Category: Public Transit

Alrighty, the 50! Surprisingly, this took far longer than it had any business to, for me to get around to it. So, I did this one, after being fed up with the outcome of an attempted job interview. So, here we go. Also, to be up front, I didn’t go all the way to Bryant, but that’s because it was 90 degrees out, very steamy, and I didn’t want to run the risk of heat stroke or dehydration during a layover. I did, however, make it close enough to Bryant (within 3 stops or so).

I boarded this bus at Providence Station, where I was waiting in the cool environment. I could’ve waited at Kennedy Plaza, but as I said in the prologue paragraph, it was 90 degrees and humid out. I didn’t want to do that to myself. Eventually, the bus came and I boarded.

And we’re off to the races! We hooked a left at Smith Street and went up a one-way, then down Douglas Avenue, which we’d largely stick to for the whole route. Fortunately, Douglas Ave. is mostly residential, but there were a number of businesses mixed in. People got on and off, and we passed roads with major transfers nearby. Chalkstone had the 56, Chad Brown had the 55 a short walk away, while it was more direct with Admiral, and Branch Ave. marked the start of a shared segment with the 58. Just like the 58, we deviated into Shaw’s, where short trips end.

Alrighty, onwards past Shaw’s. The 58 left us at Mineral Spring Avenue, and we kept going up Douglas Avenue, now Douglas Pike. We crossed over a lake and the scenery changed to more like something out of South County, with all the trees and whatnot. Of course, it was quite rural now and occasionally, there’d be a house or a business or shopping plaza of some kind. Eventually, after about 15 minutes (seemingly), we crossed over I-295, and past a Hampton Inn. I got off at the bus stop to eat something and so I wouldn’t die of heat stroke. However, the route continues on just past RI-116, and the next left brings it into Bryant University.

The good: It’s a direct link to Bryant! It’s also frequent enough, every 20 minutes in the section up to Shaw’s, and every 40 past Shaw’s, on weekdays. Weekend frequency is up to every 45 minutes, which still isn’t bad.

The bad: Why does the brochure mention trips to Honeywell if it’s since been axed? Seriously, from what I understand, per a friend who worked for Honeywell, the 50 trips to Honeywell used to be intended for those working in the N95 production lines until they axed that department last year! What the HELL?!

Nearby points of interest: Well, in the section unique to this route (essentially everything north of Shaw’s on Douglas Avenue/Douglas Pike), you really only have Bryant and a park. At least the park has a beach, though.

Overall, it’s not a bad route. It serves a lot and some far-out places. I do, however, wonder if the outermost areas (e.g. Bryant and Fidelity, along with other nearby businesses) would be better served with a few morning and evening round-trip expresses?

Rating: 7/10

Oh boy, this one took more time than it had any right to. As such, it also had some headscratchers. But hey, we’re in the East Bay again! Let’s take a glance at the 33.

So, getting on at bus stop H and a driver handoff later, we’re off to the races. Normally it’d be a straight shot into the East Side tunnel to Thayer Street, but we had to get around Waterfire preparations. After the detour, involving going around via South Water and a U-turn, we made it to the East Side. We then crossed the Henderson Bridge via Waterman Street, and another detour! UGH! This one instead involved going down Waterfront Drive, up Valley and North Brow Streets, and FINALLY coming out at Massasoit and Waterman Avenues.

Going down Waterman Avenue, we took a left and went through the bowtie of East Providence. Then, we went towards Wampanoag Plaza and deviated into it. From here, it was a straight shot down Pawtucket Avenue all the way down. It was mostly residential, but we also passed Bradley Hospital, which is essentially Butler’s pediatric counterpart. Soon enough, the road became Bullocks Point Avenue, and we were in Riverside. Nice!

We eventually turned down Crescent View Avenue. After passing a small cove, we reached Willett Avenue and the end of the route, at a Shaw’s.

The good: It’s a direct link to Riverside! However, that’s where the good ends.

The bad: Why does the bus run every hour – with an almost 30 minute layover, when the route itself takes around 30 minutes from start to end?! Like, if it was a long-distance route like the 14 or 66, I’d understand. But, like, it isn’t! We’re only going a few miles outside of Providence! Maybe it’s a weekend-only thing, let’s see.

