RIPTA Riders: Saving Transit in Rhode Island

RIPTA Leadership Put On Notice

2011-12-29T20:32:00.000-05:00

Before the last RIPTA Board meeting, we sent letters to RIPTA's leadership (Charles Odimgbe CEO, the Board, and Paul Harrington of the ATU). Below is the text of that letter. In essence, we hope that the divisiveness that has grown recently between management and labor can be put aside so that the more urgent task of addressing the flawed RIPTA financing mechanism can be adequately addressed through legislation.

Attention: Mr. Odimgbe, Members of the RIPTA Board,and Mr. Harrington

Dear RIPTA leaders,

On behalf of the RIPTA Riders group and all RhodeIsland transit users, we offer our deepest condolences for the loss of BradfordOxnard and Andy Santagata. We support and admire the hard work of bus driversin providing public transit to us. In honor of their memories, we respectfullysuggest a change of course so that this critical service can be preserved andindeed expanded to meet the needs of Rhode Islanders.

There is an old saying that when the going gets tough,the tough get going. Times are admittedly tough for RIPTA, and right now weneed to toughen up, roll up our sleeves, and work together to get through thesetrials intact. Despite significant concessions by labor arrived at throughnegotiations in good faith with management, and despite continued progress inmaking RIPTA more efficient, the agency faces a daunting budget deficit and afuture of declining gas tax proceeds that promises more of the same. RIPTARiders applauds the efforts of both labor and management to control costs, butwe caution that the continuing budget deficit cannot be solved by cuts,concessions, or efficiencies. The problem must be addressed at its root bychanging RIPTA’s funding mechanism.

There is an older saying that applies to our currentsituation: President Lincoln said “a house divided cannot stand.” The sameholds true for transit agencies. RIPTARiders calls on the RIPTA Board, Management, and Labor to put their differencesaside and come to terms with the fact that they have done internally all theycan to put RIPTA on sound financial footing. Continued divisiveness betweenlabor and management will not yield a solution to the real problem, and it isreinforcing an unwarranted image of dysfunction that can only hurt efforts totruly address the problem with legislation.

For the good of RIPTA and for the good of the publicthat it serves, please reconcile your differences and join RIPTA Riders inturning to the task at hand. A united campaign to fill the current deficit andfix public transportation’s broken financing on the part of RIPTA’s Board, itsRiders, its Labor, and its Management is the only option that we have if wewish to succeed in ensuring that RIPTA’s mission ("To provide safe,reliable and cost effective transit service with a skilled team ofprofessionals responsive to our customers, the environment, and committed totransit excellence.") is met. Let us speak with one voice and demand thesupport and respect that public transportation deserves.

Sincerely,

RIPTA Riders

RIPTA Riders Demand "No Cuts"

2011-10-27T18:07:00.003-04:00

Providence, Rhode Island- Public transportation supporters gathered with members of the Occupy Providence movement at 12:45pm in Kennedy Plaza to board the #20 bus to RIPTA’s monthly board of directors meeting. They came together with signs and slogans to oppose service cuts that will go into effect in December unless the board acts to stop them.

Abel Collins, a member of RIPTA Riders and the program manager of the Rhode Island Chapter of the Sierra Club, said that “RIPTA’s board and management need to make every effort to solve their budget deficit without cutting service critical to riders, but those efforts have not yet been made.”

“Before cuts are made, the board has a duty to seek funding that will allow RIPTA to maintain its current service” added Randall Rose, a RIPTA Riders and Occupy Providence member, “in fact, they have a responsibility to pursue the funds necessary to implement the strategic plan they adopted earlier this year that seeks to expand public transportation”...

Download full press release

RITPA Riders Meeting - Monday 10/24 @ 8PM

2011-10-23T21:50:00.010-04:00

RIPTA Riders will be holding its next meeting tomorrow at 8PM in Burnside Park - right next to Kennedy Plaza. We will be holding the meeting as part of the Occupy Providence protest that has taken hold of the park as a forum to address change in Rhode Island.

