RIPTA – RI Future

October 24, 2016

How would you spend $17 million on downtown transit?

Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387

Have you heard about the $17 million “Downtown Enhanced Transit Corridor” grant that the city of Providence received for the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority to develop a 6-stop enhanced bus corridor to run from the Providence Railroad station to a new bus hub in the hospital district? Its largely the route originally planned to be for a streetcar.

RIPTA is organizing a “stakeholder” group to advise on implementation, the first meeting of which is scheduled for October 24. The RIPTA Riders Alliance, of which I am a member, was invited to participate. An open public meeting for all may be scheduled later.

$17 million should be enough to be a potential game-changer for downtown and for RIPTA, both of which are struggling. Indeed RIPTA ridership has dropped significantly in the last 2 years, from about 20 to 18 million riders. Not long ago the RIDOT Director publicly called RIPTA a “failure” because of our low commute by transit rate. The decision by Citizens Bank to locate a huge corporate “campus” west of I-295 where there is no transit is an indication of how little RIPTA can matter to employers. Downtown is hurting too, from the long empty “Superman” building to the well publicized perception of unpleasant conditions and “chaos” in Kennedy Plaza.

RIPTA planners have said they intend to use the $17 million grant to jazz up the bus stops with enhanced amenities, to buy some ultra-clean hybrid buses, and have six of their lines (#1,3,6,51,58,72) routed on the
corridor to ensure very frequent service.

While this includes some good ideas, at $2/ride, soon likely to be $2.50, I don’t see how this will attract many new riders who don’t already have a pass or ride free anyway. I don’t see how this expensive fare will do much to attract attention of those wanting to do business that might lead to economic redevelopment. Thus I suggest that the buses RIPTA wants to buy be used to establish a free loop on that corridor.

About a year ago the Coalition for Transportation Choices hosted a meeting here with invited speakers from Denver, Minneapolis and Hartford where transit initiatives were successful in building ridership and spurring economic development. One thing Denver and Hartford (New Haven too) did to help do this was to institute a free bus shuttle connecting their train stations, also on the periphery, to key central locations. So this can be done! I’ll also add that having lived in Oregon 1974-75 when Portland OR was considered a failed city with a dead downtown, one thing they did, (Seattle too) to turn things around was to institute a fare-free downtown zone to get people more used to using transit and to come downtown where they can get around easily. This was a great success even if it could not be sustained through the 2008 recession.

Not just those that love cities, we all have a stake in having our central city and transit system succeed as they have so much potential to contribute to the problem of combating climate change.

Those who think this is an idea worth exploring need to encourage RIPTA to reconsider. Operating funds for the shuttle is a problem, but if there is a will to do so perhaps Federal “CMAQ ” funds can be reprogrammed for this purpose, at least for a few years. (CMAQ helped support operating the old Providence-Newport ferry and the South County commuter rail.) After the bad publicity on Kennedy Plaza, both for the buses and the city, something needs to be done to get positive attention. And a free shuttle will help strengthen the value of our Northeast Corridor location and commuter rail access TO Providence, from the north and south.

This project, together with enhanced policing and better services for the homeless and mentally ill in the Plaza, can begin to turn the situation around for the better. For reasons of environment, economy, and quality of life, and for those who love cities, we don’t want to squander this opportunity created by this grant to make a real improvement on our economy, environment, and quality of life.

September 7, 2016

Senior/disabled bus pass re-qualification leads to long lines

Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387

Rosa was waiting near the end of a line of about 30 people when I found her at 8:30am in the Kennedy Plaza terminal building Wednesday morning. In her hand she held a senior/disabled bus pass that was due to expire in September 2020, but a driver told her that the pass was no good anymore and that she had to get a new bus pass if she wanted to continue to ride at the reduced fare.

“I paid for this pass, and now it’s no good and I have to pay again,” said Rosa.

Barbara Polichetti, Director of Public Affairs at RIPTA (Rhode Island Public Transit Authority) said that, “Individuals who obtained their passes before January 1, 2013 will be required to pay $10 for their new passes. Anyone who obtained their pass after January 1, 2013 will still need to re-qualify but will not have to pay the $10 processing fee.”

Further up the line Frederick, a disabled man in his late thirties, told me that he had waited in line for over two hours the day before. “They cut off the line at ten people, and told the rest of us to come back tomorrow,” he said. He added that it is difficult for him to get around without a bus pass.

RIPTA announced back in April that they were “re-qualifying all passengers eligible to participate in RIPTA’s Reduced Fare Bus Pass Program for lower income senior citizens and persons with disabilities.” All participants were then required to obtain new passes by July 1. That deadline was later extended to September 1.

I asked Polichetti why re-qualification became necessary. “We looked at all aspects of this program as part of the Comprehensive Fare Study that was conducted last year. In addition to looking at fares, or in this case our no-fare customers, we also looked at the administration of the program. It became very clear that having passes that were valid for five years at a time was not practical or prudent – it was simply too long to go without having people check back in to see if they still qualify for the program.

“There was no way to determine if a pass holder had died or moved away; their passes remained active and in use in our system until they expired. So we knew we needed to lessen the time the passes are valid. They will now be valid for two years, not five. The passes being issued now will expire on a customer’s birthday after the two-year mark, so everyone will not have to re-qualify at the same time again – it will be staggered.”

Originally senior and disabled bus riders were facing a $.50 price hike, but that increase was put off until January, when the General Assembly might reconsider the fare increase.

“We are sensitive to the fact that this program serves a population that is facing financial, health and other stressors in their lives,” said Raymond Studley, RIPTA’s CEO in June when the extension was announced.

That population includes Alan, who first got in line for a new pass on August 31. He was told that he lacked the proper paperwork. It took him a while to get what he needed from the IRS. I wasn’t sure that the one paper he had in his hand would be enough, but Alan seemed confident.

RIPTA’s outreach to the public about the program changes has been extensive, said Polichetti, and has included distributing information at charitable organizations and senior centers across the state, running radio ads for five months, and posting reminders on its website, social media and the digital boards on buses and at the Kennedy Plaza transit hub.

Still, many senior and disabled people didn’t get the message until a bus driver informed them that their pass was no good. Jose, who was waiting in line with Rosa, doesn’t speak much English and his pass didn’t expire until May 2019. He was visibly annoyed that his pass was invalid, despite the date printed on it.

“A lot of riders thought that at the last minute the governor would have a change of heart and decide to honor the passes until they expired,” said Don Rhodes, president of the RIPTA Riders Alliance. So why didn’t RIPTA grandfather in people like Jose and Rosa, who have passes that won’t expire for a few years?

“Since one of the goals was to end the five-year tenure of the passes for better administration of the program,” said Polichetti, “this would not have worked. It would have meant that some people were still going to have five years without checking in with RIPTA, five years without us verifying that they still qualify for the program, and that they are the rightful pass holder.

“We tried to minimize the financial impact of the re-qualification process by not charging anyone who received a pass after Jan. 1, 2013 for their new passes. The fee – which is the administrative fee for getting a photo ID pass – remains the same at $5 per year. The new two-year passes are $10.”

Mary waited in line on Tuesday from 1pm to 3:30pm, only to be told to go home and come back tomorrow. She had spent Tuesday morning at the DMV, getting her state issued ID, and then spent hours in vain at RIPTA. It was a long day of waiting in line, with tons of other people, and she didn’t get the bus pass she needed.

“It was crazy in here yesterday,” said Mary, “It was nuts. The line was over twice as long, and stretched around the room and outside into the rain.”

Hopefully Mary will have better luck today, since she arrived an hour before the office opened.

August 24, 2016August 24, 2016

Can Joe Paolino learn to love the bus?

Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387

Former Providence mayor Joseph Paolino’s media blitz around homelessness should be taken with a grain (or two, or three) of salt. In 2014, Paolino spoke with James Baar at The Projo (“The Seven Deadly Sins of Downtown Providence”, April 29, 2014) to outline his angst over panhandling homeless people and low income bus riders, suggesting a set of recommendations that show the casino magnate and parking lot landlord’s true political center. As I pointed out at the time and more recently, what really stretches credulity about Paolino’s 2014 proposals wasn’t simply their blithe disregard for the poor, but the barking way that Paolino assumed the city could just take up major new financial liabilities without any realistic stream of money to pay for them. With such extravagant ideas as removing Kennedy Plaza entirely, building a giant underground garage under it, and doubling the size of Burnside Park– all while policing the area to get rid of “vagrants” and completely banning potholes (Just “Do it!” yelled Paolino through the voice of Baar), you would think the city must be swimming in money. The kind of money that could, of course, help resolve the root causes of homelessness.

