What does it take
to keep RIPTA rolling?

If you think rush hour is bad now, can you imagine what it would be like with almost 7,000 more cars on the road?

Each weekday morning, RIPTA has 6,840 seats rolling around the state to get Rhode Islanders to work, school and play, while preventing the pollution and traffic congestion that would be caused by thousands of additional cars cramming the state's roads and highways.

What does it take to keep the RIPTA fleet moving?

Last week we told you about CTC's 2011 legislative and policy agenda, which included our plan to reform the state's unsustainable transportation funding system.

Until state decision-makers act to approve common sense reforms to provide stable funding for our transportation system, RIPTA will have to hike fares and Rhode Island will have to continue to borrow money for maintenance on our roads and bridges and to keep RIPTA rolling.

In November 2010, Rhode Islanders voted to support a comfortable, well-functioning transit system. By approving Question 3 on the November ballot, voters allowed the state to float $84.7 million in bonds for transportation projects. The lion's share of this money -- $80 million -- will directly fund improvements on the state's highways, roads and bridges and allow the state to access an additional $423 million in federal funds for transportation projects.

The remaining $4.7 million is designated for buying new RIPTA buses or rehabilitate existing ones. Since a bond is a loan to the state, interest is attached. For this bond the 6% interest rate and transaction fee will add $300,800 to the $4.7 million price tag.

Rhode Islanders can take heart that several studies -- some of which you can read about here and here -- show that, in terms of efficiency, RIPTA does a good job for the money and delivers exceptionally good service.

The money derived from the 2010 bond will match federal money to buy 12 to 20 new vehicles, and some of the funds will be used to rehabilitate existing equipment. When you're spending hundreds of thousands of dollars per vehicle, perhaps up to almost $700,000 for a new hybrid fuel bus-trolley, you mix and match for the best functional fleet.

RIPTA chooses carefully, and just as you do when you consider buying a new car, considers a variety of questions.

What are the opportunity costs of running the current machine? When do the operating and maintenance costs outweigh the cost of a new vehicle? What are the comparative fuel efficiencies? How much time are you losing waiting for repair? How much pollution are you adding to the air? 

But in addition to these issues, RIPTA has to think about satisfying and attracting customers.

Buses that provide a comfortable ride, serve customers quickly, are easy to board with shopping carts, strollers, and wheelchairs, and that have easy-to-understand information about routes attract customers. All of RIPTA's vehicles are compliant with the ADA (American with Disabilities Act) requirements. About one-third of the buses are ground level models that don't require using stairs or lifts to reach seats, and all new buses include this ground-entry feature. Bicycle racks have been installed on all RIPTA buses since the early 1990s but with only two bicycles adequately fitting on the racks, demand sometimes exceeds space.

The U. S. DOT estimates the useful life of a bus at 12 years.  More than one-quarter of the current fleet (96 of 327) were purchased in 1992 and 1998. During the past year, fifty-three new diesel-electric hybrid buses and 10 hybrid bus-trolleys have been added to the fleet totaling 327 vehicles. The hybrids offer 20% savings on fuel costs and pollution is decreased as well.Compressed natural gas (CNG) and diesel fuel the other 317 fixed route vehicles.

It's complex dance to keep the fleet rolling. And, whether we use RIPTA or not, we all enjoy the benefits of keeping thousands of cars off of our roads and highways at rush hour. We could make it easier, and provide Rhode Islanders with more transportation choices, if we enacted the stable, long-term funding plans that CTC is backing at the State House.