Month: May 2022

Oh boy, this one’s a big one. Literally. The 95X is, as of 5/23/22, the longest RIPTA route by distance travelled. The 14’s Narragansett branch has the longest runtime, but this one is the longest by mere distance, and with good reason. This route is the byproduct of demand for a Providence-Westerly express bus.

So, after boarding the bus and taking off, we immediately went express like most express routes do. From here, we booked it down through I-95, passing various things. As this happened, the exit numbers kept decreasing slowly but surely, as more routes parted ways from this shared segment. The 14 left us at exit 15, the QX joined briefly at exit 14, the 66 deviates at exits 13 and 12, the 12X leaves at exit 10, while the 65X and 66 leave for good at exit 9 to the left. From here, the 95X was the last man standing and it’d still be a long way until, what’s this? A deviation?! Yes, we deviated off at Exit 7 and took a left towards the aptly-named “Exit 7” Park & Ride lot. This could also be a transfer point for the new route 23, but current routing doesn’t allow for easy transfers. We then got back on the interstate and kept pressing on. We passed Hopkins Hill Road at exit 6A, Nooseneck Hill Road at exit 6, RI-102 at exits 5B and 5A when eventually after going for what seemed like forever through woods, we made it to deviation #2. Park & Ride in Hope Valley, and apparently the 301 Rural Ride’s terminus is nearby. From here, we banged a u-ey in the park & ride lot and went back on I-95. It was still woodlands until we reached exit 1. From here, we would have deviated off into the park & ride lot, but the driver opted not to after I and the other guy confirmed we weren’t going there, presumably to save time.

From here, we did NOT get back on the interstate. Instead, we kept going down Nooseneck Hill Road (same one as Exit 6!) The surroundings became more suburban in nature as we passed through Ashaway Village. It was quite a long ride still as we inched closer towards Westerly. Eventually, we did cross the Pawcatuck River into Westerly, but it was largely woodlands. Fortunately, it didn’t last too terribly long as we eventually reached High Street. From here, it was a straight shot, over the N.E. Corridor, and a right onto Railroad Ave. and we pulled into Westerly Station. Weirdly enough, the announcement didn’t acknowledge Amtrak’s presence, like how the Interlink’s announcement doesn’t mention the MBTA.

The good: It serves as a direct link to an otherwise unserved town. Seriously, why does a town as big as Westerly not have any transit? It also serves a number of park & ride lots right off I-95 that otherwise would have no service.

The bad: It’s infrequent. Like, it’s the only link Westerly has to the outside world save for Flex. And that, too, is infrequent. It also takes a really long time to get to Providence from here (1 hour by bus!), while the N.E. Regional costs $8 and can get you there in about 30 minutes. Furthermore, there’s only one P.M. inbound trip, which if you don’t take to leave, you better have a N.E. Regional ticket ready.

Nearby points of interest: Walmart is about a mile from the West Greenwich P&R lot. There’s also Providence and Westerly!

Overall, the route exists with good reason. While a regularly-running Narragansett/Westerly link would be better, this will have to do for now. Furthermore, it’s nice that it serves a bunch of park & ride lots that are otherwise in the middle of nowhere. It’s not exactly “scenic” though, and if you’re taking a bus to Westerly at 2pm, you better have an Amtrak ticket ready to return. Speaking of which, my 2pm trip had about 4 other people total, while the route typically nets about 90 people each weekday, being average for an express route. It’s just a shame that RIPTA basically did Westerly dirty with regards to transit, and I hope some day there’s a less convoluted way of getting in and out, because it’s really a nice town with a nice downtown and beaches.

Rating: 7/10

So, for linking the West Bay to Newport, there’s not many frequent options. There’s the Newport branch of the 14, which I’ve taken a look at already, and that only comes by every 2 hours on weekdays, but every hour (mostly) on weekends. But that’s between downtown Providence and Newport, via Jefferson Boulevard and US-1. What if you wanted to get to Newport from URI, though? Meet the 64.

So the route leaves the Visitor’s Center and pulls into a side street. From here, we kept going up Third Street, until we took a right onto Admiral Kalbfus Road and went 3/4 of the way through a roundabout. From here, things got a bit crazy with deviations. If anything, I’d count this as a double deviation. So, we went the 3/4…..to serve Newport Towne Center at Stop & Shop and Walmart, and then went further up Coddington Highway to deviate into CCRI’s Newport campus. Then we went all the way down, 3/4 of the way around again, and then started an express (tolled!) section on RI-138. From here, we stayed in the right lane and got on the Newport Bridge and crossed into Jamestown. Unfortunately, due to the poor weather, the views weren’t as great as when I did my 14 Newport post. However, we largely went the same path, just in reverse this time. That included going by the toll plaza, past what looked like some McMansions, the downtown area of Jamestown, and back up North Road onto RI-138. From here, we were on the Jamestown bridge after one exit. The express was short-lived, as eventually we made another deviation – this time into the US-1A park & ride lot. Of course, unlike when I did the 14, noone got on here.