The 2014 priorities listed by Paolino remain poor uses of city or state funding, but the former mayor’s softer tone on homelessness opens up an opportunity to hold his feet to the fire and demand some changes. Most recently, in an interview with The Projo’s Edward Fitzpatrick, Paolino says he wants the city to avoid the “Giuliani way” of removing homeless people, and look to root causes. Will Paolino stay true to his word?

Here are some things Paolino can back to show that he’s serious.

A parking lot tax, with a refund to housing costs

GCPVD’s map of downtown parking lots and garages shows that a parking lot tax is sorely needed. Some of the revenue from this tax could go directly to housing vouchers.

Paolino has large holdings in downtown parking lots. Essentially these are land speculation projects. It makes sense to hold onto prime land in the city, earning money off of commuters who park there, until a perfect skyscraper project comes along for those plots of land. Parking lots do pay property taxes, but because a surface lot is not valued highly, this gives speculators the best of all worlds– an easy short-term revenue stream, low taxes, and a lottery ticket that is likely to be worth a lot of money in the future.

I’ve argued in the past that putting a tax on surface parking would change the balance of this math. Land speculators like Paolino would be inclined to build something– anything– to hold the space until larger projects could come, instead of pimping parking lots. A developer may prefer a skyscraper, and in the long-run that may be the best thing for the city as well, but having rowhouses in the space while something else comes along means people have a place to live. As bigger projects form, the city could also require the continued tenancy of low income residents as part of mixed income development. This could itself help create more affordable housing. A tax on parking could and should also be refunded directly to properties adjacent to the parking, lowering the cost of business and residency in the city. Yet another way that this stream of revenue could considerably change the forecast for the poorest people would be if a portion of it was directly put towards housing vouchers for homeless individuals and families. Paolino has suggested that more money be put to shelters for homeless people, but what people truly need is permanent housing.

A parking lot tax would cost Paolino– he owns 11 lots. But if he’s serious about his statement that the business community needs to step up, endorsing this reform and pushing it through the business community would be one sincere step he could take.

Deregulation of single-family only zoning & parking minimums

Many Providence neighborhoods do not allow affordable housing, by law. The zoning code is full of arcane regulations designed to allow only what types of housing currently exist in a neighborhood. This is nothing like what happened in normal cities before the 1920s.

Providing affordable housing in Providence should partly be built around getting rid of some of these arcane rules.

This map, from Ward 2 (Councilman Sam Zurier’s district, on the East Side) shows the kind of inane specificity of zoning, which has to carve out exceptions to acknowledge the existence of some apartments or rowhouses. Much of this ward, zoned 1 or 1A, doesn’t allow non-single-family housing. 1A goes a step further, and requires minimum lot sizes, disallowing even more middle-class forms of single-family units for straight-up upper class ones. 1A is actually a fairly recent intensification of zoning that is only a few years old.

Parking minimums require that most residences have x number of parking spots per square foot of space. This both makes the housing itself more expensive, and also rules out building new housing on land that is taken up by parking.

Providence also has a number of neighborhoods that don’t allow anything but single-family homes. Sometimes these neighborhoods already have some houses that aren’t single-family, and they’ve been carved into the zoning as exceptions. The business community and city need to work together to eliminate zones like 1 & 1A, which don’t allow things like granny cottages, rowhouses, apartments, twins, duplexes, or triple-deckers. The business community and city also have to work together to end the practice of putting residency limits on students. Students bleed out into housing, making what affordable options that exist more expensive, and displacing people on the fringes of becoming homeless.

These are not issues that Paolino can be held accountable for, but in his new-found advocacy for the homeless, they should become centerpieces of policy change. Paolino should push zoning reform.

Transit at the center, not the fringes

While Paolino can’t be blamed for zoning, he can be held accountable for his long agitation against Kennedy Plaza as a bus hub. In 2014, as I stated, Paolino advocated for moving buses “to the fringes of the city” and getting rid of the bus hub entirely, to make it an underground parking garage.

People who become homeless often have serious problems that go beyond job access, but once they get on track, keeping a job is a very important stabilizing force. Transit is one of the most important ways to make sure that low-income people, who cannot afford cars, can have access to jobs.

I’ve had some online discussions with other transit advocates who point out that RIPTA should not be running all its routes through Kennedy Plaza. I agree with this criticism, and think we need an effort to put together a full network of bus routes like what Jarrett Walker designed in Houston, but I also think it’s clear this hasn’t been what Paolino meant in the past. Referring to buses as needing to be “at the fringes” is pretty clear about why the buses need to move– in this case, to take the sour image of poor people out of the downtown. Paolino’s business coalition needs to work to make transit a priority by spearheading efforts to give buses rights-of-way, improving frequencies of bus routes by funding RIPTA better, and updating the city’s poor pedestrian and bike layout to aid last-mile connections.

I’ve argued in the past that while there’s been a lot of action around maintaining free bus passes for elderly and disabled Rhode Islanders, that more attention needed to be put to making the bus system run efficiently and frequently (an argument I borrowed from Jarrett Walker as well). However, even in that piece, I argued that it was silly not to offer homeless people free rides on RIPTA. RIPTA has temporarily extended the free bus pass program pending funding, but business leaders like Paolino need to make RIPTA a long-term priority.

Supporting RIPTA, biking, and walking would be a big turnaround for Joe Paolino, but if he’s truly a reformed man with a vision to end the plight of the homeless, that would be what he needs to do.

And Scrooge was better than his word

I would be lying if I said that I trusted Joe Paolino’s softer messaging on panhandling in Kennedy Plaza. Over the years, many of Paolino’s priorities for the city have struck me as hostile to poor people and to non-drivers, couched in the kind of right-leaning identity politics one might associate more with Donald Trump than a former Democratic mayor of a blue-state city. But everyone can change. I will open my arms to Joe Paolino if he changes his ways. He needs to embrace the end of his parking empire as a way of speculating off of city land, support putting direct tax resources into more affordable housing, back zoning deregulation to stop the experiment of single-family-only neighborhoods, and back a robust RIPTA with bike and pedestrian infrastructure to support last-mile connections. His rhetoric has to move beyond temporary housing for homeless people, and towards permanent solutions.

As Charles Dickens would put it:

Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world. Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset; and knowing that such as these would be blind anyway, he thought it quite as well that they should wrinkle up their eyes in grins, as have the malady in less attractive forms. His own heart laughed: and that was quite enough for him.

