New Public Transit Alliance (NuPTA)

RIPEC Study: Transportation at a Crossroads (2002)

Growing Smart with Transit: A Report of the Transit 2020 Working Group (2007)

Special Legislative Commission to Study Transit in Rhode Island (2007)

RIPTA audit (2007) Abrams-Cherwony & Associates

NuPTA Next Steps to Getting There [2008]

RIPEC Study [2002] Establish a systematic and stable funding structure.

RIPTA will faceannual Servicereductions unless a multi-year, fiscal get-well planis adopted and implemented.

““State policy-makers need to reinvent the way Rhode Island’s transportation infrastructure will be financed in the future.”

RIPEC Study [2002]

“Current state transit funding is inelastic

and insufficient to sustain the existing statewide transit

system even in a no growth mode”

“…one option would be to earmark an additional three-quarter of one cent of the gasoline tax proceeds to support RIPTA operations. This should yield approximately $3.5 million”

RIPEC Study [2002]

“To further diversify RIPTA’s revenue base, it is also suggested

that a portion of the revenue collected from motor vehicle registration and driver license fees be earmarked for mass transit….. If 10% of these funds were available to RIPTA, an additional $3.1

million would be available to support bus services.”

The State Guide Plan Element 611 (now called Transportation 2030)

Recommends indexing the gas tax for inflation (also recommended by the Governor's Transition Task Force on

Transportation in 2002) as well as to diverting existing registration fees and vehicle sales taxes to transportation, new tolls, and a sales tax on fuel

Transit 2020 Working Group (2007) …“fortunate to have a highly capable public transit provider, RIPTA, which provides very good service given funding constraints at a time of increasing demand for services”

Rhode Island “mustinvest in transit” that"builds on and complements the existingsystem" and that "such an investment willyield numerous benefits" for reasonsrelated to congestion, quality of life,

environment, and to get a "betterposition of the City and Statein competition with metroareas making significantTransit investments."

Special Legislative Commission 2007

Require RIPTA, RIDOT and Statewide Planning to develop a public transit strategy for Rhode

Island, that maximizes financial investments and connects all forms of transit such as pedestrian, bike, rail, ferry, bus, etc.

Provide additional state and local funding to cover operating expenses of RIPTA

thereby freeing up federal funding for capital investments to improve and expand services.

Special Legislative Commission 2007

Plan public transitservices …as thedefining element

ofNew ConstructionAnd

Redevelopmentrather than as an auxiliary part of communities.

RIPTA Audit 2007

A Management Audit of the RIPTA carried under the direction Ofthe State Budget Office. April 12, 2007

Executive Summary noted that RIPTA performsbetter than its peer group in all fivemeasures related to maintenanceperformance, better than peer averages

on15 out of 27 measures of performanceindicators, and its trends were "generally favorable andcomparable to the peer average in the cost per passenger measure and

outperforming or coming very close to the peeraverage in per capita measures."

RIPTA Audit 2007

Areas for improvement identified includedinsurance, operations/employee ratios andadministrative costs.

The report noted that per-capita state and local funding for transit in: Rhode Island $34.09 per person

(states with big rail operations)MA $201.26 per personNew jersey $96.27 per person

but also below a comparable state, Delaware $86.27 per person

Investing in Public TransportationStimulates Economic Development

Studies confirm the positive economic impact of public transportation investment on new development and business revenues. 

A Cambridge Systematic study estimated that each

$10 million in capital investment yields $30 million in increased sales, while each $10 million operating investment yields $32 million.

Every dollar taxpayers invest in public transportation generates an average of $6 in economic returns, ranging from $4 to $9.

NuPTA Next Steps to Getting ThereFriday, March 7, 2008

“Develop a revenue stream for public transit thatconsists of transportation pollution fees.”

Global warming fee for the lowest 15% fuel-efficient Vehicles

Road and bridge tolls

Congestion pricing charges

Vehicle-miles traveled (VMT) fee.

Index gas tax to inflation for additional revenue for public transit.

Dedicate registration fees and vehicle sales taxes to transportation