Putting brakes on rail expansion in the Ocean State?

LAST RIDES? Commuters board an MBTA train in the Providence Station. Proposed cuts could take effect on July 1. / PBN PHOTO/HILARY ROSENTHAL
LAST RIDES? Commuters board an MBTA train in the Providence Station. Proposed cuts could take effect on July 1. / PBN PHOTO/HILARY ROSENTHAL

It took Rhode Island 10 years from the day the first commuter train rolled into Providence Station in 1989 to convince the Mass. Bay Transportation Authority to add weekend service to the Ocean State.
By July, those Saturday and Sunday rides could be gone again.
To the dismay of state officials who have made expanding Rhode Island’s transit infrastructure an economic-development priority, the MBTA is proposing a series of fare increases and service cuts to cover a looming $161 million fiscal 2013 budget gap.
In addition to cutting all weekend trains, the proposals introduced this winter would eliminate all trains after 10 p.m. and hike the price of a ticket between 35 percent and 43 percent.
“We are obviously not thrilled with a fare increase – it would have an immediate impact on ridership,” said Stephen Devine, chief of intermodal planning at the R.I. Department of Transportation.
The proposed fare hikes and service cuts, which would take effect July 1, come just over a year since Rhode Island opened the $267 million T.F. Green Airport – Interlink station in Warwick and four months after service there was nearly doubled.
The MBTA board of directors is scheduled to vote on the fare hike proposals in April around the same time Rhode Island plans to open the new Wickford Junction train station in North Kingstown.
When Wickford Junction opens, the MBTA trains that now end at T.F. Green will continue on to North Kingstown. Even under the current service-cut proposals, those two stations would only lose one train trip per day.
But the impact of the changes could reach beyond those riders who have to pay more or have to get back in their cars. The investments in the Interlink and Wickford Junction represent a plan to spur development and economic growth around the state’s main transportation hubs.
Eventually, Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee and state transportation officials envision commuter-rail service at South Kingstown, Westerly and extending all the way to Connecticut, where it could connect with the Shore Line East railroad to New Haven.
At T.F. Green, transportation officials hope to make the track and electrical-line improvements needed to allow Amtrak trains to stop at the airport as well.
And Warwick is looking to the Warwick Station District project, a large mixed-use development built around the Interlink and the airport, to become an economic engine for the city and the region. In order for any of these projects to be successful, ridership and demand for Rhode Island commuter rail service will have to continue to build, something that could be jeopardized by fare increases and service cuts.
Right now there are no weekend trains to T.F. Green, but for the Interlink to become what its designers intended – a magnet for traffic to both the city and the airport – increasing the number of trains, not decreasing them, is essential.
“Since the governor feels that commuter rail is a big part of Rhode Island’s economic development, he will advocate strongly to maintain the service,” Chafee spokeswoman Christine Hunsinger said when asked for the governor’s reaction to the MBTA proposals. “Obviously this was not something he was hoping for.”
Right now approximately 2,000 riders each day get on or off commuter rail in Providence and a much smaller number do so at T.F. Green.
According to figures from the MBTA, during the first week in February, the number of riders getting off the train at T.F. Green station ranged from a high of 190 passengers on Friday, Feb. 10, to a low of 131 passengers on Monday, Feb. 6.
As a result, the greatest immediate impact of fare increases and service cuts will be in Providence, where three late-night trains will be eliminated each weekday along with 14 Sunday trains and 18 Saturday trains, under the current proposals.
The MBTA has proposed two possible fare-hike scenarios. The smaller of the proposed fare increases would raise the price of a one-way ticket from Providence to Boston’s South Station from the current $7.75 to $10.50. The larger fare increase would boost the price of a one-way ticket to $11.25.
As Providence increasingly positions itself as a player in the “knowledge economy,” being able to offer easy access to Boston without its high prices has become a major selling point, especially to technology firms.
Andera Inc., a maker of online customer-acquisition software, recently moved into a new downtown space in 15 Park Row West, next door to the Providence train station, and the company was less than thrilled to hear about the MBTA’s proposed cuts.
“Part of the appeal of moving into this building was to be able to draw from the Boston talent pool,” said Bob Chatham, chief marketing officer at Andera. While the fare hikes might do the most to slow commuter ridership, the loss of weekend trains could also be a drag on Providence’s entertainment and hospitality sector.
“We are a regional economy, and a lot of people live in Rhode Island and work in Massachusetts or vice versa, and we need greater connectivity through the whole region,” said Laurie White, president of the Greater Providence Chamber of Commerce.
As Rhode Island looks to expand commuter rail service throughout the state and the MBTA grapples with persistent operating deficits, one question that hasn’t been answered is how much extending service further south costs the MBTA.
Like virtually all mass-transit systems, the MBTA’s passenger fares do not meet the cost of operating expenses.
But the Providence-Stoughton line is the MBTA’s busiest and the fares paid by riders in the Rhode Island communities are the highest in the system. In addition, Providence is one of the few spots on the MBTA system that is a daily commuter destination as well as departure point.
As a result, getting people to commute to Providence from the south or “reverse commute” from Massachusetts allow the MBTA to maximize each train journey, because once they get off, the seat is then filled by someone traveling to Boston.
MBTA officials told Providence Business News they do not have an estimate of the net cost of operating in Rhode Island, but will work to come up with one.
Charles Planck, senior director of strategic initiatives and performance at the MBTA, told the few dozen Rhode Islanders at a recent Providence meeting on the fare hikes that the T recognized the potential value in getting people to “reverse commute” to Providence and would like to market it more.
If history is a guide, Massachusetts leaders may find a way to at least scale back the fare hikes and service cuts.
In 2009, a series of threatened fare hikes were avoided when Massachusetts lawmakers allocated $160 million from the state sales tax to the MBTA to close a budget gap.
“I can’t speak for the MBTA, but we are still comfortable that they are going to be able to resolve their budget deficit,” Devine said. “We still see the MBTA as the future provider for T.F. Green and Wickford Junction, and hopefully beyond.” •

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