PROVIDENCE − Bus riders and drivers are urging Gov. Dan McKee to find $10 million to stave off sweeping cuts to Rhode Island Public Transit Authority bus service slated to go into effect throughout the state in September.
“Make no mistake, if these cuts go through, workers will lose their jobs, students will not get to class, older adults will not be able to get to the doctor or get groceries,” Liza Burkin, of the Providence Streets Coalition, said at a July 28 rally outside a bus drivers union hall near RIPTA headquarters. “More people will be forced to spend more of their scarce income on Uber and Lyft rides, be forced to walk or bike long distances, or simply be trapped at home.”
The state budget passed in June provided $15 million in new funding for RIPTA while still leaving the agency with a $17.6 million projected revenue shortfall.
RIPTA management said they have been able to squeeze that deficit down further through savings and maximizing federal funds, but are still looking at a $10 million hole that will need to be plugged by canceling some routes and reducing the frequency of others.
As proposed, the cuts affect 58 of RIPTA’s 63 routes.
They include the full elimination of 16 routes, shortening of six routes, cancellation of weekend service on nine routes, shortening the time during the day buses run on 10 routes and reducing the frequency of bus trips on 30 routes, including the flagship R-Line.
Burkin described the changes as a retrenchment from a statewide bus system into a metro-Providence system with some coverage in greater Newport.
RIPTA is slated to hold the first of a legally required series of public hearings on the cuts July 28.
How can the cuts be avoided?
Although the $14.3 billion state budget passed by lawmakers in June leaves RIPTA with a deficit this year, advocates say there are options to find $10 million if policymakers want to.
One option proposed at the rally is to shift part of the $35 million Rhode Island received from the federal government for transportation under the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Carbon Reduction Program.
Another would be to shift state transportation funds from highway projects to bus service, as was proposed in a Senate budget amendment that narrowly failed to pass on the final night of the legislative session.
It is fairly routine for governors to propose mid-year state spending increases when they propose a new state budget in January and the resulting “supplemental” budget passed at the end of each fiscal year is often much larger than what was passed when the year began.
In a June news conference explaining why he would not sign (or veto) the budget, McKee said his administration had identified $15 million in surplus funds that could have been used to fund bus service instead of the gas tax increase lawmakers chose.
But his administration has declined to comment since then on whether that money, or any other surplus funds, are still an option to avoid service cuts.
Providence Democratic state Rep. David Morales said he would be happy to return and provide more funding for RIPTA in a special legislative session this fall, but it is not necessary.
State Rep. David Morales speaks at Save RIPTA rally
“The governor has the ability to step in, to intervene and to say that public transit is a good that must be protected,” Morales said at the rally.
Rep. Karen Alzate, D-Pawtucket, said the cuts underlined the need to raise income taxes on the wealthiest Rhode Islanders, a proposal she has sponsored in legislation in recent years.
State Rep. Karen Alzate speaks at Save RIPTA rally
One member of the RIPTA Board of Directors spoke at the rally, Rhode Island AFL-CIO President Patrick Crowley, who called the cuts to bus service a de facto “tax increase on working-class Rhode Islanders.”
Speaking to reporters after the rally, Crowley said he is not aware of any discussions between RIPTA Board members and McKee about the looming cuts, but hopes that will happen between now and the next board meeting Aug. 7.
As for possible sources of cash to bolster RIPTA’s budget, Crowley mentioned federal funds that pay for service to parts of Massachusetts and even money from businesses or the tourism sector.
Rhode Island AFL-CIO President Patrick Crowley speaks at Save RIPTA rally
Burkin said presiding over the largest cuts to bus service in Rhode Island history will not help McKee achieve the goals of his 2030 plan and be a “stain” on his time in office.
“This will not make Rhode Island an attractive place to live for young professionals and it will not make Rhode Island an attractive place for large employers to come and set up shop,” she said.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RIPTA budget cuts will make RI less attractive advocates warn