Cutting The Gas Tax Throws RIPTA Under The Bus
Last week, Senator Walter Felag, Jr. (D-Dist.10) introduced legislation that would reduce Rhode Island’s gasoline tax by 5 cents per gallon. The legislation, he said, would allow gas stations near the Massachusetts border to be more competitive with their neighbors to the north and east. While Rhode Island’s motorists and gas station owners may rejoice, this [...]
What’s at Stake Nov. 6: The General Assembly, RIPTA
It’s time to take a look as some of our General Assembly candidates. Rhode Island’s universal support for the environment keeps it out of the ProJo and off the 11 o’clock news during campaign season. That doesn’t mean the voters should forget our November 6th choices will chart Rhode Island’s path for the next two [...]
Progress Report: Romney False Appeals to Middle Class; True the Vote Update; Taveras v. Raimondo; Mark Binder
Presidential challengers almost always prevail over the incumbent in the first debate of the campaign, and to that end Mitt Romney and Barack Obama did not buck tradition as they faced off last night. But winning the Wednesday night battle might may come with some strings attached for the Republican candidate. Despite his empty rhetoric [...]
The Public Education / Transportation Challenge
I’ve found a way for the Providence Public School System to save more than $400,000 annually in transportation costs. Every month, the School Department buys thousands of RIPTA bus passes, which it distributes to high school students from low income families or who live more than three miles from their school. In May of 2012, [...]
Progress Report: GOP Meets Isaac; RIPTA Controversy; EngageRI Engages in Politics; Not Enough Cops in PVD
The GOP convention is supposed to start today and good luck thinking up a situation any more awkward for Republicans than having a big party while a hurricane hits New Orleans. No truth to the rumor that former FEMA director Michael Heck-of-a-job Brownie will be giving the keynote address of the convention… Patch, we hear, [...]
Legislature Ignores Public Transit in Budget
Who cares about buses? Apparently no one on Smith Hill. The House Budget, to be voted on Thursday, contains not a penny in new revenue for RIPTA. It also contains no ideas, proposals, or signs that anyone in the House Fiscal staff spent more than a dozen minutes thinking about the agency. This is hardly [...]
Tassoni: Kennedy Plaza a Mess, RIPTA Chief Should Go
Outgoing Senator John Tassoni, always quick to pick on bullies, has set his sights on RIPTA director Charles Odimgbe, saying recent staff cuts have left Kennedy Plaza in shambles and that Odimgbe should be replaced. Full press release after the photo. Kennedy Plaza in Providence is a mess, said Sen. John J. Tassoni Jr., and it’s [...]
Prospects Brighten for Transit Financing Fix
Over the last 31 years, the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) has come to the public 28 times to tell us of the need to either cut service or raise fares, sometimes both. Last summer RIPTA proposed a 10% service reduction in the face of a 4.6 million dollar deficit. While RIPTA has been [...]
Budgeting for Disaster Part VII: Quasi-appropriate?
Trick question: Why is Rhode Island’s housing policy not made by the state government? How about economic policy? Why do we have two environmental agencies? Two elections agencies? The questions sound unrelated, but they have very similar answers, and they’re all related to the state’s bevy of “quasi-public” agencies—whose budgets are in Volume I of [...]
Dr. King’s Legacy: RIPTA Called Out by Community to Re-hire Fired Workers
Next Thursday, on January 19th, at 6:30pm, members of the RIPTA board will be at Direct Actions for Rights & Equality (DARE), answering calls to reinstate two employees who were unjustly fired last month. The fundamental question is: are people with criminal histories are sentenced to a life of unemployment? Even the New York Times [...]
Youth Offer Transportation Solutions
Transportation is under siege in Rhode Island. Funding for RIPTA is limited and many are outraged at proposed route and service cuts. Providence youth have experienced barriers to affordable transportation since 2009 when state legislation decreased funding for the state’s health insurance plans; a source of most school bus passes. Equipped with extensive research and passion for [...]
Coming Up in the RIPTA Fight
Scheduled for Monday is the next public RIPTA board meeting, pushed back a week. With no commitments from General Assembly leaders yet for additional funding, cuts are still to be expected. The RIPTA Riders will be meeting with House Speaker Gordon Fox on Monday before the meeting of the RIPTA board. Thanks largely to the [...]
My RIPTA conversation with Gordon Fox
Yesterday I wrote to Gordon Fox, asking him to help defend, not defund RIPTA. This is what I wrote: I am writing to you because now is not the time to cut funds to RIPTA, now is the time to increase them. I know this sounds counter-intuitive, but a functioning public transportation system is a [...]
Testimony in Opposition to RIPTA Cuts: Or, Sometimes You’ve Got To Hustle
Last night I listened to nearly three hours of testimony against RIPTA cuts. Listening for so long about something I care so much about was hard. By the time my turn came I’d drafted three different pieces of testimony. Since going through all of them would just have been rude to the dozens still sitting [...]
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