LOCAL MOTION Transit advocates form coalition to fight RIPTA cuts BY BRIAN C. JONES

In a variation of the old saw that war is too important to be left to the generals, a new coalition believes the future of the RIPTA bus system is too crucial to be entrusted just to state government. Calling itself the Rhode Island Transit Collaborative, the group formed last October after a series of potentially destructive service cuts was proposed to the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority route system.

After RIPTA proposed a fare hike in December, the collaborative argued that price increases are self-defeating since they drive off customers, many of whom use public transit because they are low on cash. The proposed service cuts (see "Downsizing RIPTA," News, August 27, 2004) never went through after a public uproar at hearings, the involvement of Governor Donald L. Carcieri, and some last minute fiddling with the budget. The RIPTA board is scheduled to meet January 24 to consider testimony from last year’s hearings and to vote on whether, as proposed earlier, to start the new fares February 1.

One of the strongest criticisms of the proposed fare increases comes from the Rhode Island chapter of the Sierra Club, whose transportation expert, Barry Schiller, is a past member of the RIPTA board. In a statement objecting to the increases, Schiller argued that what seems like a nominal increase — 25 cents in the basic fare, to a new level of $1.50 — is likely to send some riders back to their cars, and to put a burden on extremely poor users who can’t afford automobiles.

Schiller maintains the gains would be minimal — in this fiscal year, RIPTA itself projects raising a net $183,415 from the fare hike, out of budget of more than $70 million — compared with the possibility of losing riders. And such a loss could cause fresh problems down the line. "Any loss of riders from a fare increase now makes service cuts more likely in the near future," says Schiller, "thus likely contributing to a downward spiral in transit."

As the activist indicates, the bus system operates in a state of perpetual crisis — its finances are always at risk, so riders, employers, and the public can’t have much long-term confidence in either RIPTA’s services or its eventual survival. That’s why three organizations — the Sierra Club, the Rhode Island Committee on Safety and Health (RICOSH), and the American Lung Association of Rhode Island — have formed the transit collaborative to get a handle on the core issues.

Discussions are ongoing, but focus on two fronts, according to Jim Celenza, RICOSH’s director, and Art Handy, the Lung Association’s communications director and also a Democratic state representative from Cranston.

One possibility, Celenza says, is the creation of a not-for-profit organization that would develop in-depth and credible information about the bus system, in much the way that Rhode Island Kids Count provides trusted data and facts about a wide range of issues facing children. Another avenue is the creation of a riders’ group that can advocate vociferously for RIPTA, both at hearings like the sessions for service cuts and fare hikes, as well as other forums in which RIPTA’s fate is being shaped.

"We are concerned," Celenza says, "that there’s no overall strategy to protect transit, and that it’s not going to come out of the political establishment."

Handy notes that RIPTA is too important to so many aspects of Rhode Island’s life to allow the major discussions to take place just during moments of peril. As he says, "We cannot just wait for the next crisis to get exited again."