By rail and sea, Alviti looks to enhance mass transit

By JOHN HOWELL
Posted 4/30/19

By JOHN HOWELL It takes an hour, and often a bit longer, to travel by train from Providence to Boston. Peter Alviti, director of the Rhode Island Department of Transportation, would like to cut that time in half. He thinks that possible, although it's

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By rail and sea, Alviti looks to enhance mass transit

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It takes an hour, and often a bit longer, to travel by train from Providence to Boston.

Peter Alviti, director of the Rhode Island Department of Transportation, would like to cut that time in half. He thinks that possible, although it’s not likely to happen for some time.

More immediately when it comes to mass transit, Alviti said the Providence to Newport ferry is a proven success and that service will recommence with an added stop in Bristol beginning on Memorial Day weekend.

Alviti visited Beacon Communications offices on April 19 to talk about RhodeWorks projects for the upcoming construction season as well as rail and ferry service.

A breakdown of commuter rail ridership by station showed an average daily ridership at Providence – a combination of those boarding and disembarking MBTA trains – of 3,500 for the last two years. The daily average for Green Airport and Wickford is 446, according to quarterly counts taken between April 2017 and this January.

MBTA service south of Providence has been disappointing, according to Alviti – and it is expensive.

“Travel [between] Providence and the points south of it,” he said, “requires a net annual subsidy of approximately $7 million. Frankly, we could buy every one of the riders a new Porsche every three years with those subsidies.”

It’s not like the DOT hasn’t given the service a shot. Under a trial basis, they offered free service south of Providence, but ridership hardly improved. Alviti concludes that price is not a driving factor. Rather, he sees a combination of issues, including development in the area of the Warwick and Wickford stations and speed.

Referencing City Centre – about 100 acres between Post Road and Jefferson Boulevard opposite Green Airport – Alviti said, “Warwick is beginning to move in the direction of seeing some development taking place in and around that train station that will begin to provide the kind of population that will be transit users.” He sees that population as a combination of residential and office users with a demand to reach Boston.

That’s where speed enters the equation. Alviti is working on two fronts. He said he’s looking at modifications to the airport station to accommodate a high-speed track, giving Amtrak the option to make stops.

“We don’t have it in our 10-year plan right now to build it out, but that’s not saying that through various grants and some cooperation with Amtrak itself that we wouldn’t be able to get there,” he said.

More immediately, the department is working to more and faster trips between Providence and Boston.

“We’re looking at options that include cross-ticketing between MBTA customers out of Providence and Amtrak customers, and we’re discussing that with Amtrak and MBTA,” Alviti said. “We’re looking at what electrification could bring to opening up some slots for express service or more frequent commuter service.”

Electrification of MBTA trains would enhance speed and, as Alviti explains it, open up gaps for express service that could cut the trip to a half hour.

“Our thinking is, if we can get down to as close to a half hour as possible, that would begin to [drive ridership],” he said. “We’re trying to create a pathway to make that happen. It’s going to take considerable investment on our part, but it’s going to take even more of an investment on the part of MBTA and Amtrak.”

Ridership isn’t lacking for the Providence-to-Newport ferry initiated four years ago.

Alviti said the service was started as a test and quickly became a success. He said it helped to reduce congestion in Newport, opened the bay to people who might not otherwise get out on the water and gets visiting Newport without having the search for parking and spending money. Fares that have been $10 will be boosted to $11 and senior citizens and children get to ride for $6. A stop at Bristol, where there is a new town dock, will be added on weekends, he said.

What about Rocky Point, where the Department of Environmental Management will be building a new dock to replace the remnants of the one that served the former amusement park?

Alviti said Bristol seemed like a good place to branch off from a straight run to Newport because of its charm, history, restaurants and shops.

“Ultimately, I think our vision for that is kind of having a ferry system that will service many of the coastal towns – East Greenwich, Wickford…maybe somewhere in Portsmouth. And as the kind of need and purpose for it begins to evolve at Rocky Point, maybe another,” he said.

The first several years of the service have been supported through a congestion mitigation grant of several hundred thousand dollars.

“It’s beginning to wind down, so we’ll be assuming more of a portion of that, but it’s worth it,” Alviti said.

Comments

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  • PaulHuff

    There’s not enough trains. If I could park near the airport for free I would ride the train into Providence every day.

    But I’m not paying to park and then having to juggle my schedule around sporadic trains.

    Tuesday, April 30, 2019 Report this

  • Straightnnarrow

    “Travel [between] Providence and the points south of it,” he said, “requires a net annual subsidy of approximately $7 million. Frankly, we could buy every one of the riders a new Porsche every three years with those subsidies.” What a insulting , disgusting truth from the Deep State. It ain't gonna change and will only get worse...

    Wednesday, May 1, 2019 Report this