Completed in 2020, Transit Forward RI established a vision to enhance and further develop Rhode Island’s passenger transportation network to better meet the near- and long-term mobility needs of our state’s residents, workers and visitors. The project is a collaboration between the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA), the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT), and the Rhode Island Division of Statewide Planning. Transit Forward RI is designed to support corresponding improvements to the state’s transit services. These improvements are designed to enhance mobility, help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, encourage active transportation, support economic development, and make Rhode Island a better place to live, work, and play.

A plan of this scale will take time to implement in its entirety, but Rhode Island has already begun introducing improvements with the goal of fulfilling the plan’s vision by 2040. Since the plan’s adoption, RIPTA has already introduced the following improvements. More information on each project can be found by clicking the links below:

• Route 68, new all-day route serving Newport and Middletown
• The Pawtucket Transit Emphasis Corridor between Downtown Pawtucket and the new Pawtucket-Central Falls Station
• New transit hub at CCRI-Warwick.

The plan represents the results of months of data-driven analysis, public and stakeholder outreach, and pragmatic debate among state transportation leaders. The plan is bold and ambitious, and it is vital to Rhode Island regaining its economic leadership regionally and nationally.