RIPTA eyes expanded service, but who will pay?

UNFAIR FARES? The RIPTA Riders Alliance rallies in Providence's Kennedy Plaza against proposed fare changes that could include charges for the disabled, elderly and riders with low incomes. From left: Ed Benson, foreground with cane; Barry Schiller, with microphone; Paul Hubbard and Patricia Raub, alliance vice president. / PBN PHOTO/ MICHAEL SALERNO
UNFAIR FARES? The RIPTA Riders Alliance rallies in Providence's Kennedy Plaza against proposed fare changes that could include charges for the disabled, elderly and riders with low incomes. From left: Ed Benson, foreground with cane; Barry Schiller, with microphone; Paul Hubbard and Patricia Raub, alliance vice president. / PBN PHOTO/ MICHAEL SALERNO

David Ray uses public transportation every day to get to work, which makes him an anomoly in Rhode Island.

On a recent afternoon, the Brown University employee sat on a bench in Providence’s Kennedy Plaza, waiting for his bus home to Warwick. On days with no schedule mishaps, riding the bus takes about 50 minutes, he said.

On days with mishaps, it can be quite longer. But Ray, who hasn’t had a car in 30 years, is committed to transit.

“It’s like anything else,” he said. “You make compromises.”

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In Rhode Island, however, most people are unwilling to make the same choices when it comes to public transportation. The typical commuter in the Ocean State uses a car, and travels solo, by a greater percentage than many other states with similar density.

A U.S. census survey, called the American Community Survey, in 2013 reported that 2.9 percent of Rhode Islanders used public transportation at least once a week.

Largely because of its small size, Rhode Island has a density that rivals New Jersey — with 1,018 people per square mile. For comparison purposes, 10.8 percent of the New Jersey population used public transportation, while 27 percent of the state of New York did so, according to the census survey.

Rhode Island’s density is what officials at state transportation agencies point to when arguing that increased investment in public transit is a smart move.

“We’re not building for where we are now,” said state R.I. Department of Transportation Deputy Director Peter Garino, who oversees transit initiatives. “We’re building for where we want to be.”

And despite Rhode Islanders’ seeming preference for their own vehicles, demographic trends favor public transportation.

Both Rhode Island and Providence, for example, are trying to attract industries, including high-tech, that employ millennials, the generation of workers who generally reached adulthood starting in about 2000. Numerous national surveys have found millennials are less likely to commute by automobile, or even to drive, than older generations were at their age.

And there’s already demand for increased bus service to business hubs, including Quonset Business Park in North Kingstown, where nearly 200 businesses employ approximately 10,000.

But financing transit improvements has long been a challenge in the nation’s smallest state, as evidenced by the seemingly annual structural budget woes of the R.I. Public Transit Authority – the largest player in the mass-transit field.

RIPTA usage hovers at about 20 million rides a year, making it by far the largest single public-transportation system in Rhode Island. It covers, through direct routes or flexible service runs, all but three towns in the Ocean State.

One of its management focuses this year is determining how it can generate more revenue and attract more riders.

The uniform, “one state, one fare” ticket price of $2 is one of the things under review. For years, RIPTA has charged the same fare for passengers, regardless of the distance traveled or whether they step aboard an express service.

Beyond the issue of fares, the authority’s funding is tied to the state’s gasoline tax.

Over the past decade, the yields on the gasoline tax have declined, as cars have become more fuel efficient. RIPTA expects to receive about 44 percent of its budget from the gasoline tax this fiscal year, collecting 9.75 cents of the now 34 cent tax. The projected yield, per-penny, has declined about 10 percent since 2005, to a total of $4.3 million this year, according to state data.

The reliance on the gas tax leads to a dilemma for the public-transit agency, explained Scott Avedisian, chairman of the RIPTA board of directors and mayor of Warwick.

“The more people ride the bus, the lower the yield on the gas tax,” Avedisian said. “If we do our job really well, and everyone starts riding the bus, we’ll have no money coming in on the gas tax.”

For the past three years, RIPTA had rising or stable ridership. But the number of bus trips fell 10 percent in the fiscal year that ended in June, with 1.5 million fewer trips taken than the year before.

Part of the reason, transit officials say, was a decline in the price of gasoline, which makes mass transit less appealing because it becomes cheaper to drive an automobile.

ATTRACTING RIDERS

RIPTA is in an unusual position, its advocates argue, because it serves a statewide constituency, with density in far-flung locations, and has a mandate to provide services to the disadvantaged who may lack access to other choices.

“We’re mandated to bring services to X number of populations in the state. But the amount of money we receive from the state doesn’t cover that service,” Avedisian said. “There is a structural problem every year based on the fact that we’re mandated to provide services that are not fully funded.”

If the authority could capture more revenue, perhaps through higher fares for targeted or improved services, it could offer enhancements such as an electronic fare system, with cards that could be used seamlessly with the MBTA system. This would remove the necessity to handle cash on buses, and reduce boarding time.

With more revenue, buses could also be outfitted with cup holders and wireless connections. Such amenities would surely be welcomed by workers, who make up the majority of RIPTA riders. The share of work commuters was 56 percent in the 2015 customer-satisfaction survey.

In the survey, conducted in the spring, about 60 percent of respondents identified availability of buses as a priority issue.

Partly in response to the surveys, the authority is looking to establish more services similar to the R-line, a popular eight-mile route connecting Providence and Pawtucket, which offers expedited trips. The R-line has its own stops, and buses come every 10 minutes. Launched in June 2014, the R-Line accounts for 15 percent of the RIPTA ridership, with more than 2.6 million rides in the last fiscal year, according to the authority.

