Category: Public Transit

Alrighty, the 55! Looks like we’re visiting two full-on colleges today instead of just one! And, it’s Providence and Rhode Island Colleges. Also two very different ones. One’s your bogstandard state school, and the other a private Catholic college. Let’s get this show on the road, shall we?

The route begins at Kennedy Plaza, and we make a series of turns on to Francis Street. From here, in the 5pm traffic, we inch towards the State House, and eventually we hook a right onto Gaspee Street. From here, we past the train station and …a right towards North Main and Charles Street? I mean, whatever works RIPTA. We go past the interstate and then over RI-146 and …oh no. Not Chad Brown.

“Oh please, Chad Brown isn’t a bad place,” you might ask. Well, let me tell you how bad it is. Here you go. Do NOT go to Chad Brown. Do not do so for a bet. Don’t get off the bus here. Don’t even THINK about it. Unless, of course, you enjoy being shot, having your property shot, tires slashed, windows shattered, and being caught in gang crossfire. A family community? Sure, more like a family of gangs. But, perhaps, you know someone that lives here, or you yourself live here, but on the 2nd or 3rd floor of a multi-family house. In which case, you’d probably be safe. It’s bad enough to where when RIPTA is looking for drivers for this route, they look around here specifically because of how familiar a face the driver will be. But please, if you value your life, do NOT go to Chad Brown.

If the above Google results (which are the first ones that aren’t ads or images) aren’t enough to deter you, bless your soul. Fortunately, because I value my life, I didn’t get off here.

EDITOR’S NOTE: I do want to be clear, though, my issue isn’t with the people that live in Chad Brown that aren’t involved with the gangs, or any neighborhood with a bad reputation. I’m pretty sure they don’t want the area to have as bad a reputation as it has, and understandably so. My general outlook is that, if anything, it’s sad that a few souls decided to ruin what is probably an otherwise fine neighborhood. And even then, I’m sure most of the people in the gangs are probably involved due to falling into a bad situation, and seeing it as their way out.

We then hooked a left down Huxley Avenue to deviate into Providence College. One person got off here, and then we went around the roundabout and waited for the gate to be opened to be let out.

Pressing onwards, we’ve passed a number of housing developments and businesses, nothing to get excited over. Then we crossed into North Providence and, wait, what? This is the same deviation that the 58 did – just from the other side! Well shit. And, I think I have another rodeo with here since I still have the 50 to tackle.

So, we deviated into the plaza and back out, then kept going up Smithfield Road. However, we didn’t last long as we turned down High Service Avenue and towards Fatima Hospital. Nobody got on or off here either. And, from here, it was a straight shot down High Service Avenue and Mt. Pleasant Avenue to RI College, the route’s terminus.

The good: It’s a necessary link to Providence College by transit! It’s also nice it serves RIC and a supermarket. I’d presume that during the academic year at both schools, ridership is considerably higher than the 770 people daily that the State of the System report suggests. That, though, is probably further inaccurate due to COVID-19 being a thing. It’s also nice that RIC has a one-seat ride to the train station via this route.

The bad: It also serves some neighborhoods that you probably shouldn’t be in. I’m sure Chad Brown has plenty of fine men and women that live there, just trying to live. But, the fact that it’s often associated with gang violence in the media is …eh. It rubs me the wrong way.

Nearby points of interest: RIC and PC are the big ones. There’s also the small stretch of Charles Street, and the shopping plaza in North Providence with Shaw’s. Now, for points of disinterest? Chad Brown, easily. I’ve gone in detail as to why earlier.

Overall, it’s a necessary evil of a route. Like, the routing itself is not bad or anything, and on-time performance is pretty good. However, it does cut through notorious areas that are in the media for all the wrong reasons, and with that, while I’m about to give it the rating it has with “ride with caution, especially at night” in mind. And it’s a shame, because I’m sure most people in Chad Brown don’t want it to have the bad reputation that the gang activities give it.

Rating: 5/10 (due to safety concerns externally, 7/10 otherwise)

Alrighty! No, I haven’t ridden this route, however I’ve been around the Flex zone more times than I can count. That said, this is the 242 Flex.

