Coalition for Transportation Choices Statement on RIPTA Fare Increases

July 6, 2010 -- CTC is a coalition of 37 organizations, including environmental organizations such as Clean Water Action, Save the Bay, and Sierra Club; labor organizations such as Working Rhode Island, SEIU District 1199, and RICOSH; community groups such as AARP; health organizations such as the American Lung Association in Rhode Island and R.I. Public Health Association; and business organizations such as Cornish Associates and the Providence Warwick Convention and Visitors Bureau.

CTC does not welcome the proposed fare increase, which would be the third such increase since 2005 for a system with fares already above the national average. In addition, we are concerned about the negative impacts and hardship that would be caused by a fare increase and service cuts. These service reductions seem small now, but as budget deficits continue we can well imagine these razor cuts growing larger until the wounds inflicted become a significant threat to the system. Yet we also realize that the RIPTA Board has few options until our leaders in the General Assembly adopt a more fiscally sustainable funding mechanism for transit in Rhode Island. In CTC’s opinion, a fare increase is a lesser evil than further cuts in service.

CTC is here today because we want to call public attention to the wider context in which these proposed fare increases are occurring. CTC believes that the people of Rhode Island, acting through their elected representatives in the General Assembly, must find additional, new, sustainable funding sources for public transit in Rhode Island, and CTC has been working actively to help develop such long-term solutions. This is necessary for many reasons -- in order to promote economic development, create jobs, protect the health of our people, protect our air and water quality and address climate change.

RIPTA receives significantly less public funding than other public transit agencies of similar size around the country -- and RIPTA does excellent work with the limited funds it has. But RIPTA cannot keep on lurching from funding crisis to funding crisis. CTC urges all Rhode Islanders (including the State and other employers) to promote true transportation choices and to work for additional, sustainable funding for public transit in Rhode Island.