From here, it was a straight shot down Boston Neck Road, as we went through wilderness upon wilderness. We eventually reached a red light that we turned left at, to deviate into URI’s Bay Campus. Noone got on here either, so we went back around and went straight at Bridgetown Road. We eventually reached another park & ride lot, this time at the intersection of Bridgetown Road, US-1, and RI-138 at the Hannah Robinson Tower. Don’t ask me what’s up with the tower, though, as I don’t know.

From here, it was basically a straight shot to ….the train station??? Yeah, the route doesn’t terminate at URI but rather Kingston Station. It’s mostly woodlands from here until URI, with some houses and businesses mixed in along with other college-related stuff. Eventually we deviated into URI to serve the bus stop at Memorial Union, at which point the driver asked me and the other guy if we wanted to get off. I looked at the other guy and said “Nah, I’m heading to the train station.” and the other said “Yeah, me too.” Guess the driver usually has someone getting off at URI. We went down Lower College Road and took a right back onto Kingstown Road. From here, it was a straight shot to the train station, as it was the end of the route.

The good: It links Kingston Station with Newport via URI! It’s also scenic.

The bad: …except this thing never comes. It’s got lackluster scheduling (every 1hr15 on weekdays, and every 2 hours on Saturdays, and no Sunday service!) and an insane amount of deviations. Now, I can see the appeal of a one-seat ride to Walmart or Stop & Shop, but who wants to wait however long for the return trip to URI or Jamestown? And if it’s Walmart, why not just take the 66 to Wickford Junction and walk? Now, I get there’s the whole “what if you can’t walk?” argument though, and that’s understandable. But like, 1 hour and 15 one way is a bit much to wait for the next bus. If you’re trying to get to Newport from Jamestown for a connection to either the 60, 63, 67, or 68, just take the 14 instead as it’s more direct.

Nearby points of interest: Kingston/URI Train Station, as well as URI itself. There’s Jamestown, and the various deviations in Newport. Plus, the bus connections at the train station and URI, along with the ones in Newport.

Overall, it’s a bit of a doozy to ride, but it’s a necessary connection. My biggest gripe is the fact it never comes. Try, every hour and 15 minutes, with 2 hour service on Saturdays, and no service on Sundays. Do people just not travel on Sundays? The ridership figures reflect the poor service too. How about, 158 people average weekdays in 2019? Yikes. I’m sure if it ran more directly (and maybe express past the park & ride? Dunno how many people use that as an alternative to URI parking) it’d likely be higher. And, why does it need the deviation sensation in Newport?! Is it trying to be the 63?!
Rating: 4/10

So you want an “express” trip into Newport? Well, let’s see… Hmm… Well, the 14 needs to serve Jamestown and North Kingstown. The 60 can’t go express because of the East Bay’s roads. The 64 already takes forever as-is to get to Kingston Station. Oh, what’s this? We have an interstate and a nearby city that could easily be connected to RIPTA? Let’s do that instead! And thus, the 24X (aka the 24L) was born.

The route boards at stop X in Kennedy Plaza, like all other expresses. However, if you’re using Wave, it’s special as it costs $4 to ride, rather than the standard $2. However, it still (to my awareness) costs $2 if you feed cash into the farebox. With the administrative stuff away, we depart and turn onto Dorrance Street. However, unlike the local routes that serve this street, we don’t have any stops here. Well, I lied. There’s one, being at the intersection of Point & Eddy Streets. From here, we turned right onto South Water Street and got on the interstate. And away we go! From here, it was pure interstate for quite a while, as we went through East Providence, Seekonk, Rehoboth, and Swansea. Eventually though, we made a deviation into the Somerset Park & Ride lot! To my awareness, though, only RIPTA and I think Peter Pan serves the lot. We then pulled out and got back on the interstate and kept going towards Fall River, and we got on the Braga Bridge and HOLY CRAP WE’RE SO HIGH UP! But that was short-lived as after we crossed the Commuter Rail tracks, we went under City Hall and made our second deviation into the Pettine Transit Center, SRTA’s Fall River hub.

