEO Chris Durand. Under him, drivers received raises and he was able to lower the amount of skipped trips, increasing reliability to riders. He has also overseen several innovative ways to increase ridership, such as service to Amazon and getting major employers like Omni Hotel and Miriam Hospital on the Wave to Work benefit program. Furthermore, Durand has had an increased presence at the State House.. Again, McKee had no excuse not to know about RIPTA’s fiscal situation.

McKee had more than enough information to know that they should give RIPTA the funding that it needed to prevent service cuts and job loss. However, he chose not to do this and instead used the efficiency study as a reason not to give RIPTA full funding, despite the fact that much of the efficiency study was available by the last week of the session. We’re grateful for the sustainable funding offered by General Assembly leadership, but it is not enough to prevent service cuts and job losses. McKee, it’s time to stop playing politics with people’s lives and livelihoods.