Advocates are pushing back against the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) after its board introduced to the public a slimmed-down list of potential new bus hub locations: the smaller lawn in front of the Providence train station, and the larger lawn behind it.
Amy Glidden, co-chair of the Rhode Island Transit Riders, said her group says it’s not the right time for the underfunded agency to be focused on moving the hub from Kennedy Plaza – or the right expenditure.
“I don’t think the hub should be a priority at this time,” she said.
Glidden said RIPTA’s basic operations, such as keeping bus lines up and running with the same frequency as currently exists, are frequently in jeopardy. This year, Gov. Dan McKee’s budget is threatening RIPTA with a $32.6 million hole that legislators are scrambling to fill with a slate of bills.
And it’s not the first time RIPTA’s funding has been threatened. The agency has faced funding difficulties since at least 2002. Last year, McKee’s proposed budget left RIPTA with an $18 million hole to fill, though the agency was saved by $10 million in federal funding and allocations from the General Assembly.
RIPTA is considering a new bus hub in part because of a 2014 bond referendum that funded $35 million worth of efforts to create “enhancements and renovations to mass transit hub infrastructure throughout Rhode Island. The funds, provided to the Rhode Island Department of Transportation, were intended to improve access to multiple intermodal sites, key transportation, healthcare and other locations.”
Part of that bond money has gone to hiring an agency, Next Wave, to conceive of potential sites. Previous sites that have been floated, such as a tract of land in the 195 corridor, have been widely bashed by transit advocates, as well as the Providence City Council.
Amy Glidden says the new location is at least better than the 195 corridor, which she referred to as “Siberia,” adding that the Rhode Island Transit Riders think staying in Kennedy Plaza would be perfectly fine.
“It hasn’t been shown to us that it’s financially feasible for RIPTA and that a new location would be better,” she said. “Why not make some investments? Better security, more lighting, just better amenities at Kennedy Plaza.”
There’s also the issue of potential loss of pervious surface. According to data provided by the City of Providence, the larger of the new sites being floated would occupy 4.4 acres of downtown Providence’s 90 acres of green space. It would be a 4.9% reduction in pervious surface area. Having pervious surface area in cities, such as grassy knolls and tree-lined parks, is important because their spongelike surfaces can better soak up additional rainfall that Rhode Island is already seeing through climate change. Having soft ground can also better filter potentially polluted run-off before it drains into rivers.
Hydrologist Soni Pradhanag at the University of Rhode Island said in an email that besides the increased potential for flooding, paving over that area could have negative impacts for heat as well.
“Providence is already heavily paved. Each additional loss of permeable space exacerbates heat issues, especially during heat waves,” Pradhanang said.
