Cuts to RIPTA’s budget have quickly cost the transit agency a significant share of its riders, according to data presented Thursday by a coalition of transit advocacy groups.
Using data sourced from RIPTA itself, the Save RIPTA Coalition reported that ridership across the state’s public transit agency was down 12% year-over-year in November 2025, roughly a month after cuts went into effect.
The coalition attributes the drop to the budget deficit that the governor and legislative leaders left for RIPTA at the end of the last legislative session. In response to the budget deficit, RIPTA implemented the largest service reduction in the agency’s 59-year history in September 2025, affecting 45 of the 63 routes in the system.
Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee said the slimmer budget was aimed at “right-sizing” the transit agency.
“Not only does the decision protect core ridership services, but also it prevents future wide-ranging tax increases on Rhode Islanders,” McKee and RIPTA CEO Christopher Durand said in a joint statement. “This decision provides a foundation for RIPTA to build a more modern and financially sustainable transit system.”
Overall, the level of bus service is about 15% lower than it was last year, according to the coalition’s analysis of RIPTA data. Now, just 21 of the 63 routes offer buses more than once an hour throughout the week.
The coalition said the budget cuts reversed ridership gains that the public transit agency had clawed back after the pandemic. According to the coalition’s report, ridership was increasing on 81% of RIPTA’s routes before the service cuts. After the cuts, 75% of RIPTA’s routes lost ridership, according to the report.
The report also featured data from a survey of 33 RIPTA bus drivers that the coalition conducted through the Amalgamated Transit Union.
The survey found most drivers reported leaving passengers behind at least once a day because of overcrowded buses.
“It has become very stressful to work because the pressure is always on you to go faster, to do more, to get more done within the same amount of time,” Jorge Alvez, a bus driver, said at a press conference on Thursday introducing the report.
Chrys Santos, 15, told the crowd that she transfers buses at Kennedy Plaza each morning to get to high school. She said the service cuts force her to wait much longer than she used to for her bus connection, often in freezing weather.
“I either have to wait 20 to 30 minutes in this temperature, or I have to get to school almost an hour and a half late,” Santos said.
Liza Burkin, an activist with the Save RIPTA Coalition, said she is working with legislators to file a package of eight bills this year. The bills aim not just to reverse RIPTA’s service cuts, but to expand bus service to a level she said would make the agency more financially sustainable.
“Frequency is the key to growing the system,” Burkin said. “You need to go to the bus stop and know another one will come, and that if you miss this one, it’s not going to be 90 minutes.”
