In preparing for Motif‘s student guide, our mighty editor, Emily, asked if I would be willing to write an article about places one can get to on our state bus system (RIPTA or “Rhode Island Public Transit Authority”). I get this assignment because, having never driven an automobile (nor even had a driver’s license), I am probably more familiar with the local transit system than anyone on the writing staff (and, oh yeah, I’m probably older than everyone else on the writing staff).
Many years ago, when I was writing for the Providence Phoenix, I had a discussion with Phoenix ramrod, Peter Kadzis, about creating a column dedicated to the RIPTA bus culture in Rhode Island. We almost did it but (I assume) it was deemed too much of a “niche” idea for a column. The fact is that not that many people traditionally rode the buses — it was mostly poor folks and seniors. Of course, if you look around the Biggest Little in 2015, there are a lot more poor folks and seniors (I believe statistics will bear this out). Whether bus ridership is increasing, I don’t know, but I believe taking the bus (like riding a bicycle or walking) is always a pretty good idea.
If you are new to the area and want to know about the bus system, the first thing you should know is that it is pretty good, a) during standard working hours and, b) in the metropolitan Providence area. Once you get past, say 7pm, transportation gets a bit spottier. Monday thru Friday from about 7am to 7pm, you can usually get frequent bus service to all sorts of terrific restaurants (and we’ve got plenty) or shopping centers or other interesting places, especially in the metro area. For instance, there is regular bus service on the “R Line” (every 15 minutes or so) from downtown Providence to Pawtucket that has a stop right at the Hope Artiste Village on Main Street in Pawtucket. Here you find all sorts of interesting small specialty shops, a vintage bowling alley (no automatic pinsetters!), The Met nightclub, the Mixed Magic Theater company and the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame. They also have an excellent farmers market there from November to May on Saturday mornings.
Another main bus line, the #1, also runs regularly every 15 to 20 minutes, going both to the T.F. Green Airport in Warwick and to the MBTA train station in South Attleboro, Massachusetts. This one, like the R Line, also stops in downtown Pawtucket. Directly across the street from the main bus stop is the Old Slater Mill, known as “the birthplace of the American Industrial Revolution.” That’s right — The Slater Mill in Pawtucket was the Silicon Valley of early America in much the same way that Ann & Hope, the venerable Rhode Island retail store, was the original big box store and the acknowledged model for Walmart. If you are a history nut, Rhode Island is about as good as it gets in the US of A.
But, let’s get back to places you can get to on the RIPTA buses. Summer 2015 is over but, when summer 2016 rolls around, know that there are special runs to the beaches that are added to the seasonal schedules. There is also the #60 bus that runs year round from Kennedy Plaza in Providence to Gateway Center in Newport either every 15 minutes, 30 minutes or each hour, depending on the time of day or night. (By the way, printed bus schedules are readily available at the terminal in Kennedy Plaza in downtown Providence and there is also a schedule available online: ripta.com.)
If you are going to Newport or Pawtucket, once you get there (the Gateway Center in Newport or the main bus stop on Roosevelt Avenue in Pawtucket) you will find that they have their own little bus systems to get you around various neighborhoods in those cities. Of course, the big flaw in the Rhode Island system has to do with service in communities farthest from the Providence metropolitan area. There are few bus runs to the Pascoag, Burrillville, Chepachet areas to the north and the same goes for Westerly in the southern part of the state. (Westerly has the distinction of being a major city in Rhode Island that is widely considered part of Connecticut.)
One other thing about the RIPTA buses: For this rider, they far surpass television as a source of daily entertainment. For years I have been highly entertained merely by eavesdropping on amazing conversations and, in some cases, extraordinary monologues by some of the more loquacious drivers. I would often carry a small notebook and pen with me and try to capture some of these moments, verbatim. In recent years, I have invested in a GoPro to, perhaps, capture some of these spontaneous performances. But, in consultation with a creative partner on this, we are not certain if we want to make this strictly a bus documentary or a more “Rhode Island World” sort of thing. We’re thinking about it. Let me just say that for both transportation and entertainment value, I highly recommend riding the RIPTA buses.
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