So, you want a route that serves the park, eh? Why not just take the R Line or 20? Hm, what’s that? You want a route that goes into the park? Alright, alright. Let’s see…We could either make the 20 deviate into the park, or create a new route entirely. Let’s just make the 6. And let’s have it deviate into the Liston campus. And terminate at an apartment complex when the zoo isn’t open.
And that’s probably how the 6 came to be. Let’s take a look.
Well, the bus is a trolley replica. That’s a good start, but it’s normal for a route that serves a place like Roger Williams Park. So, we started moving and largely followed the same path the 20 and 22 does through downtown. However, we took a turn down West Franklin Street to run parallel to 95. From here, we took a turn down Point Street, then Prairie Ave. We followed the road, although while we were going to deviate into CCRI’s Providence campus, the road to it was closed, so we pressed on further. As such, the driver phoned dispach at this point as he was letting a person in a wheelchair off and notified them of the closure of Blackstone Street.
We kept going down Prairie Ave., with houses on both sides. Occasionally, we’d pass a business, community facility, or a playground. We did, however, pass by some schools after Thurbers Ave, being Roger Williams Jr. High and Woods Elementary. Soon enough, though, Prairie Ave. came to an end.
When we reached Broad Street, we just went straight and crossed the interstate. We then turned right into the park and soon enough we were done. We would’ve ended at the zoo’s front door, but I guess the driver didn’t feel like it. From here, began my relatively long trek to what I thought was the nearest R Line stop to get back downtown.
The good: It serves the zoo! It’s also the only direct route into the park. It also serves a low-income part of the city! It also runs somewhat frequently (half-hourly!) to Roger Williams Zoo during weekday hours.
The bad: However, it falters majorly. Want to get to the Colony House complex? You’ve either gotta take an early morning or late afternoon/evening bus. Otherwise, you’re heading to the zoo. Even then, night buses just terminate at the CCRI Providence campus. Speaking of which, this is the only route that services it. So, if you need to get there and Blackstone St. is closed, you’re doomed unless you’re able to walk. Heck, the route doesn’t even serve Colony House on Sundays!
Nearby points of interest: The zoo, and CCRI’s Providence campus. That’s pretty much it.
Overall, the route does as it should. But, it falls horrendously with the sometimes deviation to Colony House, which should be an always deviation. Also, why doesn’t it serve it on Sundays? That seems weird. Ridership was plentiful though on my trip, with it clocking in at 334 people on average though. This puts it between the primary West Warwick/Coventry route (the 13) and the 32. But, if every trip serviced Colony House, I’m sure it’d be higher.
Rating: 5.5/10
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