Legislators are quick to act on certain things, whether it be highway upgrades or the bridge, allocating hundreds of millions with little thought. RIDOT, for example, was quickly given huge sums of money without question—the same state organization headed by perhaps one of the most known corrupt officials we have.
But local goods like our bussing system, which are asking for what is essentially pennies to keep running? Suddenly, endless hesitation.
Legislators want RIPTA to fund these expensive efficiency studies every year because they consistently fail to fund their operation in the first place.
They want absolute perfection. Anything short of that is not good enough. Meanwhile, other cities are moving toward free public transit. Here, we’re too afraid to even fund the basics.
We go to the funding meetings every year, dedicating hours of our time to beg—to beg—our representatives to protect the essentials. Then we go home and have to figure out how we’ll survive if these cuts go through. It’s terrifying for us—but not, we imagine, for the lawmakers who get to drive everywhere in their quiet, air-conditioned cars.
Let’s be clear: we don’t need more studies. We know investing in public transit works. Businesses thrive. Tourism booms. It supports working people. We saw this when the R-line was made free previously.
Unfortunately, our legislators work on 2-4 year time scales.
The results? They are punishing their communities. They are hurting local businesses, and they refuse to acknowledge the already overwhelming evidence right in front of their faces.
They are setting their communities up for abject failure.