God Bless Us Every One.

~~~~

June 16, 2016June 16, 2016

Progressives mixed on standing against RIPTA fare increase

Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387

As far as the $8 billion state budget goes, an additional $900,000 to fund free RIPTA rides for the elderly, disabled and destitute through the fiscal year seems like a small ask. But in this year’s House budget bill, it was the only evidence of dissent between progressives and the more conservative Democrats who control the chamber.

Even at that, House Republicans were more united in their support of the free RIPTA rides program than were several left-leaning legislators. The smaller but demonstrably more vocal GOP caucus spent Wednesday’s marathon budget session offering amendments and peppering Finance Committee Chairman Marvin Abney with questions and concerns. The only amendment from the progressive left came from Rep. John Lombardi, who represents the Federal Hill section of Providence. He made an impassioned plea to restore free bus service to Rhode Island’s most vulnerable residents.

“Some of my constituents earn about between $700 and $800 a month and believe it or not 50 cents can make the difference,” he said, suggesting the money could come from the General Assembly’s own budget. “I’ll tell you what, many of my constituents are alone. They just received their citizenship from other countries. They’re here. They’re from the islands, they’re Russians, they’re Albanians, they’re people from Africa. That’s who my constituency looks like and I’m sure many of you are starting to see that in your neighborhoods. I think we have a duty to help these people. I think we have to assist these people because they are most in need.”

The RIPTA Board of Directors decided to end free rides for the elderly, disabled and destitute earlier this year. The House budget keeps it alive until January, while Governor Gina Raimondo’s proposed budget did not fund it at all. The governor and House Speaker Nick Mattiello have each indicated the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority is in need of a full overhaul. Lombardi’s amendment would have funded the free rides for the entire fiscal year, regardless of a systemic overhaul.

The amendment failed, 41 voted against it and 27 supported it. House Republicans, who spent most of the evening trying to shrink government spending, were unanimous in their support of the social welfare program. Progressives, on the other hand, were not. Reps Teresa Tanzi, Art Handy, Chris Blazejewski and Shelby Maldonado all voted against extending free RIPTA rides to the elderly, disabled and destitute.

Tanzi, who represents Narragansett and South Kingstown, offered her own impassioned plea on why RIPTA shouldn’t receive additional funding.

“It is with a heavy heart that I urge folks not to support this amendment because it’s not the best thing to do with the limited funds that we have,” she said. “Believe me I would love to make a $900,000 investment in RIPTA this is not the best way to do it.”

Tanzi explained, “The problem is the state was forced to contract with a third party vendor. That third party vendor is called Logisticare and since they have taken over the number of people who have qualified for these free passes has grown. And while that has happened they have changed it so they are no longer billing those passes the way that RIPTA used to … when RIPTA was in charge of it they billed so that medicare would be reimbursing the state, so we lost significant federal dollars to match it.”

She continued, “I think what the committee heard at the end of the night heard was that throwing $800,000 more dollars at a program that is being very poorly run is not the solution and that giving them six months to renegotiate the contract with this third party vendor, giving them six months under perhaps oversight under Chairwoman [Pat] Serpa’s guidance or under a subcommittee through finance, we’re going to look at this holistically and try to come up with a solution. So nobody wants this program to end in January, nobody wants people isolated and locked up in their homes in the middle of winter. We’re looking for a solution and right now throwing $893,000 more dollars at a program that we know is being mismanaged is not the best answer.”

Tanzi is making a concerted effort today to get Speaker Mattiello to bring to a floor vote her bill that would limit the ability of felony domestic abusers to possess guns, and her advocacy against the amendment may have been part of the deal making that happens as the legislative session draws to a close.

Nonetheless, her stand drew some measure ire. Sam Bell, director of the Rhode Island Progressive Democrats, tweeted. “I rarely publicly criticize our legislative allies, but I personally think @tanzister made an error here.” When it was Lombardi’s turn to speak, he shot back sarcastically, “I’m so glad people in this chamber have heavy hearts.”

Rep. Joe Almeida, who also represents a poor neighborhood in Providence, said if the attempt to outsource the program has failed, the state should waste no more time with the private company.

“If this third party can’t run a business right, why do we still have to wait six months?” he asked. “Why do people gotta be left on the sidewalk and can’t get nowhere? If this third party can’t do it, they should have been fired a long time ago. In business we wouldn’t have waited this long. I hope RIPTA has the common sense not to bring this company back if they can’t do the job.”

Meanwhile Majority Leader John DeSimone, known for parroting the will of Speaker Mattiello, tacked to the right of Tanzi – who herself took a more conservative position than the GOP caucus.

“We need to take a comprehensive look at what we are doing,” he said. “We are the only state in the country currently that has no fare and as a result we are losing millions of dollars from the federal government. But the usage of the bus is not as good as the states that charge so there is obviously something wrong. At this point we have to be responsible, we have to get the federal money that is available to us and RIPTA may need to be revamped or remanaged or something has to happen. But the answer is not to just keep the fares free. While the motives of having a free fare are fantastic, it’s just not working.”

The RIPTA Riders Alliance held a rally outside the State House earlier this week at which an elderly woman said, “I know there is money in the budget, they just want to squander it on their friends.”

June 15, 2016June 15, 2016

RIPTA riders rally against fare hikes on RI’s most vulnerable

Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387

The RIPTA Riders Alliance rallied at the State House yesterday to call attention to bus fare increases to the elderly, disabled and very low income people.

RIPTA decided to end free bus fare for these riders earlier this year. The House budget restored free fares for the elderly and disabled until January. Advocates say it would cost the state $800,000 to extend the service for the entire year.

RIPTA riders who utilize the reduced fare spoke at the rally about why they need it and how it affects their lives.

“If we already can’t afford to get to and from places and RIPTA raises the fare where does that leave us,” asked Michael Viera, who is disabled and uses a wheelchair. “If this program doesn’t exist I would not be able to make it to all my doctor appointments.”

A developmentally disabled man said, “If I don’t ride bus free I will be lonely and stranded.”

Another RIPTA rider added, “It will not only restore the sanity to our souls, it will also keep us materially safer.”

Malcus Mills, an organizer with DARE, said, “The board at RIPTA are not thinking of the people they serve. They are not thinking about us. They are not thinking about the low income folks who need this the most.”

One woman called it, “simply a matter of justice. The fact is RIPTA gets funding from all of us through our taxpayer dollars. The fact that we all pay into it, we all should be able to access it. We should not be segregated from other people.”

Another said, “I know there is money in the budget, they just want to squander it on their friends.”

Camilo Viveiros also spoke about legislators role in the process. “Are they going to use their expertise to assist the most vulnerable? Or are they going to throw people who are disabled and seniors literally under the bus?”

Randall Rose added, “We have to keep fighting for this. We already achieved something. RIPTA wanted to raise the fares in July, but we postponed it at least six months and we can keep doing it as long as we keep coming out here.”

June 13, 2016

How to stop the fare hikes on RI’s most vulnerable

Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387

A devastating fare hike for Rhode Island’s most vulnerable seniors and disabled people is the focus of a new budget fight. Although Rhode Island has long had a program where seniors and disabled people who have trouble affording bus trips ride free, the last year has seen efforts to end this program and charge more to those who can least afford it.

Things are now coming to a head.

The recently revealed House budget includes money to put off the fare increase for six months, until January, but doesn’t quite put in enough funds to stop the fare increase altogether. RIPTA Riders Alliance is working to fight this, and there are several easy things people can do to help. When the budget comes up for a House vote Wednesday, there will be a proposed amendment to add a small amount of funds to RIPTA ($800,000) and stop the fare increase. Many disabled people and seniors have said publicly in the past year that they cannot afford to pay what RIPTA wants on their limited income, and RIPTA admits that they expect steep drops in how many bus trips disabled and senior Rhode Islanders will take. Fortunately, there are ways to make this better.

One way people can help is by signing our online petition — it automatically sends messages to the State House when you sign. Please also share the petition link with others — we need people to respond quickly.
Another thing you can do to help is to contact your state representative and state senator and ask them both to support budget amendments: $800,000 more for RIPTA to stop this attempt to squeeze more money from RI’s limited-income disabled and seniors who are already facing challenges. Go to vote.ri.gov to find your elected officials’ contact info — you can call them and/or email. RIPTA Riders Alliance has been distributing a flyer about this.
Finally, RIPTA Riders Alliance will hold an event at 1:30 this Tuesday at the State House to talk about how important this is. We are sending the message that if Rhode Island’s senior and disabled people can’t afford to travel, they will be stuck at home, less able to shop, volunteer and visit loved ones — and isolation is deadly for seniors and the disabled. Protest makes a difference sometimes! Please come at 1:30 on Tuesday at the State House — and let people know about the Facebook event page.