Support for public transit in Rhode Island should become a central issue in the contemporary political discussion. Transit is important the 99%. To support the type of economic growth that benefits all citizens, we need to base the economic recovery on projects and services that everyone can use and enjoy.

Public transit is an inclusive issue that gets to the heart of the disconnect between Americans rich and poor. If we develop public transit in Rhode Island we will create immediate jobs in the state and allow people of all backgrounds get back to work. Improving public transportation will mean investing in an asset that will make the state more attractive to employers and employees alike. In what better way can we kick start an egalitarian recovery?

Rhode Islanders should demand a new era of public transportation and ridership in the state. We should seek a bus system where a businessman sits next to a janitor - both on their way to work. Where a college professor sits next to a high school student - both on their way to class. Where an unemployed pregnant woman sits next to a doctor - both on their way to the hospital. We need a system that can get everyone where they need to go so that we can all get back on our feet.

Why Rhode Islanders Should Support RIPTA

2011-10-03T15:11:00.000-04:00

I amtempted to cite statistics that prove the value of public transportation toeconomic development; to give worker and student ridership percentages and thesavings those riders realize by taking the bus; to give statistics of howridership has gone up in recent years despite fare increases, to point out thatwe will never adequately reduce carbon emissions without a robust publictransit system; to elaborate the health benefits associated with the more activelifestyle of a transit rider and the improved air quality of communities withless congested roadways; et cetera.

In amore rational world, these valid and persuasive arguments would already haveconvinced state leaders to preserve and expand Rhode Island Public TransitAuthority (RIPTA) service, but there is a more powerful reason to help RIPTA,one suited to our more irrational times. Justifying public transportationservice is part of a larger debate about the legitimacy of any and allgovernment services.

Thirtyyears of the general policy of tax cuts for the wealthy, deregulation ofcorporations and banks, and cuts to public services for citizens has created aseriously unbalanced situation. The concentration of wealth in the hands of thefew and the policies that perpetuate it are shameful. They are antithetical tothe Christian values that many of us claim as guiding principles and to thesimple secular value of treating others as we would be treated. Meanwhile, thegovernment has been starved of the revenue it needs to secure a basic standardof living for its people, just as the ranks of those people who need assistancehave been pushed to an epic scale (15 million+ jobless, 46 million US citizens livingin poverty, 45 million on food stamps).

Here weare. It’s a delicate moment in our nation’s history when this lack of balancethreatens to deliver us into a second Great Depression. For rich and poor alikethe atmosphere is full of fear, uncertainty, distrust and anger. We arejustifiably hesitant to do anything but hide our heads in the sand.

Thedominant modern narrative holds that the government is broke, the people arebroke, and we can’t afford to provide any social safety net any longer. Subsidizingour failed financial industry and other mega-corporations while sacrifices aredemanded from the people are the prescriptions of the day, redoubling thepolicies that brought us here. Following this narrative is dangerouslyirresponsible.

Contraryto the myth, the truth is that the United States economy is bigger than it’sever been. The gross domestic product is more than 14 trillion dollars. As acountry we have never been more rich, but that money is in the hands of a smallprivileged group. Does it really makesense to coddle them and cut services for the rest of us? Since our economy isso dependent on consumer spending, doesn’t it make sense both morally andeconomically to give help where it is needed?

Thus, Ipresent to you public transit as the service where those who care about theforgotten, underserved, and disenfranchised in this society must not back down.RIPTA is the battleground where we need to stop appeasing the bullies and startpushing back and arguing for expanding public services.

Publictransportation is the pivot issue, because of all those rational temptationslisted back at the beginning of this essay. RIPTA provides a public servicecritical to social and economic justice, while it is also an engine forbusiness, and vital to the interests of the environmental, and health servicecommunities, not to mention for people who just want to save a buck by leavingthe car at home.

