📢Statement from the Save RIPTA coalition in response to Governor McKee’s FY27 budget:
We are grateful to see the recognition of RIPTA’s importance in Governor McKee’s FY27 budget, which allocates funds to fill the agency’s deficit. But the reality remains that the impacts of the largest bus service cuts in RIPTA’s history, enacted last fall, are devastating for riders and drivers. The cuts need to be reversed: this is not the “right size” for RIPTA.
We are seeing the consequences of what happens when vital transportation services are taken away: thousands of RIPTA riders have lost employment and income, lost their ability to get to work and school on time, been forced to change housing, and been locked out of educational, commercial, and civic opportunities. If Governor McKee and the General Assembly truly seek greater affordability and advancement for Rhode Island, they must reverse the cuts and invest in sustainable funding that expands our only public transit system.
We will be back at the State House to fight for real long-term investments in transportation funding every week this session!
Today Rhode Island wakes up to a grim new reality. RIPTA buses across the state are no longer running due to @govdanmckee ’s sweeping service changes that eliminate weekend service on many routes, reduce frequency all week long, and cripple RIPTA’s ability to provide reliable service across Rhode Island.
Are you impacted by @govdanmckee ’s service cuts? Use the hashtag #McKeeStrandedMe and tag @providencestreets , and if you want to share your story in detail, head to our linktree!
Join us on Tuesday 5/19 as we head back to the State House with our partners @neighborswelcomeri@aarpri@growsmartri as we continue to fight for affordable transportation and housing, restoring full service to RIPTA, and sustainable funding solutions to alow public transportation and its riders to thrive.
Sign up at our Linktree for this impactful chance to stand up for RIPTA, let’s flood the chambers with transit, housing and accessibility champions!
🚌🏡Save RIPTA x Neighbors Welcome x AARP Lobby Day
⏰Tuesday May 19, 3:30pm-4:30pm
🏛️RI State House
💪🚌 Thank you to public transit advocate and @ritransitriders member Barry Schiller for this excellent op-ed detailing the contrasting visions and pathways for public transit. While some may accept the status quo, the reality is public transit disinvestment has been happening for generations. Will not stop fighting to restore the service cuts for those whose lives have been impacted by “right sizing” and expand RIPTA to provide a high quality transit system that the future of Rhode Island can depend on.
🔗🌳 Head to our linktree to read the full op-ed published by @steveahlquist !
💪🚲 Cycle Hope Meet & Greet!
Denise and Barb St. Pierre left Miami on April 10 bound for Provincetown. They’re biking the East Coast Greenway, a 3,000-mile route from Key West to Canada. Along the way they are raising awareness and support for the nonprofit East Coast Greenway Alliance and Third Act, a group mobilizing people over 60 to take bold action on climate and democracy.
📆Monday May 25
⏰12:00-2:00
🚂@track15ri , Downtown Providence, RI
🙌Open to all!
🏡🚌Dream Team Lobby Day
🙌We’re partnering up with AARP and Neighbors Welcome to talk with lawmakers about the critical moment we are in for housing, transit, affordability and accessibility for every Rhode Islander! Join us at the state house and make your voice heard!
🏡AARP x Neighbors Welcome x Save RIPTA lobby day
📆Tuesday May 19
⏰3:30pm-4:30pm
🏛️RI State House
✏️Sign up to let us know you’re coming at our linktree, see you at the State House!
💻New to Lobby Day? Join us for virtual or in person office hours May 18 from 12:30pm-1:30pm. Zoom link TBA.
✨Reimagining Cathedral Square
Join city planners, leaders, and community members for a meeting to imagine a future for Providence’s Cathedral Square. The profoundly inaccessible urban renewal era plaza is about half a century overdue for a refresh.
ℹ️Check out details from the city below, and attend the meeting to learn more and share your input!
The City is reimagining Cathedral Square to make the space more inviting for residents and visitors, and to encourage people walking through Downtown and points west to utilize the corridor via improved lighting, safety, and walkability. We are also considering public art, stormwater management, and placemaking as key elements in the new vision. The project is reaching an important point in the design process, and we would love to have your input.