Ironically, we’re facing this terrible fare hike on the most vulnerable because of a sneaky General Assembly move last year. When the House debated the budget last year, the House Finance Chair at the time, Raymond Gallison, put in a last-minute amendment to allow (that is, encourage) RIPTA to charge more to limited-income seniors and disabled people. Since then Gallison has had to resign. But it’s fitting that what began with one last-minute budget amendment is now leading to another, this time to save the most vulnerable who have been targeted as budget victims in the past. An amendment will be proposed in the House for Wednesday’s debate, and we are hoping to get an amendment in the Senate, too.

More useful information is available on RIPTA Riders Alliance’s Facebook page.

June 9, 2016June 9, 2016

House budget raises bus fares on most vulnerable in six months

Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387

Some of Rhode Island’s most vulnerable people were dealt a serious blow in the recently released House budget. Disabled and senior Rhode Islanders are going to be hit with a bus fare hike now expected to start in January.

Hundreds of seniors and disabled people have given moving testimony over the past year about how they can’t afford this bus fare hike on their limited income and will be stuck inside their residences, rarely able to go out. Advocates had called for the House budget to include money to prevent the fare hike. RIPTA Riders Alliance is disappointed that the House budget did not do this.

All the budget does is to reschedule the fare hike — RIPTA had wanted this fare hike to start this July 1, and the House budget provides only enough funding to postpone the fare hike by six months (to January 2017), according to the Providence Journal and legislative leaders. This fare hike will be devastating to Rhode Island’s most vulnerable seniors and disabled people who rely on public transit. It would be a travesty for the General Assembly to go home on vacation without addressing this problem, leaving the fare hike to take effect at the beginning of next year.

These low-income seniors and disabled people will be left in further isolation, and isolation increases feelings of depression and other medical problems. In many cases they will have to cut back on shopping trips, volunteer work, and visiting friends and family, or squeeze money elsewhere in their fixed-income budget.

This fare increase on the most vulnerable has already roused considerable opposition from the wider public, and the General Assembly cannot shirk its responsibility here. Only about $800,000 more in the budget was needed to prevent this harmful fare increase from taking effect, and the General Assembly should pass the bills (H7937 and S2685) which cancel this fare increase, as Rhode Islanders want.

[From a press release]

June 8, 2016June 8, 2016

House budget bill contains wins, losses for progressive left

Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387

The budget passed by the House Finance Committee last night, and slated to be vetted by the full chamber next Wednesday, contains some wins and some losses for the progressive left.

The budget bill contains some money to restore low-cost bus fare for indigent people – a social service that RIPTA cut earlier this year. The RIPTA Riders Alliance declined comment until more information is available. House Speaker Nick Mattiello told RI Future the funding for this program is temporary and said larger changes with RIPTA are afoot.

The proposed budget also includes new money to pay nursing home caregivers and those who works with the developmentally disabled. The investment would help raise wages for underpaid caregivers, many of whom work full time and still live in poverty. SEIU officials hailed the move as a step toward a $15 an hour minimum wage for front line caregivers.

It also preserves Governor Gina Raimondo’s increase to the Earned Income Tax Credit, and increased the investment in housing for the homeless proposed by Raimondo.

“We find it encouraging that the House Finance Committee showed their commitment and concern for Rhode Islanders experiencing housing insecurity by supporting the Governor’s budget proposal for affordable housing production and adding an additional $10 million for urban revitalization and blight remediation for a total $50 million Housing Opportunity Bond,” said Jim Ryczek, executive director of the RI Coalition for the Homeless. “We appreciate that the House Finance Committee ensured that this year’s budget invests in the long-term solutions to addressing homelessness and the lack of affordable housing in our state.”

But the House budget left out a proposed increase to the minimum wage that Raimondo included in her budget proposal. The current minimum wage in Rhode Island is $9.60 and Raimondo’s budget proposal would have raised it to $10.10. While the minimum wage does not have a fiscal effect on the budget, it is customary in Rhode Island to include policy changes in the state budget.

The House budget also nixed Raimondo’s proposal to increase investment in the school construction bond money. Many urban school buildings in Rhode Island are in dire need of repair.

It reduced Raimondo’s proposed fee on medical marijuana plants from $150 to $25. While the House measure exempts low income people from the fee, it still requires a new state tag for each plant – a move opposed by independent growers of medical marijuana.

While medical marijuana patients will pay more, beach goers will pay less under the proposed House budget. According to a news release from the House of Representatives, “Just in time for beach season, the Finance Committee slashed parking fees at state beaches — mostly in half — to better enable Rhode Islanders and visitors to enjoy one of the state’s greatest treasures. The cuts, effective July 1, eliminate hikes made in 2012, and apply to all types of passes: single-day weekend and weekday as well as season passes for residents, nonresidents and senior citizens. (Admission to state beaches themselves is free.)”

Charter school opponents should be even more pleased with the House budget proposal than with Raimondo’s version. According to the news release, “The [finance] committee moderated the governor’s proposal somewhat, allowing districts to reduce payments by either 7 percent of the per-pupil tuition cost or the average difference between per-pupil unique costs of the sending districts and those of the charter schools, whichever is greater. The committee also provided some temporary relief for districts with particularly high concentrations of students attending charter or vocational schools.”

And the House budget seems to make it easier for Rhode Islanders to generate more renewable energy. The proposal “expanded the state’s net metering program to allow “virtual” or off-site net metering by all customers, opening up access to renewable energy generation to more Rhode Islanders. Net metering is a practice that allows those who install renewable energy systems such as solar panels to connect them to the electric grid and receive credit on their bill for any excess energy they generate,” according to the House news release.

But a reader sent this comment: “The budget article 18 expands net metering, but it has a completely silly cap on it (major concession to Grid), and messes up the rates (another major concession). It will serve as a disincentive to net metering, not an incentive. The PUC is in the middle of considering the right net metering rate, and this is sort of like sticking a monkeywrench into their machinery. This is in no way a win, except superficially.”

The House is expected to vote on the budget bill next Wednesday.

May 23, 2016

Elderly, disabled and homeless march on RIPTA

Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387

Red Bandana Award winner Artermis Moonhawk lead a group of homeless, elderly and disabled people and allies carrying signs demanding that RIPTA re-institute the no-fare bus pass system. The protesters marched from McAuley House on Elmwood Avenue to the RIPTA Board of Director’s meeting on Melrose Street Monday afternoon. After the quarter mile walk the marchers were told that the board room was filled to capacity and that many people, including the elderly and disabled, might have to wait in the hallway for their turn to participate in the public comment portion of the meeting.

Peering into the room, one woman pointed out that there were still empty seats inside the meeting room. When told that the room’s occupancy had been reached at 40 people, she asked why there were more than 40 chairs then. No answer was immediately provided.

At issue is Rhode Island Public Transportation Authority‘s decision, per last year’s General Assembly budget, to do away with free bus fare for the elderly, disabled and homeless, and instead institute a 50 cent charge. While it is true that RIPTA’s free bus fare is generous, as Randall Rose testified before the House Finance committee, “We don’t have to be ashamed of who we are in Rhode Island. We don’t have to be ashamed that we’re more generous than other states because we’re doing the right thing…”

Even as Rhode Island seeks to do away with no-fare system, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Board unanimously voted to approve a no-fare system for seniors and disabled. Similar systems exist in communities in Pennsylvania, Illionois, Oregon, Texas and Wisconsin.

May 23, 2016

How would you spend $5.6 billion on transportation in RI?

Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387

The $5.6 billion is the total expected spending over 10 years in a draft Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP) for highways and transit going to public hearings on Thursday, May 26 (2pm and 6:30pm in the DOA Building on Smith St.) The draft documents have about 500 pages so it is not easy to review, but is online at RI Statewide Planning.

Spending is much higher than usual because of revenue projected from the new truck tolls, the borrowing of $300 million in so-called “GARVEE” bonds (paid back from future Federal highway appropriations so no voter approval is deemed necessary) and some increased support from the new Federal transportation law.

Most concerning for me, the draft calls for allocating $195 million to the 6-10 project this year, 2016, even though its design – expressway or boulevard – is still being discussed and the city is investigating alternative visions for the corridor. The draft calls for $3 million of public money for a new I-295 interchange in Johnston to subsidize the Citizens Bank move to a new “campus” even though that is contrary to all our land use goals. $38 million is proposed to implement the truck tolls. An additional $50 million or so is proposed to widen I-95 northbound through Providence when the northbound viaduct is replaced, adding to the huge gashes highways make in central Providence. But some highway projects are deferred, such as a full Route 4/I-95 west interchange, new Route 403 ramps, and an overpass to avoid the one traffic light on Route 146. Much money will go to repairing deficient bridges all over the state, with the intent to start as soon as possible before it gets even more expensive to do so, and a lot of state roads will be resurfaced, they are all listed.