To bebrief, public transit is where we stand and fight, because it is where we canwin. Winning will boost the morale of the compassionate majority and restoresome faith in fairness. At the same time it will demonstrate that investing ina public service is good for everybody. Furthermore, winning will give usmomentum for whatever cause comes next, and there are many waiting.

Unlessthe US Congress and the RI general assembly take action to provide adequate andsustainable funding for public transit, RIPTA will face massive service cutsnext summer that make this year’s 10% proposed reductions seem small. We havesix months to stop that from happening, and we must start now. The first stepis to go to sign the “save ripta” petition. The least you can do is putyour name on it. If you want to do more than that, get in touch with your localsenator and representative and let them know you care. If they don’t listen,they can always be voted out.

This is a slightly different version of the op-ed I wrote that appeared in the Providence Journal today. You can find the projo piece here.

2011-09-27T21:24:00.000-04:00

Initial news coverage of the service cuts adopted by the RIPTA Board on Channel 10.

Clearly, this is a disappointing decision, though not unexpected. The board was uncomfortable with the idea of engaging in extensive deficit spending. They were also hesitant to slash a large number of jobs or institute big service cuts. Instead, they chose a middle path with a little deficit spending (1.9 million dollars), layoffs limited to about 20 positions, and smaller service reductions.

The Board seemingly believes that these efforts to tighten the agency's belt will bolster their argument for funding reform at the Statehouse in the coming legislative session. Personally, I am not convinced that they needed to make the service cuts, and I believe they could have moved forward with deficit spending on the order of 2.9 million dollars. This belief is at least partially vindicated by the repeated calls of Senator John Tassoni at the meeting for the board to come and ask for supplemental funding for RIPTA during the special session in October.

For what it's worth, here is the statement I submitted to the board on behalf of Sierra Club RI:

Dear Chairman Deller and Members of the Board,

The Sierra Club Rhode Island Chapter commends the efforts ofthe Rhode Island Public Transit Authority and the Amalgamated Transit UnionLocal 618 to close the budget deficit. The sacrifices that have been made on both sides, many as a result ofgood faith negotiations, have narrowed the gap that needs to be filledconsiderably. However, these effortshave not been sufficient to balance the budget entirely, and you are now facedwith the difficult decision of whether to move forward with deficit spending orto cut transit service to make up the difference.

On behalf of the more than 2500 members of the Rhode IslandChapter, I urge the Board to refuse to cut any service and to engage inwhatever deficit spending is necessary to preserve current service levels. As you are well aware, RIPTA’s perennialdeficit problem is mostly a result of a poorly designed funding mechanism. It is irresponsible and shortsighted toaddress this perennial problem by annually raising fares, cutting service, orfinding internal efficiencies without addressing the central issue offunding. At some point, RIPTA has to saythat any further cuts are inconsistent with the organization’s mission andvision. At some point, RIPTA must demandthat the state’s political leaders be responsible and take a longer view.

Now is that time. After holding public hearings on service cuts and fare increases 29times over the last 32 years, enough is enough. Since the most recent public hearing process began in late July, agrassroots effort has sprung to life to preserve public transportation. More than 2200 Rhode Islanders have demandedthat the state’s political leaders take action to ensure there are no servicecuts. You heard the same message fromthe hundreds of citizens who came out to the hearings. Listen to them, and don’t let our politiciansoff the hook again. Don’t let them getaway with the continued inaction on addressing RIPTA’s funding crisis that forcesthe hard decisions onto you.

Please make your stand here and do not reduce RIPTA’scritical public service. Thank you foryour consideration.

Sincerely,

Abel G.Collins

ProgramManager, Sierra Club RI Chapter

Tuesday September 20th - Don't X Out Public Transit Rally

2011-09-18T17:46:00.009-04:00

In partnership with the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), RIPTA and the bus drivers' union, RIPTA Riders will be holding a rally Tuesday, September 20th, at 10 AM in Kennedy Plaza.