Alright, so the Flex zone, as the map above describes, has no scheduled stops. That means, you have to call in a day in advance and schedule a pickup and dropoff. That ALSO means, if your destination is unserved by RIPTA (think: the park & ride lot off RI-117 outside rush hour, or anywhere on Wakefield Street between Phenix and Natick), then you better have scheduled a second pickup and dropoff. There were proposals to pilot an on-demand program, but alas it didn’t come to fruition. Now, COME ON RIPTA! WHY?! Even GATRA is better in this regard! Like, I get how it wouldn’t run on weekends, but maybe weekday ridership wouldn’t be so hindered if it was on-demand or had scheduled stops. Alright.

The good: It covers Warwick around the malls and CCRI, along with West Warwick and some of Coventry!

The bad: The map is outdated. Like, grossly outdated. I wouldn’t expect it to have the summer ’22 changes, but it doesn’t even reflect the fall ’21 changes! The 29 doesn’t go to Warwick Mall (or West Warwick, for that matter!), and the 13 was rerouted to CCRI instead of Warwick Mall. Hell, the 14, 22, and 30 were all rerouted to CCRI as well! Plus the 16 and 23 makes this Flex even LESS useful. Now, that’s not to say it’s fully useless. There’s some spots, especially along Centerville Road, that are only regularly served by the Flex. Also, we really have to call a day ahead? Why isn’t it on-demand, or with scheduled stops? Hear me out:

Why don’t we add scheduled stops, making the 242 into a circulator route? The circulator would have stops ordered as such: CCRI (departure), RI Mall, Warwick Mall, Arctic Center (via Providence St./Main St.), Cowessett Corners, Market Basket, and back to CCRI via College Hill Road (arrival), then go lay over. It’d look like this:

This, inherently, though has its flaws. The biggest one, that I can think of, is that the schedule would have to be padded to Hell to account for any custom deviations that riders would make. Plus, the mere size of the 242 would make scheduled stops anywhere a tricky situation. Although, given the mere size of the Flex, maybe splitting up might work? I genuinely don’t have any good ideas that would allow for scheduled stops.

Nearby points of interest: West Warwick, eastern Coventry to name some. You also have Bald Hill Road and CCRI, and the malls. There’s also NEIT, which used to be a Flex-exclusive, but I imagine the 16 would cannibalize any ridership that generated.

Overalll, as I said in the 282’s post, I like the concept of Flex. However, what irks me is that one has to call ahead of time since there’s no on-demand part of the system, and no scheduled stops in this zone. And, as such, I’d have to give it a low score mostly from no on-demand service. Ridership, like mostly any Flex route, isn’t good, with only 29 daily riders as of 2019.

Rating: 3/10

Alrighty, the 54! So, this route is the only link to Providence from Woonsocket, and one of two from Lincoln (or, at least, from Twin River and the CCRI campus). So, surely nothing can go terribly wrong with a bus passing right through the cursed college campus, right? Right??????

(WARNING: all caps rant ahead. Proceed with caution)

So, I ended up riding this route as my way of getting back from riding the Woonsocket Beach Bus. And, I’m sure judging by my tone at the end of that and in the previous paragraph on this very post, you (the reader) can probably tell I had a horrible time with this route. Well……

THAT’S BECAUSE SOME FUCKING BUS DRIVER DECIDED NOT TO SHOW UP FOR WORK, AND POSSIBLY BECAUSE A BUS BROKE DOWN AND NOTHING WAS SAID. AND NOT ONLY THAT, IT WAS TWO FUCKING BUSES IN A ROW THAT NO-SHOWED!!! AND WITH THAT, THAT LEFT ME, ANOTHER MAN, AND A LADY SITTING FOR TWO AND A HALF WHOLE FUCKING HOURS. LIKE, WHAT THE FUCK RIPTA?! YOU HAVE THE ONLY WAY TO GET OUT OF WOONSOCKET, SHOWS UP HOURLY ON SUNDAYS, AND IT DOESN’T EVEN SHOW UP NOT ONCE BUT TWICE IN A FUCKING ROW. THAT’S WHORESHIT! EVEN IF IT FUCKING BROKE, THE LEAST YOU COULD DO IS PUT OUT A TWEET ON TWITTER SAYING “Bus #1669 on route #54 (Lincoln/Woonsocket) has experienced a mechanical failiure and may be late. We apologize for the inconvenience.” LIKE HOLY FUCK!

Eventually, the 6:50 pm departure bus arrives and does its break, and is met with fanfare. Once 6:52 arrives, the driver opened the door and we all got on, and we were off to the races – for real, this time!

