Yea the state of most bus stops is atrocious. Terrible sidewalks, always trash, nowhere to sit, no shade, no snow removal, missing/old signs. Non-drivers are always an afterthought and its endlessly frustrating

If you plan on coming to PVD we meet at the pedestrian bridge at 6:01 except for the final Wednesday of the month - that’s at the state house stairs. Weather canceled our state house day last week so we’re there tomorrow.

There’s a whole Reddit board actually on her 😬 look up little sister pvd and Rebelle on here.

Depends on how reliable the bus is, how frequent it is, how early and late it runs, how secure the parking is, and how much the charges are.

In my experience, most US transit fails on several of these fronts. Some systems fail on every single one of them!

A reliable and usable system should be priority number one. I’ll pay to get one.

Making it free helps with uptake but won’t help if we don’t have a system that’s fit for purpose IMO

Would you be willing to pay for park and ride if the bus saved time by by-passing traffic or you could drive to an even faster train?

Suburban park and ride service is longer than most other trips. It is easy to collect fares without delaying the bus. If their destination is not right downtown, people will use park and ride only if the final leg is a short wait for efficient in-town service at no extra fare. Also, I think infrequency and the risk of being stuck in town after the last bus keeps people away from park and ride more than would paying a fare comparable to in-town parking.

It seems most of the people who think transit should turn a profit think nothing of dumping billions of tax dollars into freeways. There's a such a mental disconnect when you suggest that roads and highways run at a severe loss and consume far more of our tax dollars than transit funding which would provide such a better return on investment.

So $800 for the entire winter season, in theory. Do you use anything besides that to heat your home?

I can't comment on how much they cost to install as mine was already installed when we bought the house (2400 sqft). However, I think it will probably vary depending on brand of stove and how you need to have it installed (direct vent, vertical pipe, etc).
As far as pellets themselves, you can get a single pallet delivered I'd say averaging about $350 a pallet, 40x 50lb bags. The cost will vary depending on brand and where you get them from.
My stove burns roughly a bag every 24 hours, maybe more on really cold days. I had 2 pallets delivered by a local nursery for a little over $800, so in theory I should be good for the season.

Free stuff always sounds good to the recipient... not so much for whoever is footing the bill.

Here's a radical idea: pay your own bus fare. Anyone who is unable to do so, should get some form of assistance (controversial as that is to some), but most people can pay a simple fee.

It would be nice if the actual RIPTA Park & Rides were served by more than the twice-a-day express routes, but there are some DIY lots that work well.

Twin River is good because there is an ocean of parking and the security is good. The 54 runs every 30 minutes and is express to downtown from there. The 51 runs the same route, except as a local down Charles St. 73 also stops there which goes to Pawtucket.

The parking lot behind the Cranston police station at the start of the Washington Secondary Trail is another good one. The 30 & 31 both stop there and there's a bus every 15 minutes. Parking is allowed for the bike trail there and it's in full view of the security cameras in the police lot, so it's a fairly safe place to park.

seven stars bakery in providence, and warwick..... Croissants are their game. I don't recco places often, but I had to share.

I am for it, just hope it doesn't come with gutting lines and schedules. It's not a net positive if we remove a barrier for many but make service unusable for those same folks

I have been writing to elected officials about the predatory landlords out here. They have a “if you don’t like it, fuckin move” mentality. And they’re right; someone will always fill the spot bc there’s simply not enough housing.

The people who think that this is a tenant friendly state have never lived outside of RI. I truly wish you the best!

Like the people who supported the dismantling of the post office or support defunding libraries. Not everything has to be some billion dollar profit enterprise and it's perfectly okay for some things to just exist purely for public service due to the good they do for the community.

oh wow, this is excellent. would you sell a print of this?

I wish the signs were more common and kept updated. In parts of Providence, finding the actual bus stop can be kind of a nightmare as the signs aren't there whether destroyed by others or just not labeled, or are poorly placed or faded to shit.

I rely on the bus pretty heavily as a poor and disabled person but there's been multiple times I've missed my bus because the stop wasn't labeled and I had to guess based on Google Maps markings but apparently guessed wrong.

There’s a pilot going for the R line currently that is measuring just that. I’m all for it, and I think we should be investing far more into public transportation as a whole. It’s one of the many steps needed to address climate change properly.

Thankyou reddit!

Well, it all comes down to money, or in this case other peoples money to be exact. How it would be funded and by what means. Our State already has quite the budget, and that budget is so large there seems to be a lot of waste in some areas and not enough funding in other areas. Government has a difficult time running anything efficiently, that is the core problem with government programs, they always seem to implode after they are implemented. Last year we had a budget surplus, however god only knows where that money went, I know we didn’t get a refund check. I suppose the State could implement a public transportation tax and keep it separate from the general fund, the key is… keep it separate from the general fund.

We need to get away from the idea that public services are supposed to "make money." It's a public good. Make it free, more people will use it, traffic will be reduced, roads will stay in better shape - it's all wins.

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Problematic how?

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All of this