Rhode Island’s cash-strapped public bus agency has missed a key deadline to complete an independent assessment of its operations and financial situation as mandated in the state’s fiscal 2025 budget.
In exchange for its commitment last spring to do an efficiency study, the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority received $15 million from the state’s unspent pandemic relief reserves to plug a budget deficit. The study was supposed to be submitted to the governor, House speaker, and Senate president by March 1.
However, the agency, which now faces a $32.6 million shortfall in Gov. Dan McKee’s proposed fiscal 2026 budget, hasn’t even started the study yet.
And that has House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi displeased.
“It’s disappointing that RIPTA hasn’t even gone out to bid yet for this study that was due on March 1,” Shekarchi said in a statement. “It’s critically important we know what areas of RIPTA operations need to be reformed to ensure that the money we allocated is being utilized in a prudent fashion.”
RIPTA spokesperson Cristy Raposo Perry said the agency issued a request for proposals (RFP) on Feb. 11, with submissions due by March 13.
Raposo Perry attributed the delay to a recent leadership change at the agency. Following the resignation of Scott Avedisian from the CEO role last April, RIPTA’s board of directors suspended the procurement process until it could find a permanent leader.
In November, the agency elevated former CFO Christopher Durand from interim CEO to permanent CEO to replace predecessor Scott Avedisian. RIPTA’s board of directors officially approved a five-year, $178,000 contract for Durand at its last meeting on Feb. 27.
RIPTA staff will present a list of bidders for the efficiency study contract to the agency’s board of directors at its next meeting on March 27. Once a contractor is picked, work on the study should begin April 1, Raposo Perry said.
“It is crucial that we take the time to complete the analysis correctly, rather than hastily,” Raposo Perry said in an email. “Recognizing the timing constraints related to the state budget process concluding in June, we have structured the scope of work to prioritize delivering critical information as quickly as possible.”
The scope outlined in the RFP includes delivering a memo within 30 days detailing best practices among public transit agencies, a performance assessment of transit operations within 45 days, and a review of the state’s long-term transit strategy and its implementation within 75 days.
Such a timeline has been shared with McKee, Shekarchi, and Senate President Dominick Ruggerio, Raposo Perry said.
“We appreciate RIPTA and the board’s commitment to thoroughly completing the efficiency study, especially ensuring that the agency’s new CEO had the opportunity to be fully involved in this crucial process,” McKee said in a statement.
But McKee has not offered the agency any immediate relief to its financial woes. The governor’s 2026 budget proposal allocates $126.6 million to RIPTA, despite $159.1 million in projected expenditures.
McKee’s administration stated in January when the proposed budget was released that the efficiency study must be completed before any discussion of more funding for RIPTA would happen.
Advocates for transit have spoken out against the RIPTA budget deficit in McKee’s budget proposal after it was released and held a recent rally at the State House to urge legislative leaders to pass bills that can boost funding without drawing from the state’s general revenue fund.
“Unless we invest again, starting this July we’re going to face massive service cuts and employee layoffs,” Providence Streets Coalition Board President Liza Burkin said at the Feb. 27 rally.
This story was originally published by the Rhode Island Current.