Now, Woonsocket is one of those kinds of towns, which is full of one-way streets. It, like West Warwick, has also seen better days. As such, the starting area of the 54 is a one-way and is only served inbound (conversely, the other way is also a one-way, going into John Cummings Way). Going down Social Street, we pass by a bunch of businesses and go through downtown Woonsocket, which reminded me a little of West Warwick. A few people got on the bus along the way at each stop, and we turned down Providence Street, booking it. We then hooked a left down Smithfield Road, passing Park Square, then deviating into Dowling Village, which looked like a lite version of Centre of New England.

After the deviation, we went express onto RI-146, however this section had a red light. And, weirdly enough, someone actually got off here. I’m not sure how you’re expected to easily cross the street, but whatever works.

We kept going down then took the exit onto RI-116. Oh my, another deviation! This time, the Lincoln Mall. And it felt like deviation hell. Like c’mon, I have a connecting bus at 7:45 at Providence Station! Stay tuned to find out if I made it. So, we went through the mall’s front side and got back on RI-116, and hooked a left or two. Now, we deviated yet again! This time, into the industrial park. A new deviation actually just got added here, to Greystone, however it’s peak hours and weekdays only, and it was done to promote the new Wave to Work program, which is intended for employers to cover transportation costs for their employees via the Wave app and cards.

Oh god, another deviation. This time, …the CCRI Lincoln campus? Huh, guess the driver’s new and didn’t realize he wasn’t supposed to go here. Well, whatever. However, we were quickly reaching the make/break point of my connection for the 66: Twin River Casino. And oh boy, not only was the bus packed, to where there were no seats left, the driver also had to help out someone in a mobility scooter. Someone also started giving the driver a hard time over a no show on the 31, which wasn’t in their control. From here, we largely went express down Old Louisquisset Pike and onto 146 again. The lady next to me asked where I was going, and I just said I was heading to the Warwick CCRI campus and trying to connect with the 66 at 7:45. It was 7:35 at the time and I was cutting it really close. And, when we got off at Admiral Street, it was 7:40. Oh god.

The driver then started dropping everyone off slowly, giving me enough space to get out and wait at the door. Oh please, let it happen, I thought. And eventually, 7:43, we pulled into the train station. I have never pulled that stop request cord so forcefully and got off the bus so fast. Alas, I made my connection. Meanwhile, the bus kept going to the hospital via Kennedy Plaza and Dorrance Street. Also, bless the driver, for having to put up with the crap he got.

The good: It’s a mission-critical link, between Providence and Woonsocket, as well as Lincoln and North Smithfield.

The bad: It suffers REALLY BADLY from on-time performance issues. Most of the time, it’s the industrial park that kills it with the 18 wheelers blocking the street. There’s also traffic on weekdays on 146 that can become problematic, along with traffic going into Woonsocket. And, the 1 hour headways on Sundays can be an issue at times (30 minutes on weekdays, 40 minutes on weekday nights, and 50 minutes on Saturdays), especially should a bus no-show! I was nervous about not connecting at CCRI to the 13/23 (btw, the 13 no-showed too, but the 23 didn’t no-show thankfully).

Overall, it could be a good route. Just take the industrial park deviation out, or leave it as rush-only (or every other trip). It’s also important that in case something happens, there’s an alternate bus route out of Woonsocket (e.g. via Cumberland and Pawtucket) should the bus no-show. As such, due to the no-shows, I’ll also dub this one particular ride, the ride from Hell. I’m not holding the no-shows against the route, as that’s more a RIPTA staffing issue than an issue with the route itself. The route itself, though, is……

Rating: 6/10

Alrighty, the first of the three Beach Bus posts! Let’s get into these seasonal routes. Now, initially, RIPTA wanted to axe the Beach Bus for low ridership, but Governor Dan McKee told them “no”, and as such I have to review these. Well, let’s look at this odd route.

Now, I hung around in Galilee for a bit since I had over an hour to spare before the bus left, but eventually 3:05 came and I walked to the bus stop at the ferry terminal. “Nope”, I had to say twice. Then the Woonsocket bus came and I got on.