On the transit side, it continues some slow progress toward re-establishing a commuter rail stop in Pawtucket, a little new funding for some RIPTA bus service to supplement our commuter rail, seed money to see if someone will operate seasonal ferry service, but no sign of any other rail service expansion. $17 million is allocated for an “enhanced” 6 stop bus corridor where the Providence streetcar would have gone, though it doesn’t even promise any signal priority on that route. The $35 million bus hub bonds that voters approved in 2014 is listed as 2016 revenue for a Providence Station Transit Center. The bond actually could fund bus hubs anywhere in RI, and now may be needed in Pawtucket which is apparently losing its existing Visitors Center bus hub, though there is now no project being considered. Otherwise it is largely business as usual for RIPTA with continued bus and paratransit van replacements.

Our bike path network will grow slowly, especially slowly in the first five years, largely limited to extending the Blackstone Bikeway in Woonsocket plus some progress on finishing the South County path. A “City Walk” proposal in Providence is recommended for funding.

My overall take is that beyond really going after improving the bridges there is no game-changer here, not even in light of climate change considerations. For example, there is no sign of any interest in electrifying our commuter rail in the 10 year period (contrast with huge subsidies available for electrifying the auto fleet) nor much sign of attempting to reduce vehicle-miles traveled, or promote more energy efficient urban core redevelopment.

I do hope some in the Rifuture community will investigate this issue which involves our transportation future and so much of our money. Consider testifying at the hearings. I think Statewide Planning, RIDOT and RIPTA would be willing to help provide more information, but you can also contact me (bschiller@localnet.com) if you like, I do have a print copy of the documents.

May 18, 2016May 18, 2016

House Finance hears moving testimony on no-fare bus passes

Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387

House Finance heard moving testimony from elderly and disabled Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) passengers about the economic burden placed upon them with the proposed abolition of free fares. Representative Scott Slater introduced a bill, H 7937, that would remove RIPTA’s bus “fare adjustments” and restore the free rider program.

About eighteen people spoke out in favor of the free rider program, noting that it is one of our state’s most needed and useful social welfare programs. As is usual when the government targets vulnerable populations for cuts in services or increased taxes, people begin to suffer as soon as the new proposals are suggested. The stress of having to fight for something so basic and essential to human dignity as the right to travel is an unnecessary cruelty inflicted by an uncaring government.

Many also spoke out about the failure of Logisticare, a private contractor employed by the state to get Medicaid recipients to their doctors. I’ll be preparing a post on that over the weekend.

“It’s financially impossible for me to be able to take a bus. You might say it’s only fifty cents, but I take the bus like seven or eight times a day. So fifty cents becomes two, three, four bucks a day… I just don’t have the money. I live off the government.”

“I only live on Social Security. I don’t get a pension from where I worked. I retired. I don’t have a husband for financial support… This is another bill to pay, and you don’t get a lot from Social Security.”

“Our seniors today are more active than ever, as you can see. We have people here that are volunteering, making a difference in kid’s lives, helping with raising their grandchildren, going to after school programs because parents have to work… think about your own family, and ask if your grandmothers and grandparents should have to pay to go to a grocery store, or a pharmacy or a doctor.”

“I live on a fixed income. I live alone. I have to go to the doctor’s for COPD, hypertension, cancer… I cannot afford it. To pay fifty cents even, I would just lose my life…”

“About seven thousand low-income seniors use these passes. They use them for many things. The only thing that Medicaid covers is trips to licensed medical providers. It doesn’t cover non-medical support groups like AA, other social services, food shopping, food pantries, employment, education, religious, family and social activities…

“RIPTA estimates that 60 percent of the people would pay the fifty cents. Applying that to the numbers, 7000 disabled people and 2800 seniors would not be able to afford [the bus]. This is RIPTA’s estimate.”

“It also affects our homeless population… If the folks who need to travel to and from shelters do not have the money to do so, they may be put in the position to panhandle to get this fare… they may be put in the serious position where they may have to sleep outside…”

“I have to go places seven days a week… We need to vote no fare on this bus pass.”

We know how many [homeless people], who have limited or no income, rely on the us pass program… to have their basic needs met. To get to shelter, to go to meal sites, to access clothing distribution and to recovery meetings like NA and AA. Our constituents also use the no-fare pass as a means to obtain housing and exit homelessness…”

“The vast majority of riders who pay two dollars support the no-fare bus pass… Riders really do support this program.”

“It’s very important that we don’t hit the most vulnerable population to fill a budget deficit.”

“The reason I’m here today is because I could get here for free. You’re going to shut up a lot of people by taking away their free bus ride because they’re not going to show up for these hearings. They won’t be able to make it to any of the support groups they are now attending.I won’t be able to get to church, I won’t be able to make it to RIPTA Riders…”

“People’s lives will become desperate if they have to pay fifty cents a ride…”

“The people who oppose free bus passes… have a lot of wrong information…”

“The impact is going to be devastating… If we charge people fifty cents they can’t get to the food pantry… Another woman called me and said ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do. I won’t get out of my apartment, I’m going to get depressed, and I can’t afford to shop in my own neighborhood.”

“The fifty cents can be a problem…”

“It’s harder for me to express why this would be devastating to me. I don’t volunteer. I keep thinking I would like to volunteer, and I seem to be overwhelmed by things I have to do or want to do and can’t seem to get to… I take buses sometimes just to be able to get places and see people. Circumstances in my life force me to be somewhat of a recluse. That’s why I’m saying there are subtleties here I’m not sure how to express…”

“I don’t think it’s right. I don’t know how many people on SSI, making $766 a month. Those people shouldn’t be getting charged at all. And I do believe in that…”

“I can’t believe some of the heartless things people say about this. They say, ‘Why should Rhode Island do this? Rhode Island is an outlier.’ We don’t have to be ashamed of who we are in Rhode Island. We don’t have to be ashamed that we’re more generous tan other states because we’re doing the right thing…”

March 16, 2016

What are fair fares at RIPTA?

Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387

In March, the RI Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) raised their monthly pass price from $62 to $70, a transfer from $.50 to $1, eliminated the discounted 15-ride $26 pass, but kept the basic $2 one-state rate, whether you ride for just two stops or all the way from Westerly to Providence.

These fares, paid mostly by hard working low income working people, were already well above average. Last summer a survey of 21 reasonably comparable bus systems found average basic fare of $1.60, average transfer only $.09 (many had free transfers) average monthly pass $49. Most had zones where there were higher fares for longer or express rides and many had no-fare or low-fare downtown shuttles. RIPTA abolished our low-fare “short-zone” over a decade ago.

High fares may be one reason our commute by transit rate here, noted by Governor Raimondo’s new transportation leadership, is barely half of what would be expected by our density. Thus RIPTA is far, far from living up to its potential to reduce congestion and pollution and to help fight climate change or to the rebuilding of our core cities and our economy. And now, they took a step backward by charging more to their most frequent and loyal riders that pay the fares.

One reason fares may be relatively high is the need for reasonable farebox recovery in light of the free rides for seniors and people with disabilities with incomes under twice the Federal poverty level. This free riding has grown to about 5.6 million rides a year, about 30% of all rides. It also contributes to the perception that our bus service is just for the poor that may make it harder to attract paying commuters, especially as buses can be overcrowded during peak hours. With deficits looming, last spring the legislature repealed the law prohibiting RIPTA from charging fares to the seniors and disabled, instead allowing up to half fare for those groups. Naturally those riding free wanted to keep their benefits so protests were organized resulting, as of now, that RIPTA will charge those groups 50 cents a ride, just 1/4 of the regular fare starting July 1 but still below the senior average of $.68 found in the survey. However, there are bills in the legislature that would restore the free rides, though they don’t add any funding to make up for the reduction in expected revenue.

Reflecting the decency of Rhode Islanders who want to help the poor, many groups support the continuation of the free fares. It certainly is a feel-good position and there are folks in dire poverty that really cannot afford additional expenditures. But there is another side to the story. Low income people on medicaid are eligible to still get free rides to any kind of medical trip including pharmacy visits. Twice the Federal poverty level is $31,860 for a couple, $48,500 for a household of four which may be more than some low income working people who pay full fare. Perhaps this threshold could be lowered to protect the very poor.

So what is a fair fare policy? My opinion is hold down fare increases for all passengers first by working to reduce RIPTA deficits through internal efficiencies and marketing promotions to attract more paying passengers. More state revenue should go for improving conditions for all passengers, such as keeping the Kennedy Plaza building open after 7pm when passengers now have to wait out in the cold and dark. Passenger revenue can be increased by higher fares on long distance express routes and charging the now-free riders half fare only during the peak hours, letting them ride free during the off-peak hours when more space is available. This can help raise revenue to keep the system going, make more space available to help attract more commuters while keeping a safety net for the poor.

January 6, 2016