After parking in one of the spots and waiting a little bit, the driver kicked the bus into reverse, honked the horn a bit to alert oncoming traffic, and hailed Mary to pull out. Thankfully, we didn’t hit anyone or anything, but it was a bit scary. This wasn’t the driver’s fault either, as that’s how the SRTA hub was designed. From there, we got back on the interstate, and soon enough we were on MA-24 (and soon, RI-24) and eventually we crossed back into Rhode Island. What’s this? Another deviation?! Oh my!

Yeah, turns out we had to serve the Fish Road park & ride lot, which allows for connections with the 61X (if, for some reason, you’re inclined). But since noone got on or off here (I was the only soul on the bus other than the driver), we pressed on back onto RI-24 and HOLY CRAP THE VIEWS WOULD BE AMAZING IF IT WASN’T RAINING OUTSIDE!

However, the express section ended shortly after and we were on West Main Road. However, unlike the 60, we don’t make local stops here. Instead, we just trucked down West Main, skipping the Bay View Apartments deviation and the 63’s Oxbow and Stop & Shop deviations. However, we also didn’t stay on West Main all the way, instead turning onto Coddington Highway, passing both the Middletown RIPTA garage and CCRI’s Newport campus. We then went sorta-express again, but to get to Farewell Street. From there, we made it into the Newport Visitors Center, at the end of the last outbound run of the morning.

The good: It’s fast! That is, on outbound trips. Inbound trips often get bogged down by the perpetually clogged westbound 195. It also links two major cities via a third one that’s otherwise unserved (or not very well connected).

The bad: Inbound trips can oftentimes run in excess of 20 minutes late due to traffic on 195 that’s seemingly perpetual. Also, what’s with the $4 fare on Wave?

Nearby points of interest: Pretty much the entire RIPTA and SRTA systems, and the cities of Providence, Fall River, and Newport

Overall, it’s a great route. It really is. The concept of having a Fall River-centered route linking Providence and Newport is a great idea, and I think RIPTA executes it well with the 24L. That being said, what’s with the difference between cash and Wave fares? Now, I completely get that express routes are intended for commuters. However, I can’t help but get the feeling that this route would do well enough with non-peak service too. Maybe change to be half-hour during the morning/evening rush, with non-peak service being every two hours? Unfortunately ridership data isn’t published for this route quite yet, as it was created in 2019, so I don’t have any concrete data that would back this up. It’d at least allow for more intercity travel options. But overall, it’s a great route, and I think you (the reader) should check it out for your next trip to Newport.
Rating: 7.5/10

So the 19 brought us to Walmart. But, what about its little, evil brother, the 17? Well, let’s get into that.

So both the 19 and 17 board at bus stop C at Kennedy Plaza, and they share quite a bit. What do they share? Well, let’s see. The bus leaves stop C and goes through downtown, following the same path as the 19. Even crosses the interstate and goes through US-6 twice. It also stops in Olneyville. However, that’s essentially where all the similarities end.

While the 19 continues down Plainfield St., the 17 instead goes straight down Pocasset Avenue. It was still largely urban businesses and housing as we kept going down the street. Eventually, though it became Dyer Avenue and we crossed into Cranston.

Of course, from here we passed a graveyard and a ballpark, marking the end of the 18, and a transfer point. We eventually reached Cranston Street, which was one of two transfer points with the 30 outside of downtown. The other one would be coming up soon. As we went down Dyer Avenue, we turned right onto Park Ave. However, shortly after it’d become Phenix Avenue. This happened after the intersection with Park/Phenix and Cranston St., the other transfer point for the 30. As such, we were passing through the neighborhood of Knightsville. However, we weren’t on Phenix Ave for long, as we then turned onto Atwood Ave. and deviated into Stop & Shop, marking the end of the journey.

The good: It serves a supermarket! And a half-decent one, at that! Yeah, Walmart has a lot but Stop & Shop generally is held to higher standards because, well, unions. It also coordinates with the 19 for high-frequency from Olneyville to Providence! There’s also a transfer point to the 18 as well.

The bad: I mean, if you want a faster trip into downtown, just take the 30 instead. Yeah it’s less frequent (every 50 minutes), but it runs express down US-6 and RI-10. With that, downtown traffic is just slightly more bearable.

Nearby points of interest: There’s Stop & Shop. I guess there’s also the various restaurants and businesses lining Park Avenue. As for Dyer Ave., I don’t know much. There’s also the stuff in Olneyville.