So, I was wrong. 40 minutes on Saturdays, 30 minutes on weekday days, and 60 minutes on weekday nights and Sundays. But, like, the layover time was almost 30 minutes on my weekend trip, which was on a Saturday. And, apparently, the layovers on weekdays are LONGER than the amount of time between buses! Alright, this route has a layover issue.

Nearby points of interest: Riverside and Crescent Park, of course. There’s also the rest of East Providence and the East Side, most of which is shared.

Overall, what’s with the layover time?! Like, why is the route just over 30 minutes with almost 40 minute layovers?! Definitely a headscratcher. Surprisingly, at least pre-COVID, it was a high ridership route. In fact, the highest of the three East Providence routes (that is, that didn’t serve as a link to another transit hub, with 1300 daily riders. Apparently it’d have even more, when it was interlined with the 3 (which, would explain a lot with the layover time).

Rating: 5.5/10

Alrighty, so if the 87 largely covers the most important parts of Woonsocket, what about outside the 87’s coverage area? Well, meet the 281.

Alrighty, so first off, no scheduled stops. Yikes. But, what important places would it cover, if it did have scheduled stops? Well, let’s make a map. Why not have fixed stops like this?

Perhaps, it’d be something like this, originating at Diamond Hill Plaza (the 87’s terminus), with scheduled stops at Market Square, Walmart, and CVS’s headquarters. Of course, it could be changed. After all, this is Flex, we’re talking.

The good: It’s a sizable Flex zone covering the one-way-crazy city of Woonsocket, along with nearby Manville and some parts of North Smithfield. Mostly anything important can be accessed via this Flex zone.

The bad: C’mon, reservation only? Oh brother. See the above map for opinions. At the least, there could be a downtown-CVS HQ route, say, numbered 88 like proposed in the 2013 COA documents? Plus, the area has largely inadequate fixed route service, like the aforementioned lack of service to CVS. Also, why not have a Woonsocket/Cumberland express? that runs from, say, one of Cumberland’s villages to downtown via I-295 and RI-146 or US-6/RI-10? But at least make this on-demand.

Nearby points of interest: All of Woonsocket, Manville Village.

Overall, conceptually it’s not bad. But, as I said with the 242, c’mon. At least have it be on-demand like with GATRA GO. Plus, the area could use better fixed service, especially to places like CVS headquarters.

Rating: 4/10

Alrighty, another crosstown! This time, it spans the entirity of Woonsocket without leaving. Officially, the route name is “87 (Fairmount/Walnut Hill)”, but the more fitting name is the Woonsocket Circulator, because that’s literally what the 87 is.

As a fun tidbit about this route, in all the years of its existence, it has never changed. Well, I lied. The timings changed. But, by and large, the routing hasn’t changed, and to my awareness is probably the only route that’s untouched since its inception in such a manner. Maybe I’m going to be wrong soon and decide to add an extra deviation or two in a year or two’s time. Hopefully not.

This route is a little awkward. Because the 54 ends in the dead center of the route, I had to get off and ride the route all the way to one end. In my case, I got off by High St. and went to Fairmount. From there, I waited out the short layover in the public housing complex and then got the return trip to Diamond Hill Plaza.

Section 8 housing will be a common theme with this route. Starting off, we’re in the Fairmount neighborhood, as we go through a bunch of side streets. Eastbound trips turn up 2nd Avenue and go down River Street, Harris Ave., and Railroad Ave. Westbound trips don’t. You see, whoever designed Woonsocket filled it with one-way streets. And, as such, having sections of the route served by only one direction but not another will also be very common. From here, we turned down Main Street and looped back to head the opposite direction.

From here, we turned down Clinton Street, which ran parallel to Social Street (where westbound trips travel), passing the 54’s and 66X’s termini at John Cumming @ the CCA. We passed by even more projects in the mean time, and turned right down Cumberland Street, then a left down Cass Ave. with Landmark Medical Center being on the same street.

Alright, so we’re on a main road of sorts, what now? Wait, oh COME ON! Another bundle of side streets?! Alrighty. We end up navigating through a narrow residential neighborhood, up Sweet Ave., Elm St., Florida Ave., and even more projects at Morin Heights Boulevard. Fortunately, these were the final projects on the route. It then became Linden Avenue and we eventually reached Diamond Hill Road.

