The role of transit in combating climate change
Senator Sam Zurier (District 3 Providence) remembers taking RIPTA as a high school student. Using the old 35-cent tokens, he used it quite a bit back then. These days, schedule demands often make it impractical to rely on transit as a mode of choice since limited service frequencies and operating hours can make trip times up to four times longer than driving.
On this Valentines Day we set out for coffee at Madrid European Bakery in his home district in Providence, joined by Dylan Giles, Providence Streets Coalition operations manager and ‘Save RIPTA‘ campaign champion.
Zurier sees investing in better transit as a critical part of meeting the necessary greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions in the State’s Act on Climate law to avoid the worst effects of climate change. The state’s Transit Master Plan forecasts that, at full implementation, it will achieve 80% of the state’s target for reducing vehicle miles traveled (VMT’s) and related emissions.
And he’s putting forth key legislation to get there.
Senate Bill 23 would create a Special Legislative Commission to ensure that we meet the mandates of The Act on Climate (on Senate calendar for consideration 5/15).
Chronic funding shortfalls
He’s also concluded that RIPTA is in serious need of funding. After studying the state’s gas tax collection and disbursement, he found that RIPTA’s share of those proceeds has slipped from 30% to 26% in recent years. So, S-46 would address that by adjusting it back to 30% thereby increasing RIPTA’s share by $7 million.
And, because he discovered that the State Administration is calculating the mandated biennial inflation adjustment for only one of the two years in the period, he submitted S-47 to correct that and ensure that the inflation adjustment accounts for both years going forward, resulting in an additional $2.5 million to support transit operations. And finally, Senator Zurier has co-sponsored a Joint Resolution ( S-342) to make a Budget Appropriation to RIPTA in the amount of $32.6 million to address the agency’s chronic budget deficit, pending a long-overdue and sustainable method for supporting public transit in Rhode Island.
Public transit, he says, is valuable for the well-being of our cities and is going to be a critical part of our future if we hope to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
View more Rhodies-In-Transit HERE.
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Learn more about Rhode Island’s Transit Master Plan, a data-driven, publicly-vetted and adopted vision for getting more Rhodies where they’re going when they need to get there, conveniently, affordably and with dignity.