A tougher issue is how to resolve demand for bus service at density hubs, such as Quonset Business Park. RIPTA has had several discussions with park officials about how to accommodate workers within the park. The challenge is not finding space for drop-offs within the park, but aggregating enough people in their hometowns, for the varying shifts at the park.

Avedisian said the idea is perhaps to create regional hubs for workers, say in Cranston or Warwick, who could then be shuttled to the park.

“They’ve gotten to a critical mass. There is demand there,” he said. “It’s a challenge of limited constraints.”

A RIPTA program that provides a discounted group fare to employees of partnering businesses, Eco-Pass, represents one of the largest existing products aimed at employers. A similar program, U-Pass, is aimed at colleges and universities, and Brown University has opted to cover the cost of monthly passes for its employees and students.

Businesses who have signed on to Eco-Pass include Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island, which located its headquarters near the hub at Kennedy Plaza, and provides a heavy subsidy for transit expenses for employees. Blue Cross has about 950 employees downtown, and 225 participate in the program, said Stacy Paterno, a company spokeswoman.

Under the program, the companies pay monthly for the negotiated rate, and pay only for rides taken by employees using the monthly passes. Employees pay for their bus passes with pretax dollars, which reduces the cost.

Blue Cross employees pay $15 a month, with the company subsidy. The health care insurance giant made the choice to offer the discounted passes as a benefit, in part because it sought LEED certification for its headquarters, and one of the factors was accessibility to public transit.

The Capital Good Fund, a nonprofit based in downtown Providence, has participated for three years, according to CEO Andy Posner. The company has 13 employees, and at least eight or nine use the bus regularly, said Posner. The pass costs the employees about $11 a month, while the company pays $350 to $400.

The benefit is part of the recruiting strategy when they hire, he said. “A good number of our employees don’t have their own cars,” he said.

WHO SHOULD PAY MORE?

In re-examining its fares, a process that is expected to culminate this fall with a series of recommendations to the board, RIPTA, in part, is trying to attract more “riders of choice,” the people who have the option to drive a car, but instead pick the bus.

The comprehensive fare analysis is expected to include options for increasing revenue, without losing ridership, including the potential to charge passengers premium fares for expedited services. The issue of how to charge passengers who have traditionally had no-fee passes, such as the disabled, is part of the analysis because these populations have been increasing in recent years.

About 20,000 people in Rhode Island participated last year in the free-pass program, offered to elderly residents who earn less than 200 percent of the poverty level in Rhode Island, and to disabled residents who are qualified by either RIPTA or 17 of its partner agencies.

The increase in no-fare rides was affected in the past year by the action of another state agency, the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, which had previously reimbursed RIPTA for passes for elderly with low incomes and the disabled who used the buses for nonemergency rides to the doctor.

RIPTA’s recent decision to explore charging a fare, up to $1 a ride, for elderly or disabled riders has generated criticism and public protests from advocates for the elderly and disabled.

The advocates, including the RIPTA Riders Alliance, argue the elderly and disabled with low incomes are among the state’s most vulnerable populations.

In 2014, disabled riders alone made up nearly 27 percent of the Sunday and Saturday trips, and 26 percent of the weekday travel outside rush hours, according to RIPTA data.

The alliance, a volunteer group that advocates for transit, is opposed to the possibility of a $1 fare, which is the maximum fare amount allowed under a new state law, according to Barry Schiller, an organizer.

“We still think the [General] Assembly should fund them adequately, to fund services,” he said. “We want a more sustainable funding mechanism, rather than a total reliance on the gasoline tax.”

Grow Smart Rhode Island, a nonprofit policy research and advocacy group, is a supporter of transit improvements.

The state has the density around Narragansett Bay to support public transportation, according to John Flaherty, Grown Smart deputy director, who oversees transportation reviews.

“Not only do you have good densities, but you also have development patterns that lend themselves to a good, robust transit system,” he said.

The challenge, he added, is creating a system with frequency of service that encourages more use. He commutes to work by bus himself most days, traveling from North Smithfield to Providence. But because the last bus leaves on his route home at 5:17 p.m., if he has late-afternoon or evening events or meetings, he has to drive, Flaherty said.

But for many of its employed riders without cars, even with its limitations RIPTA is the most-affordable option.

Bridget Bourne, who works in Providence, commutes daily from her home in East Providence.

The most difficult aspect of the commute, she said, is the final stretch. She has to walk for a mile and a half to her employer, which she declined to name. Walking is fine on a nice day, she says, but difficult in winter.

Bourne, who doesn’t have a car, deals with the bad-weather days.

“I have no [other] option,” she said. •

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2 COMMENTS

  1. To clarify, the RIPTA Riders Alliance, realizing that passengers have to help the budget too, is open to a rush-hour fare for those now riding free, and higher fares for the long distance expresses, and maybe to adjusting the 200% of Federal poverty levels to qualify for the free rides. But employers who offer “free” (that is subsidized) parking for employees (such as the State of RI, or URI-Providence) and no transit incentives should also do something to more level the playing filed. Not to do this hurts not just RIPTA, but our commuter rail ridership too, as well as the opportunity for transit to improve our state’s economy and environment.

  2. Glad to see some compromise, but it is still not fair for a Providence resident to pay $2.50 to go from one side of the city to the other with a transfer. At the same time Narragansett, Newport, Westerly, etc are paying $2 for trips over 25 miles. Distance means something and long distance fares need to be adjusted. Maybe increased to $4, but discounted with multi purchases as they are now.