Wait, it gets better. We deviated. Into a shopping plaza. The name? “Walnut Hill.” That has got to be the most generic name I’ve ever heard for quite literally any place. Put that name in the Midwest, for crying out loud. But, I digress, moving along. Why did we deviate in here, if there isn’t much? I dunno, but someone used the stop at Saver’s, so that counts for something. We then got back on Diamond Hill, and did a double deviation – into a Job Lot (which I think used to be a Walmart) and into Diamond Hill Plaza, where the route ends at Price Rite.

The good: It serves a lot! It’s literally a Woonsocket crosstown, stopping at major locations in town and all the major housing projects! Fortunately, none of them are Chad Brown-levels of bad. You also have downtown Woonsocket and Market Square.

The bad: This isn’t inherently due to RIPTA, but rather the road layouts: it’s very one-way happy. I guess a frequency boost couldn’t hurt, either.

Nearby points of interest: Literally all of Woonsocket, essentially. Especially Market Square, downtown, and Walnut Hill/Diamond Hill plazas.

Overall, I wouldn’t touch this route with routing. It’s good as-is, however I’d probably give a frequency boost since I’ve seen the bus be mostly full for a couple of my trips on it. I mean, as of 2019 it had just over 600 daily riders, but due to a certain incident in 2020, that number isn’t fully accurate to present metrics. But it still gets decent ridership, and is quite possibly the best-routed RIPTA route. As such, it deserves a high rating. However, I’d imagine it becomes a nightmare when there’s events downtown (e.g. Winter Wonderland).

Rating: 8.5/10

Alrighty, you want to get to CCRI? Well, just take either the 66, which expresses to CCRI, or the 14, 21, 22, or 30, which all run local to there? Wait, what? You meant the Lincoln campus? Ohhhhhh…..why didn’t you say so? Just take the 51!

So, we start off at the Lincoln CCRI campus, and going around the roundabout, we exit onto RI-246. A little hard to believe that given all the woodlands out here, we’re only 5 and a half miles north of Kennedy Plaza (in a straight line). Wait, a deviation! Yes, just like the 54 and 73, we deviate into Twin River! However, noone got on here.

Once we got out of Twin River, we went right again, and unlike the 54, we did NOT go express. So, instead we began going down Charles Street. It was largely residential, as every few stops people got on down here. Throughout, there were businesses lining the street as well. There were also a couple of parks and Esek Hopkins Jr. High, down by the intersection with Branch Avenue. Eventually, past the Home Depot, Charles Street split into two one-ways, with the one-way I’m on being next to the Northeast Corridor. Fortunately, this also meant we were near home. From here, we went up Canal Street and deviated into Providence Station, where I got off. The route would then continue to go down to RI Hospital.

The good: It’s a straight shot up Charles Street to the CCRI campus and the casino! Also, on Sundays, the college isn’t even served (likely due to the lack of classes). So, in a sense, the schedule works out pretty well too. It’s also relatively frequent, being every half-hour. However….

The bad: I think it might be better off being a little more frequent (every 20 minutes), or maybe alternating short/long trips like with the 20, where trips alternate between ending at the Stop & Shop on Mineral Spring, and the full run to Twin River and CCRI, which would also bring 20 minute frequency to Charles St. itself and 40 minutes to CCRI and the casino. Also, Charles Street can get clogged up quite easily during the evening and morning commutes.

Nearby points of interest: Twin River and CCRI. There’s also the stuff lining Charles Street and the train station.

Overall, it’s a pretty good route. Enough so to where as of 2019, it was the highest-ridership non-key route. I do, however, think that turning it into a key route with long/short trips (think like the 20) would be a better idea, especially given the proximity to the Stop & Shop on Mineral Spring Ave. Or, if the 30 minute frequency to CCRI and the casino were to be preserved, why not every 15 minutes up to said Stop & Shop, and 30 to the casino and CCRI?

Rating: 7.5/10

WARNING: copious amounts of caps and cursing incoming. Reader’s discretion advised.

Dear god, this one was a troublemaker. Enough so to where it took me multiple attempts to even ride it. Let’s run through them, shall we?

ATTEMPT #1: So I was on the 71 and I pull the cord for Pawtucket and- wait, what? WHAT?! The fucking driver just DROVE OFF without even stopping like he’s supposed to?! What the FUCK gives?! Like, I get you’re probably late and all, but you gotta pick people up too!