When: Tuesday, May 12, 2026 at 5:30 p.m. (in-person)
Where: Joseph A Doorley Jr. Municipal Building
444 Westminster Street Providence, RI 02903
1st Floor Meeting Room
🚌 Thank you to @sunrisebrownu for making “RIPTA: The Musical,” and to the cast and crew who brought it to life, and the hundreds of attendees who showed up to cheer them on. The show is a deeply funny and relatable depiction of the joys, challenges, and hopes for public transit in Rhode Island, and the realities in this current moment.
RIPTA: The Musical is yet another reminder of the community of people, and a new generation of advocates, who believe deeply in the power of public transit to move communities and impact people’s lives.
As fun as this musical is, the perils facing RIPTA are very real. We will continue to show up, speak out, and keep fighting to make the dream of high quality public transit that works for everyone a reality once and for all.
Friends: I've been thinking a lot about family lately. I am about to welcome my first child to the world 🐣, and also have a parent whose mobility has recently drastically changed. From strollers to wheelchairs to bikes to buses to our own two feet, and yes of course, cars – the many ways we move are intrinsically tied to our family life.
And you know what? PVD & RI could be doing a LOT better to facilitate transportation for all of our families.
As I said at a recent press conference where @environmentcouncilri endorsed our #SaveRIPTA package, I fight for sustainable transportation choices not only because I want my children to grow up on a habitable planet, but also because I DON'T WANT TO BE THEIR CHAUFFEUR. I want them to be able to get around PVD on their own - breathing in clean air and moving independently on safe streets and convenient transit.
That's what I've been working on with you all for the past 7 years, and now it's time to take a bit of a break. Starting next week, I'll be on leave until the fall to focus on my family. I am so insanely proud that PSC will be in the capable hands of our Operations Manager Dylan, Political Director Nicole, Development Manager Deja, Board Vice Chair Alex, and Board Secretary Jamie. We'll soon welcom new interns, and always rely heavily on the incredible work of our dedicated volunteers. 📣There's never been a better time to get involved! (Please also bear with us as the organization will be operating under reduced capacity!)
This spring and summer will bring renewed focus on our existing campaigns and programs – fighting for transit funding & safety legislation at the State House, safer streets at Providence City Hall, broadening our coalition through community outreach, and lots of community bike rides and walks!
New this year will be a larger number of endorsements in political races ahead of the Sept 8 primary. We'll be supporting candidates for public office who are supporters and advocates of bold action to build safer streets, better transportation choices, and policies that advance mobility justice.
Because today's status quo just isn't good enough for our families.
(Continued in comments)
📢📢📢 Ride Route is here! See below for a link. And the rain looks like it is going to hold off. ⛅️ 🚲
🎠 The Looff Carousel will be open! Rides are $2 each.
We hope you will join EPiC, Providence Streets Coalition, WRWC and PVD Bike Jam tomorrow, May 2 at 1:00 in Riverside Square.
We will be riding on road for most of the route. If this is your first Bike Jam or large social bike ride, we recommend heading over to @pvdbikejam to read their ride guidelines. This is a self-supported ride.
/routes/54866245
🟢Start - Riverside Square (near @borealiscoffee ) on the East Bay Bike Path
🪩Party Stop 1 - Waddington School
🪩Party Stop 2 - Crescent Park (by the Looff Carousel!)🎠
🏁Finish at the Start
May is National #BikeMonth, sponsored by @bikeleague and celebrated in communities from coast to coast. Since 1956, Bike Month has been a time to highlight all the ways bicycling brings joy, freedom, and connection to our lives.
The great thing about bikes is that there is always something new to try! Download the League’s Bike Month Bingo card and do something different this Bike Month!
Knock off a couple of these bingo items when you join us for Fam Jam on Saturday in Riverside Square in East Providence. See the full post with @epincommunity for more info.
Happy BIKE MONTH bbs!! 😘
