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Boston Globe

‘A complete gutting:' RIPTA riders, advocates slam cuts proposed to bridge $10m budget gap

The bus ferries them to a Stop & Shop store, including one woman who Picillo said depends on the bus because she was unable to replace her car when it broke down. 'She has no way to go to the grocery store, and that route is getting canceled all together,' Picillo said. 'We can't walk to it.' Related : Advertisement The Flex 301 bus is one of 16 routes RIPTA is now considering eliminating, as it weighs Get Rhode Map A weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State. Enter Email Sign Up Ahead of a RIPTA board vote on the proposed rollbacks set for Thursday, riders and transit advocates are pleading for last-minute solutions they hope can stave off cuts to services they said Rhode Islanders depend on to get to school, work, and medical appointments, and to navigate everyday life. Bus service between Newport's northern end and First Beach, between the University of Rhode Island's Kingston campus and the Block Island Ferry, and three routes that serve the Community College of Rhode Island's campuses in Newport, Warwick, and Lincoln are among those up for elimination. Five Park and Ride Routes, connecting far corners of the state — including Pascoag, North Smithfield, Westerly, and Narragansett — with Providence, also may be nixed. Advertisement Other changes include reductions in trip frequency or numbers of trips on 30 routes, elimination of all weekend service on nine routes, elimination of some weekend service on eight routes, and the cancellation of some entire segments on six routes, RIPTA said. 'It's wild,' said Liza Burkin, board president of the Providence Streets Coalition. 'It's supposed to be the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority. It's going to be the Providence County and Greater Newport Transit Authority … It's a complete gutting of the system, and the worst part is that it will trigger a downward spiral.' In Pawtucket, the cuts and reductions would affect about 44 percent of the city's bus services, according to state Senator Meghan E. Kallman, a Democrat representing Pawtucket and Providence. 'Without that bus service, people are not going to be able to get to work, people are not going to be able to get to school,' Kallman said in an interview. 'But specifically, if you can't get to work, you can't pay your rent, and if you can't pay your rent or your mortgage, then you need to move, right? This is the kind of stuff that sucks the life blood out of working class communities. This is insane.' At a public hearing on the proposal in Providence on Monday, Jessica Null, senior director of philanthropy and external affairs for Thundermist Health Center, said it already takes patients and staff who rely on public transit more than an hour along several routes to make it to appointments and to work at its locations in Providence, Woonsocket, West Warwick, and South County, Null said. Advertisement 'One employee shared, 'I currently spend two to three hours a day on the bus. This will not only add time to my daily commute, but by cutting weekend service, I will have no way to get to work on weekend shifts, which are required,'' Null added. Angelina Stabile, legislative director and affiliate treasurer for the National Federation of the Blind of Rhode Island, said the proposed cuts 'are devastating.' 'They are crippling, and they will destroy the freedom and independence of blind people, disabled people, and all peoples who take public transportation,' Stabile said. At 'We are literally encouraging folks…to use public transportation to get to and from the beach,' Kennedy said. 'Likewise, the YMCA of Newport County is interested in expanding its footprint and its services — not condensing them.' Meanwhile, students and staff at the University of Rhode Island told RIPTA officials at Advertisement Scott Schnur, a Wakefield resident and a URI employee, said one of his students told him she is now looking for a new lease less than a month before the start of the school year as a result of the anticipated bus changes. 'We recognize the concerns of members of our community and will be engaging directly with RIPTA leadership to discuss these concerns,' Dawn Bergantino, a URI spokesperson, wrote in an email on Tuesday. 'Reliable transit is critical for our students, faculty, and staff, as they pursue their academic, professional, and personal goals.' Asked about possible route cuts impacting CCRI, Amy Kempe, CCRI's chief of staff, wrote in an email that 'access to reliable public transportation is critical to our students' success' and that CCRI is 'working with RIPTA to minimize disruptions to our community.' Late last week, RIPTA formally released its long-awaited 'Closing the RIPTA deficit responsibly means identifying both efficiencies and new RIPTA-generated revenue streams,' Olivia DaRocha, a spokesperson for McKee, wrote in an email on Tuesday. 'That means addressing the high-cost, low-performing routes identified in the study, while preserving service on higher-performing routes.' DaRocha wrote that drawing additional federal funding 'for eligible expenses' and 'modernizing the fare policy, with options that include fare increases, zone-based fares, and monthly passes,' could be options to enhance revenue, among others. 'Long-term stability will only come when RIPTA right-sizes operations and grows its revenue,' DaRocha added. Advertisement Still, many riders and advocates blame McKee and lawmakers for the potential cuts. McKee left the agency with a Hannah Galan, who opened Pothos Plant Shop with her husband, Homer Johnsen, in Providence's Fox Point last year, said Monday she has frequently called McKee's office about the RIPTA proposal, which would cut weekend service to the bus stop near her store on its busiest days. The potential loss of business is 'immeasurable,' Galan said. 'There's no way to measure it,' Galan said. 'And I mean, it's not even just impacting us, it's going to impact every small business on the street.' Christopher Gavin can be reached at