June 8, 2016

Press Releases

After holding five public hearings in April, the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) has refined the details of fall service changes that will affect ten routes serving parts of Providence, East Providence, Pawtucket, North Providence and North Smithfield.  In order to give passengers details on the changes, the Authority is hosting four community meetings this month in North Providence, East Providence and Pawtucket.The proposed changes will affect ten routes:  Routes 32, 33, 34, 35, 78, 50, 52, 58, 92, and 40.  The community meetings will be held June 13, 14 and 21 in East Providence, Pawtucket and North Providence.COMMUNITY MEETING SCHEDULEMonday, June 13, 2016 • 2pm – 4pmand 6pm – 8pmEast Providence Senior Center, 610 Waterman Avenue, East Providence, RI Tuesday, June 14, 2016 • 5pm – 7pmPawtucket City Hall, Council Chambers, 137 Roosevelt Avenue, Pawtucket, RI Tuesday, June 21, 2016 • 6pm – 8pmNorth Providence Public Library, 1810 Mineral Spring Avenue, North Providence, RI “I think people will see that comments made at the April hearings really had an impact on the decisions we made,” said Amy Pettine, RIPTA’s Executive Director of Planning. “We tried to address many of the concerns that were raised. Now, we’re going back to the communities to let people know about the revisions we’ve made.” Some of the changes include having Routes 32 and 34 travel via the Henderson Bridge instead of Interstate 195 and both routes will be extended for new service to the Seekonk Square shopping center; Route 33 will maintain current frequency but will also travel between Providence and East Providence via the Henderson Bridge instead of the highway; Routes 35 and 78 will have an increased frequency of running every 45 minutes and will travel between Providence and East Providence via Taunton Avenue and Interstate 195 rather than using the Henderson Bridge; Route 58 will have increased frequency of hourly trips in addition to new limited Saturday service. Route 58 will also be rerouted along Branch Avenue to cover stops that were serviced by Route 52 which is being discontinued as its service is merged with Route 50.  As a result of Route 58 being rerouted to this portion of Branch Avenue, it will no longer serve Georgiaville Manor or Mineral Spring Avenue east of Douglas Avenue.  For more detailed information please see below.

These changes will go into effect in the fall as part of RIPTA’s seasonal service realignments that are made in response to passenger travel patterns and to optimize efficiency.  For more details on the changes please visit www.ripta.com or call 781-9400.