The rally in Providence is part of a national effort to oppose cuts in federal funding for public transportation. Congress has proposed slashing a third of the federal budget for public transportation, an outcome that would be devastating to transit services across the country.

Please Join us in getting out the word: Don't X out Public Transit!

Where: Kennedy Plaza in Providence

When: Tuesday, September 20th at 10 AM

What to wear: Show your opposition to cuts by wearing red. You can display your solidarity even if you can't make it to the rally!

More information about the nationwide effort can be found here

Update: Decision on RIPTA service cuts has been delayed

2011-08-19T21:19:00.015-04:00

RIPTA Riders has received word that no decision will be made about service cuts at the RIPTA board meeting on Monday. Rather than proceed as planned with the cuts, agency officials intend to discuss the opinions, suggestions and demands expressed by citizens and bus riders at RIPTA public hearings over the last month.

This is terrific news for RIPTA Riders - with the decision delayed, we have time to convince lawmakers to put together a permanent solution to the funding deficit facing RIPTA.

Transit supporters have achieved a small victory in the fight against service cuts at RIPTA, but we have not won the battle to secure sustainable funding to keep buses rolling for years to come. Now is the time for RIPTA Riders to work with political leaders, solidify a stable budget for 2011, and to secure long term fiscal backing for public transit in Rhode Island.

Please show your support by coming to the RIPTA Riders demonstration outside of the RIPTA Board Meeting this Monday:

RIPTA Board Meeting and RIPTA Riders Rally

RITPA Headquarters

269 Melrose St, Providence RI

Monday August 22nd 1:30 PM

Route 20 from Kennedy Plaza (Google Trip Planner)

RITPA Board Meeting - 8/22/11

2011-08-18T17:47:00.023-04:00

The RIPTA Board of Directors is holding a meeting this Monday (August 22nd) to address the agency's 2011 budget crisis. Previous announcements from the RIPTA executives have proposed dramatic cuts to bus services. These cuts have been outlined at a series of public hearings throughout Rhode Island and were scheduled to begin in September.

However, state politicians were not prepared for the level of opposition the public has expressed about RIPTA cuts. Rhode Islanders have made their voices heard: we need bus service for the rights of our disabled citizens, for the economic survival of working people and for the good of our economy as a whole. We will not stand quietly as crucial services are cut and social justice is denied to the most vulnerable in our state.

Last Wednesday, RIPTA Riders delivered a petition opposing the cuts to the State House. After a small but vocal rally, we carried the signatures of over 1,500 Rhode Islanders who are committed to the health of public transportation in the offices of state political leaders. From the RIPTA public hearings to protests at Kennedy Plaza and at the State House, we have pushed back against cuts to RIPTA's budget.

We hope that our voices have been listened to. Monday's meeting will be a test: will State politicians ignore the needs of the people and the good of the economy, or will they put forward a concrete plan to maintain RIPTA's essential services to Rhode Island? To avoid reductions in RIPTA service, the agency needs a commitment from state legislators to solve the budget shortfalls that have placed a stranglehold on public transportation in Rhode Island.

There is still time to make a difference. Here is what you can do to help:

Contact your State representatives, and let them know that you oppose cuts to RIPTA service. Let them know that you demand a new funding structure that will guarantee a sustainable budget for the years to come. Find contact info for your representatives here
Join the RIPTA Riders rally at the RIPTA board hearing on Monday. We will be there to demonstrate our opposition to service cuts and our support for public transit in Rhode Island. Whatever happens on Monday, we want to make it clear that we will not let RIPTA services go without a fight. Please come to the meeting and demonstration:

RIPTA Board Meeting and RIPTA Riders Rally

RITPA Headquarters

269 Melrose St, Providence RI

Monday August 22nd 1:30 PM

Address on Google Maps

RIPTA Google Trip Planner from Kennedy Plaza

Join RIPTA Riders' effort in the coming months to help secure a sustainable funding structure for public transit in Rhode Island. Join our group by emailing riptariders@gmail.com

Sign the online petition

2011-08-16T17:17:00.014-04:00

RIPTA Riders is making waves in the debate over public transit in the Ocean State.