Overall, the route gets the job done. It serves areas that aren’t served (or are served hourly, e.g. by the 30 or 18). It’s nice how the Olneyville section is coordinated with the 19’s schedule for frequent service to downtown too. Ridership wasn’t bad, with a few people on my trip. 2019 stats have it at 1162 weekday passengers, which while still less than the 19’s, is still nothing to laugh at. But, if you’re in a hurry to get to downtown, just transfer to the 30 at either Park/Phenix & Cranston, or Dyer & Cranston.
Rating: 7/10

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

Normally, you’d have the expresses that run down the interstate for most of the route, or if it’s in no man’s land, it’s for a short while.

Then there’s the 9X.

This route runs for miles and miles into the hinterlands, about as close to the CT/MA tri-point as a RIPTA fixed route will bring you. So, what does this route have in store? Let’s find out.

First off, this route is a bit special in the scheduling department. Every outbound trip has an inbound counterpart just before it. This equals out to three inbound trips in the morning, a midday inbound, and an evening inbound. It also equals two outbounds in the morning, the midday outbound, and three evening outbound. We good?

So, what does the route itself entail? Because we boarded at Kennedy Plaza, we got to skip the whole Downcity Loop bit and pull right out onto US-6. From here, we expressed all the way down US-6 and interstate 295 until we reached US-44 and Smithfield Crossing. However, unlike the 58, we didn’t deviate into it, instead serving the street outside. Also, the morning and evening rush trips deviate into the Citizens Bank call center on Greenwood Ave. But, since I was on a midday trip, the bus didn’t deviate. Eventually we deviated into a Stop & Shop????? Yeah, someone even got on here, which I guess means there is demand for a fixed Chepachet/Pascoag-Smithfield Crossing route.

After the deviation, we turned right and then took another right. This time, it was to serve a small park & ride lot. We did, eventually, make it back to US-44. From here, we just booked it through the sizable village of Greenville, which doesn’t have full bus service for some reason even though it looks big enough for at least an extension of the 58.

Interestingly, the first announcement for each village along the route has the village name announced, with the dot-matrix headsign reading “Welcome to (village name)”. Weird, I don’t think it does it for any other route. In fact, it doesn’t. Nevertheless, we went back into the woods for a bit, passing by an antique mill and an old person home. Eventually, we reached Chepachet.

The route then took a right down RI-102 as we pressed through the woods further. However, instead of going straight, we instead took a right down a random side street then a left down Victory Highway. Eventually, we reached Mapleville Village.

Fortunately, we kept pressing on further. As we turned down Central St., we reached RI-102 again but kept going straight. We’d then be in Harrisville and, soon enough, Pascoag. Among the things found here were the town commons, a library, a gas station, a graveyard, some local businesses, and eventually the route’s terminus at Sayles Avenue.

Now, if you want to know how I got home, see the 282 Flex post.

The good: It serves a grossly underserved part of the state. It’s rural, too, at that! It also gives Burrillville residents a link to downtown directly, and via a partly-on-foot transfer to the 58! There’s also the 282 Flex, which serves as an unofficial Woonsocket link. It’s a shame that the route has a commuter-only oriented schedule, as I’m sure more people would use it if it ran, say, even every hour and 15 minutes (or hour and a half). Hell, even if there was a local variant that ran up to Smithfield Crossing and deviated into the Stop & Shop that ran hourly (and timed in a way to transfer to the 58 comfortably), I’m sure people would use it. I mean, the fact someone got on at Stop & Shop of all places shows there’s some demand for a local Pascoag/Burrillville route.

The bad: I guess the worst thing is….probably the fact that the schedule is a little weird, even verseus the standard express affair (3 one-way trips during the morning and evening peaks). Like, I get it’s commuter-oriented and noone rides the route, though that could be a midday thing (for reference, as of 2019 the route had 93 weekday riders on average). Also, for a commuter route, why does it deviate into a Stop & Shop instead of looping around to get to the park & ride? And, what’s with the lack of park & rides? Still better than the 10X, which claims a freakin’ fire station is a park & ride.

Nearby points of interest: There’s a Stop & Shop in Smithfield, and Smithfield Crossing. Also, the things in Greenville, Chepachet, Mapleville, Harrisville, and Pascoag as well as in between the villages.

Overall, it’s an express route. It does what it needs to. And given where it goes and how often, it does a good job. But, like, there can’t be a fixed route between Pascoag/Burrillville and Smithfield Crossing at least? Or, from Pascoag to Woonsocket? It’s not bad, but it’s a headscratcher. Also, for an express, there’s not many park & rides along it.
Rating: 6/10