Of course. I'm speaking about Rhode Island since they'd likely be on the hook for funding the project (the RI portion, at least). Regardless of what the MBTA/MassDOT's equity concerns are, as long as equity in transit access carries the weight it does, RI/RIDOT would have a hard time selling a Newport extension over pushing for adding service to a place like Woonsocket (or improving service beyond Providence). Or even improved service in/around Providence. The only way I could see Newport happening is if there was a significant sum of federal and/or private money specifically dedicated to a Newport line. But in reality, I don't see RIDOT having an interest in doing much more than slight improvements to Providence service/connections.
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Fall River/New Bedford Commuter Rail (South Coast Rail)
- Thread starter JoeGallows
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But in reality, I don't see RIDOT having an interest in doing much more than slight improvements to Providence service/connections.
Because RIDOT is still facing intense backlash/bad optics from the (perceived) white elephant that is Wickford Junction? (I mean, it can't be as bad as Studio 38...)
What kind of ROI, in the most generously holistic sense, is RI getting on that transit center, do we think? Strictly in terms of daily ridership, I can only assume the investment has been abysmal, assuming this ProJo story from Oct. 2022 remains accurate.
https://www.providencejournal.com/s...idership-boston-gradually-rising/10535271002/
F-Line to Dudley
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Wickford gets 8 round-trips per weekday with 2-3 hour headways, and no weekend service. Of course it isn't generating ridership. RIDOT was supposed to have advanced more of its intrastate CR buildout by now allowing service increases to Wickford. It hasn't acted on any of that. It's a proven axiom that frequencies generate ridership. Wickford on-spec wasn't a bad idea, but if they want the ridership they're going to have to generate more frequencies and pony up with the capital investments that make it so.Because RIDOT is still facing intense backlash/bad optics from the (perceived) white elephant that is Wickford Junction? (I mean, it can't be as bad as Studio 38...)
What kind of ROI, in the most generously holistic sense, is RI getting on that transit center, do we think? Strictly in terms of daily ridership, I can only assume the investment has been abysmal, assuming this ProJo story from Oct. 2022 remains accurate.
https://www.providencejournal.com/s...idership-boston-gradually-rising/10535271002/
The half-assing of Wickford service levels is a beating red warning sign for SCR Phase I. If you don't supply halfway usable frequencies for the build money, the ridership is going to struggle like hell to materialize.
Although, at least the SCR station locations are actually near people. Walk-up potential isn't perfect, but it's better than Wickford or TF Green, and at least SRTA is planning on service improvements to feed the trains. (My understanding is that they're going to be implementing cutaway minibuses operating on-demand microtransit to cover the "urban areas.")Wickford gets 8 round-trips per weekday with 2-3 hour headways, and no weekend service. Of course it isn't generating ridership. RIDOT was supposed to have advanced more of its intrastate CR buildout by now allowing service increases to Wickford. It hasn't acted on any of that. It's a proven axiom that frequencies generate ridership. Wickford on-spec wasn't a bad idea, but if they want the ridership they're going to have to generate more frequencies and pony up with the capital investments that make it so.
The half-assing of Wickford service levels is a beating red warning sign for SCR Phase I. If you don't supply halfway usable frequencies for the build money, the ridership is going to struggle like hell to materialize.
Beyond the frequency issues I'm not going to dispute, the business case for Wickford Junction was always off. Its is legitimately in the middle of nowhere, and thus has zero walk-up potential absent significant TOD. That station is/was entirely reliant on car commuters coming in and parking - there's not even a corporate shuttle to quonset. Same thing with TF Green; the station serves the airport perfectly adequately, but doesn't meaningfully serve Warwick. if you're going to have an isolated station, they all need better local transit connections. I believe at opening exactly zero ripta routes served it, and South County isn't exactly the bit of RI with lots of people and traffic to begin with.
That said, what proves the frequency argument is the fact that the Ripta 66 doubles the south County CR ridership. For the northern half of its service pattern it entirely duplicates the CR service, running Providence - TF Green - Wickford Junction with minimal stops and diversions. It's ripta's 3rd most popular regional route, with ½ hour weekday frequencies and, by the timetable, only about 20 minutes slower PVD - Wickford - and looking at its data it tends to arrive early. Compared to the CR that extra 20 minutes is easily worth the ease of walking to a bus stop, direct connection to ridership generators (namely CCRI, 'gansett and URI), etc.
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