Interfaith Vigil at State House proposes ambitious poverty agenda

Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387

2016-01-06 Interfaith Poverty Vigil 02 — Bishop Herson Gonzalez

For the eighth year the Rhode Island Interfaith Coalition to Reduce Poverty held a vigil at the State House near the beginning of the legislative season to, in the words of House Speaker Nicholas Mattiello, “remind all of us in the General Assembly of how important it is to keep the issues related to poverty at the forefront of our agenda.”

The vigil was attended by representatives from a multitude of faiths. Governor Gina Raimondo, Speaker Mattiello and Senate President M Teresa Paiva-Weed all spoke briefly to the crowd. The keynote was delivered by Bishop Herson Gonzalez of the Calvary Worship Center in Woonsocket.

Maxine Richman, co-chair of the RI Interfaith Coalition to Reduce Poverty (Coalition) spoke first, outlining the 2016 Advocacy Platform for the group. She began with a sobering statistic. 14.3 percent of Rhode Islanders live in poverty. That rate climbs to 19.8 percent when we talk about children specifically.

“A 14.3 percent poverty rate is the story for this year,” said Richman, “but it need not be the story for next year.”

The coalition believes that all Rhode Islanders are entitled to affordable housing, nutritious food, accessible healthcare, equitable education and work with decent wages.

Though the General Assembly raised the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) last session, something both Paiva-Weed and Mattiello touted as a great success in their opening remarks Tuesday, RI’s present 12.5 percent rate is a far cry from Connecticut’s EITC of 27.5 percent or Massachusetts’ 23 percent. The Coalition is asking the General Assembly raise the RI EITC to 20 percent.

2016-01-06 Interfaith Poverty Vigil 20 — Governor Raimondo

Channeling yesterday’s loud rally, and on the day that Governor Raimondo has officially broken her campaign promise to issue an executive order allowing undocumented workers to obtain driver’s licenses, the Coalition asked state leaders to take this important step.

Right now low and no income Rhode Island families with children are eligible to receive cash assistance for a maximum of up to 24 months within a five year window. A mother with two children is eligible to receive $554 a month for up to 24 months. When the 24 months are done, the family is cut off, leaving children to live in crushing poverty. The coalition would like to end the 24 month limit.

Also, as they have asked nearly every year and to no avail, the Coalition would like the General Assembly to take action to reform PayDay loans. This is unlikely as long as Speaker Mattiello continues to pretend that “arguments against PayDay lending tend to be ideological in nature.”

The coalition would also like to see an expansion of Child Care Assistance and Early Childhood Education. as of Fall, 2014, for instance, only 34 percent of eligible children were enrolled in Head Start, “with many centers maintaining long waiting lists.”

The Coalition further wants to reduce out-of-school detentions which predominantly target students of color and feed the school-to-prison pipeline. They would also like to expand opportunities for workforce foundational skills and occupational training.

The RI Coalition for the Homeless (RICH) needs adequate funding to implement Opening Doors RI, and would like state leaders to seek a $100 million affordable housing bond.

The Coalition also backs efforts to prevent domestic abusers from accessing guns, a bill that died in committee last year to the consternation of supporters and the embarrassment of the General Assembly.

The Coalition would like to see adequate funding for Senior Centers and lastly, the Coalition wants the General Assembly to maintain the current RIPTA Senior/Disbabled Fare Program, recognizing that balancing the budget of public transit of the backs of the most vulnerable is simply cruel. Paiva-Weed was the only state leader to state that she would work to make this happen. Raimondo vowed to make RIPTA “affordable” which is apparently a number other than free.

“These all sound good, but where do we find the money?” asked Raimondo.

“I am very concerned about imposing a fee on elderly and disabled RIPTA passengers,” said Paiva-Weed, “and I am committed to looking at alternative funding.”

Attempting to explain his statement at last years Interfaith Poverty Vigil where he said that he wants to eliminate the social safety net, Speaker Mattiello spun a vision of a Utopian future world. “When we get the economy to a point where everybody’s thriving,” said the Speaker, “every single family has a wage earner that is successfully feeding the family, and everybody is doing well and is well fed… families are happy… that will be the day we don’t need a safety net. And at that time our safety net will justifiably be smaller.”

Here’s Bishop Herson Gonzalez’s keynote address.

Note: I was fortunate today to get permission from Rachel Simon to run her pictures of the event. So all these pictures are under her 2016 copyright.

And here’s the full vigil.

December 15, 2015December 15, 2015

RIPTA fare increase is cruel, whether it happens or not

Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387

The worst part must be the stress of not knowing when and if their lives are going change. You can see it on the faces of many of those who come to speak.

Those on fixed incomes and dependent on the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) for their transportation needs gained a brief reprieve yesterday when the RIPTA board voted on a modified fare increase package due to Governor Gina Raimondo’s last minute intervention.

The governor promised to direct state agencies to “develop programs that will ensure the continued mobility of the low-income elderly and persons with disabilities.”

As a result, a fare increase from free to $1 for the disabled, elderly and homeless has been delayed until July 2016, and the new proposed fare increase is only 50 cents, tentatively starting in July. At the board meeting RIPTA Director Peter Alviti said that, “our target is zero” meaning that he hopes the governor will find the money to avoid charging even that 50 cents and keep the free bus fare system in place.

More than a dozen elderly, disabled, homeless and transportation advocacy groups have been fighting this fare increase since it was announced. Hundreds of people have attended meetings and spoken out against the fare hike. Randall Rose, of the RIPTA Riders Alliance said that the fare increase is “a badly thought out plan” that, “is not going to stand.”

There is a good chance Rose is right, and ultimately this will all be about nothing.

But if you are one of those dependent on RIPTA for your transportation needs, you don’t know this; not with any certainty. Some estimate that those on a fixed income will have to spend $30 a week or more on transportation. Not on doctor’s visits, they will be covered by Logisticare, a private contractor. But pharmacy visits, shopping, friend and family visits, trips to twelve-step programs, church, political meetings, or any other kind of travel, will be money taken out of the budget for food, medication, utilities, toiletries or rent.

Some will start trying to make their medication last longer, because maybe half a pill is just as good as the one pill prescribed by a doctor. Maybe take one pill every other day, or skip certain medications entirely. That might work.

Less food will become a certainty. Life without electricity or heat will be endured. Little joys will be sacrificed. Life will become grayer. Life will be less.

Many will not travel any more. They will become home bound, economically imprisoned in their homes. Their health will suffer. Some will die.

Did the General Assembly, when they voted to force the RIPTA board to increase the fares on the most vulnerable, think about the people whose lives will be ruined? Even if this entire issue goes away over the next weeks and months, did the Senators and Representatives who voted for this think about the stress they inflicted on the poor, the elderly, the disabled and the homeless?

Lives already clouded by poverty shouldn’t have their stress compounded for no reason. It’s cruel.

The actions and inactions of our General Assembly have consequences. People suffer when the General Assembly behaves so cavalierly. The Speaker of the House cares mightily for the concerns of his “well-to-do” neighbors yet seems to think nothing of inflicting senseless cruelty on the poor.

If we are to be judged by how we treat the most vulnerable among us, we are failing.

We must do better.

November 20, 2015November 20, 2015

RIPTA Riders Alliance rallies against elderly/disabled fare increases

Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387

The RIPTA Riders Alliance held a rally and press conference outside the State House yesterday to call attention to the proposed increases in fares for elderly and disabled passengers. As has been reported here before, in order to close a budget gap, the General Assembly and Governor Gina Raimondo authorized RIPTA (Rhode Island Public Transportation Authority) to do away with free rides. In response, RIPTA is planning to charge, “all disabled people and seniors $1.00 per ride during peak AND off-peak hours, regardless of those passengers’ income levels.”

Other fare increases for monthly and weekly passes and transfers have been proposed, as well as eliminating discounts on multi-ride tickets.

Many seniors and disabled passengers live on fixed incomes and will be negatively impacted by this rate increase. Though the state will provide rides for scheduled doctor’s visits, free rides will not be provided for shopping, visits with friends and relatives, or attending political rallies. Those stuck at home will face isolation and declining health outcomes.

Balancing budgets on the backs of the most vulnerable populations in a state that continues to cut taxes on the wealthiest, is a moral outrage.

State Senator Harold Metts and Representative Aaron Regunberg both addressed the crowd and promised to revisit RIPTA funding when the new session of the General Assembly begins in January.

Here are RIPTA’s proposed fare hikes for early 2016, from the RIPTA Riders Alliance press release:

SENIORS AND DISABLED PEOPLE will be charged $1 per ride. Disabled people must go back and submit proof that they’re disabled again.

MONTHLY PASSES will go up from $62 to $70. Weekly passes will go up from $23 to $25. The 15-ride pass will be discontinued and replaced with a 10-ride ticket costing $20.

TRANSFERS, which now cost 50 cents, will double in price. The new transfers will cost $1 for regular riders and are usable for travel anywhere in a 2-hour period.

SENIORS AND DISABLED PEOPLE will pay 50 cents per transfer. If they want a monthly pass, that will be $35 per month. Weekly passes will be $12.50.

October 28, 2015October 29, 2015

Sens Metts, Pichardo ask RIPTA not to raise fare prices on elderly, disabled

Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387

