Update: Decision on RIPTA service cuts has been delayed

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

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

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

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

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

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)