ATTEMPT #2: Alrighty, round 2! So, I got off the 80 with about 10 minutes to spare, NOT MISSING IT THIS TIME! And, holy crap, the bus actually stopped. And, with that, I boarded the bus. To sum up the “difficulty” of the route, if the 54 is the route from Hell, the 73 is more likened to trying to catch a shiny Abra in Pokemon without any level of preparation. Not the worst, but definitely an annoying bug to squash.

So starting off, we pulled out of Roosevelt Avenue onto Exchange Street, which then became Goff Avenue. From here, we turned down Main Street, turned again to stay on Main Street, then it became the route’s namesake – Mineral Spring Avenue. Normally, this road is a traffic nightmare, if my experience on the 58 is to go by. But, unlike this route, the 58 doesn’t go into Pawtucket. Going straight down, we crossed over the Northeast Corridor (which had a MBTA train led by an F40PH passing under as I was going over!)

Going down Mineral Spring, it was a bit of everything to be seen. Houses, old mills, businesses of various types. And, at least traffic was free-flowing. And, huh, this thing actually gets ridership. Surprising. Nevertheless, we pressed on down Mineral Spring, passing Smithfield Avenue and, eventually, Route 146.

However, we didn’t meet RI-146 at Mineral Spring. Instead, we met with it after going down Charles Street. No express today! So, we pressed on up Charles Street and RI-246, to then deviate into Twin River and the Lincoln CCRI campus. And FINALLY, the route was over.

The good: It’s a one-seat ride to the two major places in Lincoln!

The bad: It’s on-time performance can be bad, with drivers sometimes outright skipping Pawtucket. Yikes. It also doesn’t run on weekends.

Nearby points of interest: The casino and CCRI mainly. Maybe Mineral Spring Avenue.

Overall, this route can be really tricky to work with. On-time performance is just bad enough to where the driver might skip Pawtucket entirely. However, it also does give one-seat rides to destinations warranting transfers to Providence, namely the CCRI campus and more importantly, the casino.

Rating: 4.5/10

So, I guess one can consider this a part 2 to the 76’s post. This route largely mirrors the 76, however instead of going up Central Ave., it goes up Armistice Boulevard. To get here, I walked down Daggett Avenue from its stop on Central Ave., to the Armistice Boulevard stop.

So, starting off, the route starts at Slater Park and then continues to where I got on. Fortunately, it isn’t that much I missed. When I got on, we kept going down Armistice Boulevard. Nobody got on until the CVS at Newport Avenue, where one can transfer with the 35. Eventually we got to George Bennett Highway, banged a left, and went down it.

Eventually, we hooked a right down Columbus Avenue and passed McCoy Stadium. Normally there’d be a special shuttle service, however that’s reserved for ball games – and McCoy Stadium isn’t occupied by any baseball teams anymore, either. Nevertheless, we went left down Pond Street and right down Summit Street. This area was the most-used part of the route. From here, we went down Walcott Street to Exchange Street, where a left turn later brought us to the Pawtucket Visitors Center.

The good: It’s a direct link between downtown Pawtucket and Slater Park!

The bad: …that most people have no reason to use. Essentially noone’s gonna be using this route when it runs every 1 and a half hours, AND shares the same lone bus that the 76 gets. Also unlike the 76, no weekend service! No, no, no! I’m sure if this and the 76 were decoupled, it’d be a much better route. Hell, even as things stand, noone would still use the 80 because, face it, most people in the area between Slater Park and McCoy Stadium (i.e. most of the route) have cars and can drive, and almost certainly prefer that.

Nearby points of interest: …not a lot. Slater Park, is the only one still open.

Overall, why? Just, why? Why can’t the McCoy Stadium-downtown section just be an extension of the 76, with the areas between the stadium and Slater Park being axed entirely? Unless I’m wrong – and very wrong, at that, noone, NOT EVEN A SOUL, uses the route out there and would be better served by a direct connection to Providence.

Rating: 2/10

Alrighty! As for local routes that don’t end outside Pawtucket, you really have two options: the 76 and the 80. Both are short and sweet routes that run eastbound out of downtown. Now, out of this set of twins, let’s look at the 76.