State senators Harold Metts and Juan Pichardo have requested in writing that the Rhode Island Public Transportation Agency cancel a proposal to raise fare prices on elderly, disabled and homeless riders. The two Democrats who represent poor areas of Providence wrote a joint letter to RIPTA Board Chairman Scott Avedesian, also the mayor of Warwick, and to Jonathan Womer, the director of the state Office of Management and Budget, imploring them to reconsider the rate increase.

“Hurting the most vulnerable is not the answer; and we can not support the proposed increase,” they wrote in a letter.

“The elderly and disabled who are also poor are the last people who should be made to shoulder the burden of RIPTA’s budget shortfalls,” said Pichardo, of District 2, in a press release from the State House. “It’s hard enough for them to put food on the table and keep their heat on. They don’t have money to start paying every time they need to go anywhere. This is going to have a devastating effect on their households, health and quality of life.”

Metts, who represents District 6, said, “Not only is this going to hurt the most vulnerable people financially, the result is going to be that these folks simply can’t go anywhere. Many elderly and disabled people aren’t able to walk very far, so this is going to have the effect of making them virtual shut-ins. This will isolate them on top of adding to their financial struggles. The effects of this plan are morally unacceptable, and RIPTA needs to identify a way to fund its services without doing so much harm to those least able to take the impact.”

Both letters are copies in full below.

The RIPTA Board has been considering increasing fare prices on elderly and disabled riders who earn less than 200 percent of the annual poverty level income to one dollar. Currently, they ride for free.

Here’s the letter to Avedesian:

October 27, 2015
Hon. Scott Avedisian, Chairperson
RIPTA
705 Elmwood Avenue
Providence RI, 02007

Dear Chairperson Avedisian,

We are writing you in opposition to fare increases on seniors and the handicapped currently being proposed by RIPTA to the Office of Regulatory Reform, under the umbrella of the Office of Management & Budget. The sustainability of RIPTA should not be at the expense of the most vulnerable poor.

We have received several telephone calls from constituents and advocacy groups about this. They are extremely concerned and outraged by the negative impact this will have. The poor and handicapped need public transportation to buy food at the grocery market, keep their doctor’s appointments, etc. This population is struggling as it is; and price increases for those on limited fixed income should never have been considered.

Public transportation is the only mode for them to move about the neighborhoods, city and state. As a result of this proposed action, people will feel limited and this will affect their mental state with added stress.

Public transportation is very important to the Rhode Island economy. We disagree; however, with the March study on revenue and technology, authorized by RIPTA. Hurting the most vulnerable is not the answer; and we can not support the proposed increase.

Sincerely yours,
________________                                                         ___________________
Harold M. Metts,                                                               Juan M. Pichardo
Senate District #6                                                             Senate District #2

HMM

cc. Governor Gina Raimondo
Speaker Nicholas A. Mattiello
Madam President M. Teresa Paiva-Weed
Mr. Jonathan Womer, Director
Mr. Raymond Studley, Director of RIPTA

And to Womer:

October 27, 2015
Mr. Jonathan Womer, Director
Office of Management & Budget
1 Capitol Hill 4th Floor
Providence, RI 02908

Dear Mr. Womer,

We understand that the office of Regulatory Reform is under your umbrella, as the director of the Office of Management and Budget. We are opposed to the proposed 50% fair increase by RIPTA, submitted to your agency for approval. The sustainability of RIPTA should not be at the expense of the poor, handicapped and most vulnerable.

People on fixed incomes don’t have options. This population uses public transportation to buy food at the market, go to their doctor’s appointments, etc. The most vulnerable will be severely and negatively impacted.

In closing, please reject this proposal. Ask RIPTA to find a more suitable option that we all can support.

Sincerely yours,
________________                                                         __________________

Harold M. Metts                                                                Juan M. Pichardo
Senate District #6                                                             Senate District #2

cc. Governor Gina Raimondo
Speaker Nicholas A. Mattiello
Madam President M. Teresa Paiva-Weed

October 20, 2015

Opposition to RIPTA fare hike on elderly and disabled intensifies

Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387

About 100 people turned out to oppose the RIPTA‘s planned fare hikes on the elderly and disabled at yesterday’s board meeting, packing the small conference room and overflowing into the halls. This almost doubles the opposition the plan faced a month ago at the last board meeting.

This time 29 people spoke out against the fare hikes. Some were speaking out for themselves, as affected riders, others were there to advocate for the people they serve.

“Our constituents literally have no money,” said Lee Ann Byrne, policy director at Rhode Island Coalition for the Homeless. She noted that 53 percent of Rhode Island’s homeless population are disabled.

Willa Truelove, of the State Rehabilitation Council, pointed out that it is “about to be really cold” which will create mobility issues for people who would normally use the bus to travel. These people, says Truelove, “cannot afford to pay another dime.”

But the most contentious moment of the afternoon was during the testimony of William Flynn, executive director of the Senior Agenda Coalition of RI. It was at this moment that a seemingly exasperated Mayor Scott Avedisian, the head of RIPTA’s board, interrupted Flynn to “clarify” the issue at hand.

Flynn was making the point that lack of access to affordable transportation will strand seniors at home, leading to disastrous health outcomes for seniors and greater costs to Medicare. Theses are the certain results of the actions the board takes today, said Flynn. Avedisian interrupted, (at the 1m 10s mark below) insisting that the issue was not up for a vote today, and that the decision has not been made.

Avedisian insisted that today’s vote was, “the beginning of a public hearing process” but as the later discussion made clear, the public hearing process and subsequent vote to raise fares is all but inevitable. There are no plans under consideration that do not include fare increases, and if the board does not increase fares there are no alternative revenue streams to balance their $6 million shortfall.

RIPTA will shortly announce a series of ten public hearings throughout the state to take place in the evening and afternoons. After the hearings RIPTA hopes for a vote sometime in December and for the fare increase to be in place by February.

Reverend Donald Anderson, representing the Interfaith Coalition to Reduce Poverty, asked the board to take a stand against the idea of balancing budgets on the backs of the most vulnerable. While acknowledging the fact that RIPTA’s budgetary woes are entirely due to the General Assembly’s lack of support for RIPTA, he maintained that a vote against beginning the process that will inevitably lead to raising the rates on seniors and the disabled might set a moral example for other boards throughout the state.

Despite Anderson’s plea, the entire board voted to proceed.

Though the fare increase on seniors and disabled riders seems inevitable, as Randall Rose, a member of the RIPTA Riders Alliance pointed out, this outrage can be defeated if enough people raise the issue and fight against it.

This meeting easily doubled the number of people who turned out against the fare increase last time. As awareness of this issue grows and media outside of RI Future start to cover this, opposition will grow as well. Further, we are entering an election year. Members of the General Assembly will begin their bi-annual treks to elderly housing complexes searching for votes. You can be sure that these voters will be wondering why their fixed incomes are being mined o pay for previously free services.

You can also be sure that RI taxpayers will be wondering why RIPTA is being forced to take actions that will result in soaring Medicaid and Medicare costs. As seniors and disabled riders are forced to choose between transportation and medication, or cut down on the essential transportation that keeps them socially engaged and healthy, taxpayers will be footing the bill.

It is far cheaper to provide free transportation than it is to provide round the clock nursing care.

Below is the testimony of all twenty-nine people to speak against the fare hikes.

September 29, 2015May 23, 2016

People to RIPTA: raising bus fares on the elderly, homeless, disabled is immoral

Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387

Scott Avedisian, fully engaged, with his phone

RIPTA is considering raising bus fares by $1 on disabled, elderly and the homeless, and more than two dozen advocates and representatives from those communities voiced their opposition at the RIPTA board meeting held in the middle of the afternoon yesterday.

They wondered why RIPTA (Rhode Island Public Transportation Authority) is considering balancing its budget on the poorest and most vulnerable communities. For some, the bus is their only means of travel. Raising the rates will mean getting out of the home and into the community less.

As William Flynn, executive director of the Senior Agenda Coalition of RI said, “Isolation kills, and transportation is a vital part of fighting isolation.” He thinks as many as 4,500 Rhode Islanders may be affected by the plan.

Another speaker, from the RIPTA Riders Alliance, cited a Brown University study that showed that on average, people on fixed income may have as little as $40 a month of discretionary cash. Raising the bus fares on these people is estimated to cost an average of $30 a month. Several present and former clergy, such as the Reverend Chris Foster of the Providence Presbyterian Church, implied that the very consideration of a plan that goes after the last dollars of the poor and vulnerable was “immoral” and implored the board to find other ways of closing the funding gap.

Amazingly, the RIPTA board almost didn’t have a quorum when the meeting started, many of the board members did not even show up at what one observer called the most packed public commentary meeting in years. Warwick Mayor Scott Avedisian, chairman of RIPTA’s Board of Directors, was often seen reading his cellphone during testimony, apparently unable to feign interest for the concerns of the poor, disabled, homeless or elderly.

