I'm not 100% sure how these contracts work, but Wouldn't that be an ideal location to extend SRTA from Fall River to create a RIPTA/SRTA transfer opportunity? I think that would be an excellent connection. I think GATRA serves Seekonk (the northern part), so it's probably impossible as Seekonk is GATRA territory. I wish it were easier to enable connections between the RTAs in this area. GATRA-SRTA-RIPTA would provide extensive regional coverage (RIPTA/GATRA have a connection, but SRTA covers a huge, highly populated chunk of the South Coast and doesn't touch either agency).
Providence RIPTA Services
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I'm not 100% sure how these contracts work, but Wouldn't that be an ideal location to extend SRTA from Fall River to create a RIPTA/SRTA transfer opportunity? I think that would be an excellent connection. I think GATRA serves Seekonk (the northern part), so it's probably impossible as Seekonk is GATRA territory. I wish it were easier to enable connections between the RTAs in this area. GATRA-SRTA-RIPTA would provide extensive regional coverage (RIPTA/GATRA have a connection, but SRTA covers a huge, highly populated chunk of the South Coast and doesn't touch either agency).
SRTA goes as far west as Swansea and the furthest out Route 6 is the Swansea Mall. Seekonk is all GATRA territory and I have talked to them . They have had no calls to extend service down Route 152 to the southern part of Seekonk toward Route 6. I should point out that the new RIPTA service to Shoppers Square does not allow pickup or drop off along Route 6 in Massachusetts. It is direct service from the R.I. line to Shoppers Square.
well, technically SRTA and RIPTA do touch at least by towns served. RIPTA is in both Barrington and Warren and SRTA goes into Swansea. This also takes place between Fall River and Westport with Tiverton. Trolley's and trains used to offer local service and buses also did for a while. But it has been over 50 years since the loss of local transit service.
MjolnirMan
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RIPTA is planning to update the East Side Transit Tunnel and are doing some surveys based on their ideas. It looks like a couple of the designs for the west portal incorporate a bidirectional bus corridor on Washington Place heading towards Kennedy Plaza
Site: https://www.ripta.com/east-side-transit-tunnel-project-survey/
Proposals: https://www.ripta.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Tunnel-Conceptual-Designs-Revised-220922.pdf
Site: https://www.ripta.com/east-side-transit-tunnel-project-survey/
Proposals: https://www.ripta.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Tunnel-Conceptual-Designs-Revised-220922.pdf
Reviving this thread now that RIPTA finally has an update out on its High Capacity Transit Feasibility Study that aims to explore upgrades to the Central Falls- Warwick corridor, to potentially include LRT or upgrading the R-Line to proper BRT standards. Apparently now known as Metro Connector, it's added a couple of routing options to its map since, but it's begun it's public engagement process. The first public meeting is tomorrow, but there's a survey out now that I'd encourage people to fill out.
www.ripta.com
Connecting Rhode Island: RIPTA Launches Metro Connector Study to Explore Faster, Expanded Transit Access - RIPTA
Public Invited to Share Feedback Through Online Survey and Public Meetings The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) is pleased to announce the launch of the Metro Connector Study, a major initiative to explore options for providing fast, frequent and reliable service that connects major...
www.ripta.com
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This got held up for months last year when the RIDOT director became the chair of RIPTA's board, so I'm pleasantly surprised to see they got through the logjam and are now underway.
Not entirely clear to me whether they plan on running two separate lines. The map doesn't identify the two "loop" looking areas as alternatives, so at first glance, it looks like they're planning two separate lines that share northern and southern termini (plus a common trunk between Providence and Pawtucket along North Main St). But on the project webpage, they identify the two corridors as "Central Falls to CCRI" and "Providence to TF Green," which only really speaks to the southern "loop" hosting separate lines. Hopefully they don't treat the northern "loop" as an either-or proposition: Central Falls is absolutely dense enough to support both corridors.
Also, it's too bad they aren't taking this opportunity to study the shorter east-west corridor between Olneyville and the East Side that had shown up in earlier concepts (such as the last page of this policy paper). It ought to get another look...if full funding for both north-south corridors proves hard to come by in one bite, and there's an opportunity to swap one of them for the shorter east-west corridor during the initial build, it would be nice to have that option in their back pocket.
Not entirely clear to me whether they plan on running two separate lines. The map doesn't identify the two "loop" looking areas as alternatives, so at first glance, it looks like they're planning two separate lines that share northern and southern termini (plus a common trunk between Providence and Pawtucket along North Main St). But on the project webpage, they identify the two corridors as "Central Falls to CCRI" and "Providence to TF Green," which only really speaks to the southern "loop" hosting separate lines. Hopefully they don't treat the northern "loop" as an either-or proposition: Central Falls is absolutely dense enough to support both corridors.
Also, it's too bad they aren't taking this opportunity to study the shorter east-west corridor between Olneyville and the East Side that had shown up in earlier concepts (such as the last page of this policy paper). It ought to get another look...if full funding for both north-south corridors proves hard to come by in one bite, and there's an opportunity to swap one of them for the shorter east-west corridor during the initial build, it would be nice to have that option in their back pocket.
From the survey:
RIPTA does not have to pick just one route to build. RIPTA is analyzing both routes separately to make sure that each one meets the needs of the people who will use them.
themissinglink
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Light Rail in the Providence metro area would be amazing. I really hope this ends up happening as LRT instead of BRT.
100% agree. Portions of those corridors are already at Green Line densities, and those that aren't could be shored up with TOD. But before we get too excited...
https://www.providencejournal.com/s...-transit-line-where-should-it-go/75250830007/
Sounds like they aren't even committed to the idea of dedicated lanes yet. Without dedicated lanes, this would basically be the R-Line concept, but applied over a longer distance. That would still be an improvement over what exists today, but not a transformative one.