Pulling out of Roosevelt Avenue, we immediately go left up Main Street, which quickly becomes Walcott Street. We then go left a side street and right onto …Armistice Boulevard??? Wait a second, this isn’t the 80! Fortunately, we then hooked a left down George Bennett Highway, running parallel to inactive railroad tracks (at least, to my awareness it’s inactive).

We then took a right onto Cottage Street and HOLY CRAP, a deviation! Yes! We deviated into a Stop & Shop! All of one person got off here, and it was just myself on the bus. Going back onto George Bennett Highway, we turned left onto Central Avenue, going straight down to the end of the route. It largely wasn’t anything exciting, however we did go past Newport Ave. for a connection to the 35. The end of the route was in sight, though, after a number of side streets, and the bus banged a left onto Benefit Street and into the busway on Thurber Street.

After getting off, I walked all of a mile or so to Armistice Boulevard to get the 80.

The good: It’s a direct link between downtown Pawtucket and the neighborhoods along Central Avenue! It’s also short and sweet.

The bad: The frequency. 90 minutes for a short route?! Yikes. Also, why is the route MORE frequent on weekends?! That’s a headscratcher for sure. It’s also at the bottom of ridership for RIPTA’s fixed routes, being the 2nd least-used normal route. How about, 118 daily riders as of 2019? Yikes.

Nearby points of interest: Not much. Stop & Shop and downtown Pawtucket??????

Overall, while this route is a necessity, it’s a bit of a headscratcher as well. Like, it’s not bad inherently, it’s just that I can’t help but feel RIPTA did this route wrong.

Rating: 5.5/10

Alrighty, so what’s the first thing you think of when you hear “Italians” and “Rhode Island” in the same sentence? Federal Hill? The mafia? Something different entirely? Well, here’s the 92.

The route starts at RI College, and takes a right out to Mt. Pleasant Avenue. And we crawled. Like, at a snail’s pace. Eventually, though, after what felt like 25 years, we made it to Chalkstone Avenue, and eventually Atwells Avenue. And oh boy, this was foreshadowing.

Going down Atwells Avenue, it was largely lined with businesses. Think, similar stuff to Olneyville. Eventually, we made it to Eagle Square at Valley Street. Weirdly enough, no current routes go down Valley Street, although some of the stuff laid out in the Transit Master Plan calls for a route to run down this road.

We crossed over the Northeast Corridor and US-6, and we were in Federal Hill. And, holy crap, it’s beautiful. Well, sans the traffic. It’s enough to where the route has to be detoured twice a week due to “al fresco” dining. What is “al fresco” dining? Well, businesses can participate in street dining, where Atwells Avenue is closed off to vehicular traffic two nights each week, while local restaurant patrons are invited to eat outside with the street essentially being used as a community patio. It’s one of those community events that were birthed out of necessity due to the pandemic, and quite truthfully, while you probably won’t find me eating out up there, I still think it’s a good idea in general especially for boosting business. However, as we trudged past, we eventually (after another 10 years) made it to I-95 and Lasalle Square. And, from here, a clean shot to Kennedy Plaza.

Now, I’d end the review here HOWEVER, just like the 1, the route doesn’t end at Kennedy Plaza. From here, we kept going down to Dyer Street and past the South Street Landing. Unlike the DTC routes, though, we went left down Point Street, which became Wickenden Street. And, oh god, it’s very narrow a street. But it gets worse. We turned left down Ives Street, which was even tighter a fit. How, why, just why? Why not just use Gano Street? Fortunately, we turned right down Pitman Street and it was a clean shot into Eastside Marketplace.

The good: It’s a direct link between RIC, Federal Hill, and the East Side via Kennedy Plaza. It serves a lot of people, and moreso when school is in session at RIC. Sometimes they also run tourist trolleys up this route, which I think would be more befitting than a normal 40ft bus. It’s also very frequent, being every 20 minutes on weekdays, and 30 minutes on weekday nights and weekends. It also shows with ridership, being in the top 5 as of 2019.

The bad: The roads can get clogged very quickly, and while I like the street dining, that probably doesn’t help the situation. Also, the very narrow streets in the East Side.

Nearby points of interest: Eastside Marketplace and the nearby Salvation Army store exists! There’s also Federal Hill if you’re into fine dining, and RI College.

Rating: 8.5/10

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)