Ray Studley, RIPTA CEO, like most other board members presents, was attentive, but after public commentary ended, he made false and misinformed comments about the availability of Medicare billable transportation services through Logisticare. Logisticare is a private company used by the state to transport people to non-emergency doctor appointments. The company requires scheduling trips up to weeks in advance, and according to many who spoke to me outside the meeting, is unreliable, often late or doesn’t show up at all.

Further, Logisticare does not provide rides for anything but Medicare billable transportation. Shopping, work, visits to family, social engagements, pharmacy visits and even necessary trips to rehabilitation support groups like Alcoholics Anonymous, are not covered, despite what Studley was saying. Of course, Studley said this after public comment was over, so those I talked to outside RIPTA after the meeting were frustrated that they had no chance to refute this.

Logisticare is expensive. The state is billed, through Medicare, much more than it costs to provide free bus trips for some groups of people. If a senior is able to use the bus for a regular doctor’s appointment, why force that person to use a more expensive and more specialized means of transportation at a much higher cost to the state?

William Flynn of the Senior Agenda Coalition knows a woman in recovery who goes to four or five AA meetings a week. These meetings are her lifeline. If she misses meetings, her odds of relapsing go up. Others may start missing needed doctors appointments or not fill prescriptions in a timely manner. The economic cost to our state in terms of emergency medical services will rise, but more importantly there will be a rise in misery and suffering.

Balancing budgets on the backs of the poor is never the right thing to do.

Below is the testimony of all 17 people who spoke out at the board meeting.

“I can not impress upon you the damaging effect… many of these people are living on incomes of less than $800 a month…”

“…the dollar will cost them $360 a year, we’re talking about people who make $782 a month…”

“…to a lot of the people here… that’s not a lot of money at all..” but to those on a fixed income…

…not only the cost, but the isolation they face in Providence with the difficulty of getting around…”

“…there will be an increase of physical and mental afflictions as well as an increase in visits to the emergency room…”

“Those with mental illness tend to isolate, and if they don’t have a lot of support they isolate and don’t take care of themselves…”

“If this proposal goes through… I won’t be able to go to Rhode Island College…”

“The Pope [was] talking about the small things that we do that result in justice, mercy and the care of others. This is what he’s talking about…”

“There’s people downtown stranded right now and there’s homeless people downtown every day in Kennedy Plaza. They cannot get on the bus if they don’t look right…”

“The greatest single factor that leads to shorter lives for people is isolation.”

“We are all responsible for all, and to all. This is a basic framework, a basic belief of all our major religions. The Judeo-Christian, the Muslem, the Hindu, Buddhist, even the non-religious, the Humanists!”

“Each time we take the bus we have to take several buses a day to attend programs that greatly improve the quality of of our illnesses or disablities…”

“In my last twenty years I’ve seen seniors who are of low income come to me because they have no food. I’ve seen them come to my center because they have no money. I’ve seen them come to my center because they’re in the dark because they can’t pay their electric bill…”

“I know people who have cars and high paying jobs who are ethically outraged by this…”

“Brown University did a study and the average discretionary monies per month for disabled and elderly people is around $40…”

And here’s RI Future’s own Andrew Stewart!

August 28, 2015

Bus riders protest proposed RIPTA rate hikes on seniors and disabled

Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387

RIPTA Riders Alliance, an advocacy group for bus riders, held a press conference in Kennedy Plaza across from Providence City Hall on Thursday afternoon to protest “a sharp bus fare increase” of $1 per ride for low-income disabled people and seniors. Right now the increase is only a proposal and the current fare for senior and disabled riders is $0.

According to the RIPTA Riders Alliance, “RIPTA officials say that they haven’t decided yet on bus fare increases, [but] some information about the planned increases is already publicly known. According to comments made by RIPTA officials at RIPTA’s July 20 board meeting, their planned budget includes plans to raise fares.”

RIPTA Riders Alliance release a list of cities and states with bus systems of comparable size to RIPTA. The average fare in these systems in $1.60 for regular riders, 40 cents lower than RIPTA. The average rate for seniors and disabled riders is 68 cents. RIPTA Riders Alliance wants RIPTA to find savings via internal efficiencies, not with additional costs to riders.

Don Rhodes, president of RIPTA Riders Alliance, said in a statement, “RIPTA Riders Alliance is opposed to balancing the deficit on the backs of the passengers. The Alliance is against the imposition of an off-peak fare for disabled and elderly people living on a limited income. And during peak hours, charging them $1 per ride is far too much of a financial burden, greatly limiting their mobility. We are also opposed to any increase in the $2.00 base fare, which is already higher than average base fares in similar bus systems.”

Several speakers spoke of the economic hardships they would face under a new rate system.

July 29, 2015

Disability forum exposes inaccessibility, discrimination across state programs

Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387

If you thought that riding RIPTA, or receiving food benefits was difficult, imagine trying to do it with a disability. That’s what was talked about Tuesday afternoon when the Governor’s Commission on Disabilities held a public forum at the Warwick Public Library, where those in the disabled community could voice their concerns about accessibility across the state.

The forum hosted a number of healthcare professionals, who specialize in a number of care outlets for disabled patients. Different groups that were represented included the Disability Law Center, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the Ocean State Center for Independent Living, and the Office of Rehabilitation Services, among others. But, rather than the professionals taking up the time to speak, many community members came forward, expressing how they believe Rhode Island can do better in terms of accessibility.

Barbara Henry, a blind woman who cannot drive, frequents RIPTA, which has proven problematic for her on more than one occasion.

“When the bus pulls up, I have no idea what bus it is,” she said. “They do not announce the bus, and I feel they really discriminate against anyone who is visually impaired, or print disabled, or anything for that matter.”

Henry’s problems have ranged from not knowing that a stop had been changed, to dealing with the newly renovated Kennedy Plaza, which she said is not accessible at all. While the stop names are in braille, the bus numbers that go through those stops are not, and the bus drivers do not announce which bus they are driving.

“My bus stop is G, but my bus number is 33,” she said. “There’s the 33, the 56, and the 54 that go out of that one stop. There’s nothing in braille that indicates that. If you were standing there, I would have to come up to you, and ask, “What bus is this?” And when the bus pulls up, there’s no audio announcement.”

Henry, who advocated, in her own words, “like hell,” for braille at Kennedy Plaza, feels as though her community is not taken seriously. Henry said that she attends the RIPTA community meetings, advocating for other blind people, because there is nothing tactile for them to process when they are finding their stop, not even a map.

“Since it’s been open since January, I’m still trying to process, make a mental map, of where everything is. They didn’t make any type of map or anything,” she said.

When Kennedy Plaza reopened earlier this year, RIPTA staff were there to assist passengers and direct them where to go, but Henry said that there was nobody to specifically help disabled riders.

Henry said that these issues don’t just affect blind people, though. Many other disabled riders struggle with RIPTA, including those who are deaf, autistic, or impaired in some other fashion. Such treatment has lead Henry to believe that RIPTA discriminates against the disabled.

“I truly, truly believe, that they do discriminate against the disabled,” she said. “I feel that my safety is placed at risk.”

Kristin Clark went to the forum to represent her friend, who is disabled and experienced mistreatment and belligerent service at the hands of the Wakefield SNAP office when trying to get certified for her benefits. Clark’s friend, who was not named, went into her local Wakefield office rather than conducting a phone interview with the main Providence office.

“The staff apparently relies on phone interviews, even though they are told they can come into offices to do the recertification,” Clark said. “When she came into the office, she was treated very badly, and very hostilely, and was told several times that SNAP would be cancelled for her, and that she would have to pay back what they said was an overpayment, and now she’s left not knowing what her situation is.”

Clark added that Rhode Island Housing has been helpful for her friend and her son, who is also disabled, because she is part of section 8 housing. SNAP, on the other hand, has caused a whole host of problems for her. Clark has even spoken to Congressman Jim Langevin’s (D- District 2), who looked into the problem and asked that they also speak to the Department of Health. When her friend called, the Department of Health was not only rude to her again, but also defended the SNAP office’s treatment towards her.

“By the end of the call, my friend was just a mess, and as of right now, has no idea what her situation is,” she said. “She does not know if she’s cancelled, she does not know if somebody is going to come after her for that money that they say she was overpaid, she does not know if, come Aug. 1, if she is going to have any SNAP benefits.”

Raffi Jansezian, a staff member for the GCD, explained how their office plans to move forward with these issues.

“After all the forums are done after this week, and after all the transcripts are finalized, I’ll be going through them, personally reading them as well as running different focus groups to analyze the transcripts, to figure out which problems are coming up over and over again,” he said.

Once that process is completed, they then move to begin writing solutions for these pressing issues into legislation, and create laws that can benefit everyone who has been affected and come to them to voice their concerns.

Jansezian added that Governor Gina Raimondo has shown “fantastic” support for the GCD, and that they have already made some strides towards what they hope to accomplish.

Deprecated: Function get_magic_quotes_gpc() is deprecated in /hermes/bosnacweb08/bosnacweb08bf/b1577/ipg.rifuturecom/RIFutureNew/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 4387