Report Purpose

This Existing Conditions Report provides an overview of opportunities and constraints within the study area, identifies the most relevant information and sets the stage for development and evaluation of rapid transit alternatives.

A key piece of the Metro Connector Study, the Existing Conditions Report collects, synthesizes, and assesses a variety of qualitative and quantitative information that provides context for the rapid transit study.

Transit Forward RI 2040, Rhode Island’s statewide Transit Master Plan, was adopted into the State Guide Plan in 2020. The Plan identified that much of metropolitan Providence has very high underlying demand for transit which rivals that found along existing light rail and bus rapid transit corridors in much larger cities across the US. Two corridors were identified that connect such areas of high demand and that run north-south across the Providence metropolitan region, the first extending from the Central Falls/Cumberland border through Pawtucket, downtown Providence, Cranston, and Warwick to the CCRI-Warwick Campus, and the second connecting downtown Providence to T.F. Green International Airport.

The purpose of the Metro Connector Study is to consider options for providing fast, reliable, and frequent transit that connects major transportation hubs, regional activity centers, and residential neighborhoods in metropolitan Providence while achieving other State goals related to climate, sustainable housing growth, and economic development in an equitable manner

Report Outline

This report is organized into seven chapters, with each chapter examining a different type of existing conditions information:

1. Chapter 1 – Introduction
2. Chapter 2 – Plan and Policy Review summarizes existing transportation and land use plans, transportation policies, and other studies which inform potential future rapid transit in the study area.
3. Chapter 3 – Land-Use and Zoning Assessment assesses current and future land uses in the study area, with a special focus on the relationship between land use and rapid transit.
4. Chapter 4 – Transit Network Analysis highlights relevant aspects of the transit network and transit performance in the study area.
5. Chapter 5 – Existing Right-of-Way Conditions describes existing relevant right-of-way characteristics, such as roadway widths and railroad right-of-way.
6. Chapter 6 – Market Analysis describes the market for transit in the study area.
7. Chapter 7 – Environmental identifies the major environmental features in the study area that should be considered as part of the study, with an emphasis on sensitive environmental features that will serve as constraints to our analysis.

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