February 8, 2015

Press Releases

The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) is planning on operating all regular service and RIde Program trips on Monday, February 9, 2015, but is advising riders to keep checking for detours and delays as a long-duration storm is expected to bring substantial snow to the state starting late Sunday.

RIPTA street supervisors will continuallyi be checking the road conditions on bus routes as the storm progresses. Making sure that streets are plowed is the primary concern, but RIPTA supervisors also must determine if roads have been made impassable due to other factors, said Barbara Polichetti, Director of Public Affairs for RIPTA.

“A lot of roads are narrow right now because of snow mounded along the sides from plowing, and then that situation can be exacerbated when people park on these narrowed streets,” Polichetti said. “What we’ve seen in recent days is that even after a snowstorm has passed, our street supervisors are coming across situations where we can’t safely get a bus down a particular street and we have to implement a detour.”

The safety of RIPTA employees, passengers and the public is the transit authority’s top priority as it assesses service in winter storms.

Updates will be posted on RIPTA’s website (www.ripta.com), Facebook (@RideRIPTA) and Twitter (@RIPTA_RI), and passengers are also asked to monitor news reports. In addition, riders are strongly urged to sign up for electronic News Updates at www.ripta.com/detours-news so they can receive emails notifying them of any service disruptions. Customers are advised to use extra caution at bus stops, as conditions may slippery.