The summer, the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority's (RIPTA) Board of Directors authorized its staff to conduct public hearings on proposed service reductions affecting 39 routes. More than 650 Rhode Islanders attended the 12 public hearings and community meetings, 277 of whom testified. All 277 testified against the proposed service reductions.

Eleven state legislators also attended the hearings. CTC staff are reaching out to these officials to get their perspective on what they heard. We'll share their responses with you as they come in.

First up, State Rep. Jeremiah T. O'Grady from House, District 46 (Lincoln, Pawtucket), who attended the August 4 meeting at City Hall in Pawtucket. Here's what he had to say: 

What struck me most from the public testimony on RIPTA's proposed service cuts was the overlap between those most affected by the RIPTA cuts and those most affected by this session's reduction in funding for developmentally disabled adults. It seems clear that those who will be disproportionately affected by RIPTA's service cuts are in many respects the same folks who were hit hardest by the transportation-related cutbacks in the Division of Developmental Disability's FY12 budget. This is especially the case where those living with mobility challenges rely on RIPTA's RIDE program as a lifeline to the outside world. Once a bus route is eliminated, so too is the RIDE option for residents living near that route.
 
What is also clear is that RIPTA's main challenge is its reliance on a broken revenue mechanism -- the gas tax -- to fund its operations. Ironically, this mechanism is self-contradicting: as bus ridership increases, RIPTA's funding decreases because less gas is sold and, therefore, less gas tax is collected. This situation is especially acute when gas prices spike -- as they have been doing in RI over the past 18 months. It's no great mystery why RIPTA would struggle under such circumstances.
 
The RI Department of Transportation has been facing similar challenges over its reliance on the gas tax and, in response, the General Assembly shifted RIDOT's funding toward a fee-based pay-as-you-go system last session.  As a vital part of this state's transportation system, RIPTA ought to have been included in that reform effort -- as was proposed in the Transportation Investment and Debt Reduction Act co-sponsored by myself and Sen. DiPalma. I believe we must take another look at this proposal in the upcoming year.