Our petition against cuts to RIPTA funding has gathered signatures from over 1,000 citizens in Rhode Island. We will be presenting the petition at the State House following our protest there tomorrow (Wednesday 8/17 at 1:30 PM). We would love you to stop by, express your support for the bus, and show your opposition to RIPTA cuts.

We are holding a rally at the State House to let our representatives in government know: we want to reform the gas tax funding structure that has a stranglehold on the growth of public transit in Rhode Island. We cannot accept cuts to bus services which are a lifeline to many in the state.

But even if you can't make it, we would appreciate it if you signed our online petition. Show your opposition to RIPTA cuts online!

RIPTA Rider's online petition:

http://www.change.org/petitions/save-ripta

Thanks for your support!

Protest at the State House - Wednesday 8/17

2011-08-14T19:13:00.003-04:00

RIPTA Riders will be holding a rally at the State House in Providence next Wednesday August 17th. We want to let Smith Hill know: Rhode Island cannot afford to cut bus service.

The rally will begin at 1:30 PM. We plan to arrive by bus (Smith St. side, on #56/57 bus) at 1:30pm Wed Aug. 17th. Let your politicians know that you stand up for bus service in Rhode Island.

Join Event on Facebook

"RIPTA Riders" Documentary Predates Group

2011-08-14T17:57:00.010-04:00

A terrific documentary by Gretchen O'Connor and Anna Liebenow, released in 2009, predated our current effort to unite RIPTA Riders and save bus service in Rhode Island.

In the film, O'Connor and Liebenow interviewed RIPTA riders at the Kennedy Plaza Terminal in Providence. Riders explain how they rely on bus service to get to a job or to escape the confines of a disability. These interviews demonstrate firsthand that people need the bus just to get by.

Can Rhode Island turn its back on citizens who depend on the bus for their very way of life?

Here is the film:

Help Save RIPTA - Spread the Word

2011-08-14T14:49:00.003-04:00

RIPTA service faces dramatic cuts and we need your help to try and stop them.

Proposed Cuts

No service after 10pm – affecting routes 1, 11, 17, 19, 20, 22, 27, 28, 31, 33, 34, 42, 50, 52, 54, 55, 56, 57, 60, 66, 78, and 99. And no holiday service on any routes.
Completely canceling routes 8, 29, 32, 53, 73, 75, 80, and 203 and 90S.
No service some days on routes 13, 14, 34, 35, 52, 64, 76, 77, and 79.
Removing some bus stops or running fewer buses on routes 1, 13, 14, 19, 27, 28, 34, 57, 66 and Park & Ride.

What you can do to help:

Join RIPTA Riders – Email us at riptariders@gmail.com, call (401) 859-1341 or find us on Facebook.
Contact your RI representatives. It’s the politicians who make the real decisions, and they need to hear from bus riders so they won’t ignore us. Call (401) 222-3983 to find the phone numbers for your your local assembly person and state senator. You can also find their contact info online at sos.ri.gov/vic.
Contact the leaders of the State Government: Governor Lincoln Chafee at (401) 222-2080, Senate President Paiva-Weed at (401) 222-6655, and House Speaker Gordon Fox at (401) 222-2466. Phone calls are better than email.
Come to the next RIPTA Riders protest at the State House (Smith St. side, on #56/57 bus) at 1:30pm Wed Aug. 17th.
Come to the RIPTA board meeting at 1:30pm on Mon Aug. 22nd. It’s at RIPTA headquarters, 265 Melrose St., Providence (take #20 Elmwood Ave. bus, get off at Longfellow St. and go 2 blocks down Longfellow St. to RIPTA)