So the route begins by doing the 69’s local section through Roger Wheeler and Scarborough. However, from here, it instead goes express immediately instead of doing any deviations or heading towards URI. And it was quite the ride. We basically expressed for a whole 1 and a half hours. That is, from Salt Pond all the way to Woonsocket. That’s 50+ miles and around an hour straight minimum. Fortunately, since it was just me, we skipped Kennedy Plaza, which helped a little. Weirdly enough, there’s also a timepoint for Providence Station – with no scheduled stops. Yeah, that’s an odd one. Eventually we did make it to Woonsocket – at John Cummings Way in front of the Community Care Alliance. Now surely my return trip from here on the 54 isn’t going to be painful, right? Right??? *laughs very nervously*

The good: It’s a direct, VERY express, link between Woonsocket and Galilee, as well as Scarborough and Wheeler Beaches.

The bad: It’s VERY long. Like, almost 1 and a half hours long. However, any route going to Galilee from Providence or points north are doomed to be long anyways. Also, maybe they were right about lack of ridership, however that could come down to the day being bad for a beach trip in general (it was cold).

Nearby points of interest: Galilee and Woonsocket, not much to add.

Overall, it’s a nice concept. But, it’s oftentimes going to be a very long ride and likely cost-inefficient for RIPTA. I will concede though, that it’d be nice for a Beach Bus-like program to exist between CCRI’s Warwick campus and Oakland Beach in Warwick.

Rating: 5.5/10

Hehe, nice. Alright, I promise for this one I’ll keep the sex jokes to a minimum. Yes, I’m fully aware that the route is numbered 69. And yes, I’m aware I’m gonna have to do the T’s route 69 at some point. And with that out of the way, here’s a history lesson.

So, in the before times, RIPTA didn’t have the 69. Or rather, it existed, just as another part of the 66. As such, for short trips, RIPTA also had the 62 to supplement the 66. But, in fall 2021, RIPTA decided “well shoot, the 62 isn’t getting ridership, and the area south of URI isn’t that much a ridership generator.” (I presume) and thus, they axed the 62, gave additional resources to the 66 for 30 minute headways, and created the 69, a dedicated URI-Galilee route. So, is the route a 6.9/10? Let’s see.

The route leaves URI and goes left down Kingstown Road, and goes right to stay on Kingstown Road. From here, it’s going through largely woodlands until eventually the route enters the village of Peace Dale. Who’s Dale and why does he want peace, is beyond me. We go through the village and take the first exit at the roundabout down High Street. It’s still the same, eventually also passing South Kingstown Town Hall, and banging a left down Main Street. From here, we keep going straight, entering Wakefield and going past the Wakefield Mall. It’s here that connections to the 65X can be made. Shortly after the mall, oh shit we’re express!

Now, it was short as two exits later, we were off and we deviated into Salt Pond Plaza. A man got off here, and we kept going down Point Judith Road. It was largely quiet with mostly houses, and eventually we banged a left down Burnside Ave. Well shoot, looks like we gotta deviate into Scarborough Beach. Fortunately, it wasn’t that much a deviation as we didn’t pull into the beach itself. But unfortunately we went right onto Knowlesway. At the end of the street, I pulled the stop request cord and got off for a convenience store lunch.

Alrighty, now for a deviation into a Cumby’s review! The store is nice and big, but not too big, and it was clean. Plus, everything was organized. There was also seating, albeit slightly uncomfy!

Rating: 4/5

And back to your regularly-scheduled programming!

So, the bus picked me up at the same stop an hour later, and holy hell it looked like it was from the middle ages. Anyways, from here, it was a straight shot down Point Judith Road and Sand Hill Cove Road. We then went past Roger Wheeler State Beach and went through the Galilee circulator road, where the route ends at the ferry terminal.

The good: It times up with the Block Island Ferry pretty well, well, for some runs that is. It also times with the 66 pretty well, for connections to Providence and points northbound, with some trips interlining. It’s also frequent enough to where it makes sense, with a bus every hour, but not too frequent that the ridership doesn’t warrant it….sometimes.

The bad: Sometimes, I think it might warrant a frequency boost during the summer. Most people taking this route would probably be taking it for the Block Island Ferry, so why not make summer runs until 7pm run every half hour, like how the 67 would become every 20 minutes during tourism season? Also, sometimes it times really horribly with the Ferry, though that’s on the ferry operators instead of RIPTA.

Nearby points of interest: Salt Pond Plaza, Wakefield, Peace Dale, and URI. You also have Galilee and Block Island!

Overall, it’s a pretty darn good route for what it is. Sure, it could use a frequency boost (or runs that skip Salt Pond) during the summer, but outside the summer months it isn’t a very terrible route whatsoever. And hey, it serves three beaches! However, though, the timing with the ferry could be a little better.

