After teaching an interactive course about erosion with a second grade science class at Vartan Gregorian Elementary School, Kris Haines took a 30 minute bus ride from Fox Point to Wanskuck Library. There was another class to lead.
It’s the sort of trip Haines would take every Wednesday this spring as a Youth Makerspace Specialist at the Community Libraries of Providence, a job that takes them all across the city— and almost always via RIPTA.
But Haines warns this trip could soon take twice as long and disrupt their ability to teach.
“The RIPTA cuts would just make it more difficult for me to be able to do as many programs as I’ve been doing,” said Haines, who worries students may not be able to travel to the classes as well. “Public transit is impacting my ability to get to them and their ability to get to me.”
The cuts stem from Governor McKee’s 2026 budget, which left the Rhode Island Public Transportation Authority facing a deficit of $32.6 million. This week, Governor McKee and RIPTA CEO Chris Durand announced a new plan to limit the cuts through vague plans to increase advertising revenue, corporate partnerships, federal funding and increasing fares.
The new plan is the latest in a series of lawmaker interventions and financial finagling by RIPTA administrators that will still result in the reduction of bus service in Rhode Island.
Forty-six routes will see reductions in frequency or decreased service days in this week’s plan. Nearly 80 drivers were at risk of losing their positions in the original rollback. The new plan promises to save over $2 million through “strategic staff reassignments” and reducing management positions.
No routes will be outright cut in the new plan, but passengers are worried about how their lives will be impacted by less frequent buses, fewer days of service and shorter bus routes.
“Every day I need to ask, ‘Is it RIPTA-able?’” said Jeanelle Wheeler, who depends on more than 22 different bus routes for work, teaching clarinet lessons and rehearsing with her band. “And because often I can’t afford to Uber, this daily puzzle of RIPTA route calculations determines my daily actions.”
Wheeler said “the cuts would completely gut the system,” leaving people like her stranded across the state. Last week, Wheeler rode the 14 to Narragansett and told a fellow passenger the 14 would no longer have weekend service under the initial cut proposal.
“He looked at me with complete disbelief,” she said. “He needed this route every day and every weekend. For every route, there are stories like these.”
Under the new plan, the 14 will only eliminate service between North Kingstown and Narragansett on weekdays.
The public outcry has been apparent. Across nearly a dozen public hearings and over 400 pages worth of testimonies posted online by RIPTA this month, people are overwhelmingly against the cuts, expressing “fear and horror” at the potential impacts. Advocates from the Save RIPTA coalition said the new plan with fewer cuts moved in a better direction, but is a far cry from the transportation the state needs.
“This new proposal will still cause harm to tens of thousands of Rhode Islanders,” members of the Providence Streets Coalition and RI Transit Riders posted on social media. “People will lose their mobility, jobs, independence, and quality of life. It is not something to celebrate.”
Teens like Zach Bell depend on RIPTA to travel to school. Bell, 15, takes the R-Line everyday to get to Classical High School. Under the proposed budget cuts, the route will be less frequent for his morning commute.
“In the morning if I miss one, I’m gonna get to school late,” says Bell. “It’ll make it harder to find the right bus, and when I’m going home, it’ll take longer.”
For retired truck driver William Archer, the cuts would be the last straw for using public transportation.
“I’m gonna get my license and get a car again,” says Archer, who is 63 and uses RIPTA to go to the doctor. Archer cites the reductions in frequency on Route 20 as a deal breaker. Based on what RIPTA has proposed, the bus would only run every 45 minutes on the weekend. “That’s crazy. You miss it, it’s a wrap.”
RIPTA’s board will meet on Thursday to discuss the new budget framework. Earlier this month, RIPTA CEO Durand said the agency has until October 1 to implement service changes or find other ways to fund the bus system.
For Haines, the Youth Makerspace Specialist, the choice is simple.
“We need to fund RIPTA,” Haines said. “We should be building a robust transit system and looking into having more transit hubs and more crosstown routes. Not less.”
This story was created in partnership with Journalism New England. The writers are all Providence Eye Community News Fellows and their bios are listed here.
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