View Above Kennedy Plaza. Part of "Re-Imagining Providence City Center Report" 2021 courtesy of Arum/Stimson/Ultramoderne Unified Vision for Downtown Providence
What’s Up with the Downtown Transit Hub?
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A crucial meeting presenting options for the transit hub in Providence will be held at the Amica Mutual Pavilion, “The Dunk”, on May 13, 4-7pm.  The purpose is to obtain community feedback related to RIPTA’s plan to develop a new transit center that would replace [...]

01
May
Passengers board an R-Line Bus on Broad Street photo: Tony Sager
The R-Line Is Crucial to PVD And A Model For RIPTA
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The R-Line is both RIPTA’s busiest line, carrying about one sixth of all RIPTA passengers, and a model for what other transit lines could be if the Transit Master Plan were ever implemented.  Furthermore, it is a lifeline for Providence. The R-line Broad/North Main was [...]

24
Jan
Bike and Scooter Sharing Ridership Gives New Urgency to Urban Trail Network
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“I love SPIN scooters for their convenience. I can unlock it in 10 seconds and then leave it wherever I want at my destination”, says Brown University senior Miguel Howard.  And, indeed, the popularity of e-bikes and scooters has skyrocketed, with the city of Providence [...]

06
Dec
Watching as the Bus System Drives Over the Cliff
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By this summer, the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) will be facing a deficit of approximately $33 million.  The severe cuts in service and employment that may follow are the predicted cliff ahead in the road. In May 2023 the RIPTA staff presented its Board of [...]

22
Nov
Providence Streets Crash Data courtesy of Providence Streets Coalition
Providence Streets Crash Data Released
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A new interactive data and mapping initiative from the Providence Streets Coalition (PSC) is now available to the public, giving both residents and officials a block-by-block visualization of every reported motor vehicle crash involving a person walking or bicycling since 2010. The interactive map pinpoints and details [...]

15
Nov
Illustration by Habesha Petros
Dangerous Intersection: RIDOT Hides Crash Data from Public
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PROVIDENCE — Crash data — where they happen, how, and who is involved — is often reviewed by Rhode Island Department of Transportation staffers and consultants when making changes to the state’s roads or responding to safety issues. But requests for this information from the [...]

15
Nov
TRANSIT FORWARD RI 2040: Where Is Providence Going?
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Are you fed up with crowded, congested roads?  Worried about your safety on those roads?  Stressed by the high cost of maintaining one or more vehicles?  Concerned about businesses moving out of Providence?  Or anxious about climate change every time the news focuses on weather disasters [...]

26
Oct
Illustration by Habesha Petros
Why I Take the Bus
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Only six percent of all Rhode Islanders regularly take the bus, and I am one of them. While many people have no other choice since they can’t afford a car, I take the bus because I want to. I take the bus because it is [...]

04
Oct
Ready to Ride the Rails
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While some see trains as nineteenth-century technology, modern trains are perhaps the greenest way to travel over intermediate distances, and Rhode Islanders now have more opportunities to do so than in a long time. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) commuter rail service to Providence, which disappeared completely in the 1980s, is [...]

20
Sep
Hubbub Over the Bus Hub
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Where in downtown Providence should Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) locate its bus hub, the heart of its operations? Kennedy Plaza has long been both a transit center and a civic space.  Flanked by City Hall and the Federal Building and Courthouse, Exchange Place [...]

30
Aug