Rating: 6.9/10 …jk, it’s actually a 7/10

Alright, new route #2! So while the 23 serves Centre of New England, the 16 …serves New England Tech, Quonset, and a stroad. Okay then.

So, the bus was running late – however, though, this wasn’t due to the route inherently. What happened was that the operator was given half-baked directions for the route and as such ended up making a few wrong turns. I didn’t make a big deal about it and Wintry just said that everyone was learning the route, with it being the first day and all. So, just like the 23, it leaves CCRI via the back exit and down College Hill Road. However, unlike the 23, it stays on Bald Hill Road. And, it’s a straight shot.

So, going up Bald Hill (st)Road, you have businesses and large parking lots. Yikes. However, you do have places like Target, which have their own bus stops (albeit not as deviations – but curbside). With this in mind, the 16 is a little more bearable if you’re getting off anywhere along Bald Hill. Wait, what’s this, deviation sensation?! Yes! We are deviating up Universal Boulevard and into Market Basket!!!

From here, we came back the way we went, however based on the map of the route, the driver made a mistake here. Instead of going up to Centerville and then down towards the courthouse, the driver just went down Ginsu Way to the courthouse, then went in a circle at Cowessett Corners. Nevertheless, we deviated into both the courthouse and Cowessett Corners, and then continuing down RI-2, now Quaker Lane.

From here, it was largely stroads still, with the occasional plaza or car dealership. We did pass MetLife, and eventually I-95. Wait, a fourth deviation?! Oh boy. Now, it’s NEIT. New England Tech, to my awareness, hasn’t had any bus service until today (outside of Flex), so I’m sure it’s something the students would find worthwhile come fall.

From here, we went back up RI-2 and right onto Division Street. From here, it was a straight shot over RI-4 and to Main Street, going down First Avenue. It was here that we took a right and followed the 14’s routing to where this route ended, at Gate Road. From here, we waited then took the return trip up to CCRI, and was then greeted by someone else from the Miles in Transit Discord, who happened to be in town for riding the 16.

The good: It serves a bunch of shopping centers! It also serves NEIT, and more regular service to East Greenwich and Quonset! Also, there’s a deviation into Market Basket.

The bad: My biggest concern comes down to on-time performance during the holiday shopping season. Bald Hill Road isn’t known for being free-flowing. Also, and this applies to the 23 too, what’s with the lack of announcements for various stops?

Nearby points of interest: Target and Market Basket! There’s also Best Buy, the courthouse, Cowessett Corners and Stop & Shop, as well as NEIT and the plaza there. There’s also the areas shared with the 14, including Gate Road in Quonset.

Overall, it’s a good route on paper. It’s deviation-heavy, sure, and could turn into deviation hell easily, but it’s not a bad idea or a route. Plus, it makes it more affordable to go shopping on Bald Hill with transit finally being up there.

Rating: 7/10

Alrighty, new route time! First off for the pair of the new CCRI-based routes? Well, it’s the 23. Let’s see what this route brings.

So, I started this journey by riding the bus out to Centre of New England, mostly to get a feel of the route. And, not only did I do this, but I did it with Wintry (as they wish to go by on this site, if you’re in the Miles in Transit server you’d likely know them as the RIPTA historian) as well. They were more in it to document the bus stop locations for a local town councilman. Fortunately for us all, the bus was on time, and off to the races. After going down Main St., Tiogue Ave., and Arnold Road, we came out at the Centre of New England. From here, the bus turned into a side street and banged a tight u-ey, having to reverse. It’s here, that this review begins.

Ah, Centre of New England, my old friend. I remember when I was little, my parents would always go to the Walmart down here. Turns out, the 23 doesn’t serve the Walmart directly. Instead, you’d have to walk across the Home Depot parking lot to get there. Yikes. Fortunately, we know it’s Walmart rather than RIPTA to blame. Thanks, Sam Walton. Nevertheless, after a 15 minute break at Centre of New England, we got back on the bus and we were off to the races.

