Public Transportation: The RIPTA

We’ve all taken some form of public transportation at some point in our lives. Whether it was taking the yellow bus to and from school or hopping on the train to get to a city, you’ve been on some mode of public transportation. It always starts out fun. Then you get used to it or begin encountering people who smell like Doritos, and it all begins to spiral into the dark abyss.

I remember when I first started taking the RIPTA (Rhode Island’s bus system). It was last year in February when I had to take a bus from Lincoln all the way down to Providence where my new school was. I was all excited with my monthly pass I got through school. I admit, despite it taking nearly an hour to get to school and an hour back, I really enjoyed it. Then again this could be because when I lived in Europe, it was the best way to get anywhere.  New things also have a knack for being shiny and intriguing.

Normally, just to get to my school, which is a mere half hour away, I had to go through four transports. First, I had to be dropped off at the Lincoln Mall. Then I had to take the 54 to Kennedy Plaza (in downtown Providence). Next I had to wait for the 1 to take me down Eddy Street, and lastly I walk down two blocks to arrive at my destination. It was a bit wearying.

About half the bus smells like some form of molding cheese, and there’s so much waiting. The buses are usually full, meaning the buses don’t have certain routes often enough. This is due to the bus system being strained far too much. Having a bus that has to serve an entire state, even one as small as Rhode Island, is near impossible. It’s like pouring baking soda into vinegar and expecting the mixture not to explode eventually. Public transport barely has enough money to run.

It gets better. Because of recent budget cuts, twenty percent of RIPTA bus stops will be eliminated. They say this will provide better and faster service. Come on! This is not okay. I don’t take the bus anymore, but honestly. One does not simply take away money from an already faltering service. No. Bad.

I would like to think there is an easy solution, but either way, public transport as it is won’t last. We could condense the RIPTA to just the city, but then there are other transportation issues. How will someone go from, say, Bryant to Providence? Then typically this is where I would start ranting on about how we should be more like Europe. We should have clusters of where people are rather than spread out haphazardly across a bunch of land.

I really do not like the public bus. Every time I take it, I try to picture Europe where the system is run efficiently. I imagine myself comfortable, not squished on a bench between suspicious humans. I like to think I’m on a mini adventure, maybe going to meet Gandalf, not heading to another stop and more waiting. All in all, either the RIPTA needs to seriously be looked into by whoever makes the budget, or just dissipate into the air.