We pulled out of the Holiday Inn Express and took a left, then another left onto New London Turnpike, and yet another left onto Arnold Road. It was largely woodlands and territory untouched by RIPTA (until today, that is!). Of course, it was also quite scenic. I mean sure, you have the oddly-placed stop at a lumber mill where one can buy firewood, but c’mon, who in their right mind is gonna load one of those carts that you see old people using with firewood?! Anyways, I digress. Remember how I said it was scenic? Well, it is. And VERY scenic, at that. Briar Point Beach is just a short walk away. I will say, though, that the spacing for the stops is a bit jank. Moving further up and HOLY CRAP it’s beautiful! Hell, we could see the sun rising up on Tiogue Lake, and it was BEAUTIFUL! I’m sure it’s more beautiful if the sunrise was earlier. Man, I gotta ride this route in the winter.

From here, we banged a right onto Tiogue Avenue, and once again we passed by Tiogue Lake. There was also a tavern on the water, which used to be a pretty good pizza place. It was here, though, that the scenic part ended. We kept going by houses and shops, which got more dense as we entered West Warwick and Main Street.

Moving upwards, we went through Arctic Village, providing a transfer to the 12X and 13. However, unlike the 29 that this route replaces, we went down Providence Street instead of continuing down Main. This meant, we got to pass by Jerry’s Supermarket. Weirdly though, there’s no bus stops here. Yeah, that’s a headscratcher. From here, it was largely familiar territory, with the roundabout, and Providence Street across the river to Toll Gate Road.

From here, we turned left onto Bald Hill Road, and a right down …College Hill Road??? Weird choice, RIPTA, but I’ll roll with it. Yeah, so we kept going up, took a right down Commonwealth Avenue, and a left down the back entrance to CCRI, where the route finally ends.

The good: It serves a popular shopping destination! It’s also quite scenic, and provides a second route for Arctic. It also serves a couple of trails and recreational areas, with Briar Point Beach being not very far, and a fishing spot (which looks like it’s regulared by a few locals) right by the bus stop on Tiogue Lake on Arnold Road.

The bad: The 90 minute headways. I mean, for starting out it probably isn’t bad, but I feel like it’d hinder ridership a little. Also, why doesn’t it serve Brookdale Assisted Living at the other end of Centre of New England? Now, I know this isn’t RIPTA’s fault (Walmart told RIPTA “no” for the 23, according to a supervisor I talked to the other day), but it’s also a bummer it doesn’t go into Walmart. As such, what were they thinking with making the buses bang U-turns at the Holiday Inn Express?! I digress on that. I’m also concerned about on-time performance later down the line, especially during the holiday season when Centre of New England can become a traffic nightmare.

Nearby points of interest: Centre of New England, the route’s namesake! You have BJ’s, Cracker Barrel, and Walmart nearby. There’s also Tiogue Lake if you’re into fishing, with Briar Point Beach being a short walk away. There’s also Crompton (not Compton – that’s a neighborhood in California with a not so savory reputation) and Arctic, as well as CCRI.

Overall, it’s a decent enough route. Sure, the 90 minute headways are a bit excessive, but that’s what happens when you have only one bus assigned to a route. It’s pretty decent though, and quite scenic too. And, as such, I hope RIPTA doesn’t shaft the route and instead improves upon it in the future. I mean, there’s some hope since it’s only day one.

Rating: 7/10

Alrighty, the third of the four “long-haul” routes. Originally, I was planning to do the 73 but, um, yeah. Be prepared for a rant on that one.

The route starts at Providence Station, so I boarded there. We then went on to Kennedy Plaza’s stop X, and after picking up someone we immediately went express down the interstate. It was long, but we had stuff. And with that…

LET’S GET READY FOR A DEVIATION SENSATION!!!!!!!

Oh boy, it’s been a while since I did one of these! So, deviation #1! We took exit 13 off the interstate and booked it down the Airport Connector. From here, we pulled into the airport’s busway, picked up noone, dropped noone off, then turned onto Post Road. Someone actually got off here, but we then went back the way we came. Then, deviation #2! CCRI. We got off the next exit, went up the hill, picked someone up at CCRI, then turned back onto the interstate. And that, was today’s edition of Deviation Sensation!

From here, we went express down the interstate and RI-4 (at exit 9). Soon enough though, we got off at exit 5, deviating into a park and ride lot. Nobody got on or off, so we kept goin- wait, what? Why did we pull over? WHY IS THE DRIVER GOING INTO CUMBERLAND FARMS?! OH FOR GOD’S SAKE! I HAVE TO GET TO KINGSTON STATION AND YOU DECIDE THAT YOU CAN JUST SIMPLY TAKE A BREAK MID-RUN?! I probably sound like a Karen complaining about that, but, like, c’mon man. Shoulda done that during the layover at Providence Station. Anyways, moving on, we went down the road after the driver got back and we deviated into Wickford Junction, for connections to the 65X and the Commuter Rail, then turned back and went down RI-2. From here, it was largely a straight shot through the middle of nowhere, until we turned left onto Kingstown Road. We then deviated into Kingston Station (Kingston/URI on this site, to differentiate it from Kingston, MA), and I got off. The route keeps going, however, down to URI’s Memorial Union.

The good: The route serves a lot! You have CCRI, T.F. Green, downtown Providence, along with Wickford and South County all the way to URI! Hell, there’s several major regional transit centers too, being Kennedy Plaza and Providence Station, with their Amtrak, MBTA, and bus connections, CCRI with the various local bus connections, T.F. Green and Wickford Junction with their MBTA connections (and air flights in Green’s case), Kingston Station with Amtrak, and URI with its bus connections. It’s also frequent, being every half-hour on weekdays, and hourly at nights and weekends. It also gets decent ridership, even though the 770 daily riders as of 2019 might be slightly inaccurate.

The bad: It’s kinda long! If you gotta take a bathroom break and you boarded at Providence or T.F. Green, and your destination is Kingston Station or URI, good luck! It also tends to be early, so show up several minutes before the scheduled departure times for your bus.

Nearby points of interest: Providence, CCRI, T.F. Green up north, and Wickford Junction and Kingston to the south.

Overall, it’s among the better RIPTA routes. Definitely a long one and can be hard to stomach in one go, but it’s still a good route. There’s really not much that can be changed to make it easier to stomach, as any Providence-URI route is inherently going to be long. However, maybe an express between Kennedy Plaza and URI via I-95 exit 3? Just a thought I had.

Rating: 7.5/10

Yes, I know it’s “Broad St.” and the page with all the routes calls it “Broad St./Pawtucket Ave.”, but in reality this is probably the main Cumberland route and should be noted as such. So, that’s the title.

So, the route starts …at a Job Lot in Providence? Huh, weird choice, RIPTA. Going up Ann Mary Street, we went left onto North Main and veered right onto Pawtucket Avenue. While the R Line replaced the 99’s Main St. trips, the 71 largely replaces the 99’s Pawtucket Ave. runs. From here, it was largely residential and a straight shot into Pawtucket’s downtown. Crossing into the interstate, we entered downtown Pawtucket, and after a couple of rights we entered the Pawtucket Visitors Center. Northbound trips on the 71 stopped at Slater Mill, while southbound trips stop at the visitor’s center side.

Leaving the visitor’s center, we went up towards Broad Street and went straight. Going down here, we crossed the Northeast Corridor and encountered a relic of railroad history – the old Pawtucket train station.

Moving on down, we passed through the densest square mile in Rhode Island, passing by a number of fried chicken establishments, and eventually entered Cumberland. However, we didn’t go too terribly far as we took a left down Ann & Hope Way, crossing the Providence & Worcester mainline, passing some old, decrepit mills, and ending at Stop & Shop on Mendon Road.

The good: It’s a crosstown between Providence and Cumberland! It serves Pawtucket Avenue (which would be unserved otherwise with the 99 being axed). It also serves the front door of Stop & Shop, and cuts right through Central Falls. It’s also relatively frequent, every 40 minutes on weekdays and 45 minutes on weekends.

The bad: I guess the fact it starts at the Job Lot on Ann Mary Street is kinda awkward. Also, does the ridership warrant 40 minute frequency? And, now that I think of it, what’s with weekend trips ending in Pawtucket instead of going the full length? I mean sure, one could transfer to the R Line, but it’s not really a good idea if the hill is snow and ice-coated. Also, why doesn’t this route go all the way to Kennedy Plaza, replacing the 49’s service to Miriam? I mean, it’s pointless but it’s an idea at least. It also barely gets any ridership, before Pawtucket, and in average (as of 2019) gets 415 daily passengers. Definitely better than some routes, but I’m not sure how accurate this is.

Nearby points of interest: Cumberland! There’s also Central Falls, Pawtucket, and a Job Lot in Providence.

Overall, it’s a little weird. It’s not bad or anything, but like, why? The least I’d do is give weekend service to Job Lot in Providence.

Rating: 5.5/10