PARTICIPANTS IN RIPTA PROGRAM FOR LOW INCOME SENIORS AND PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES WILL RIDE FOR FREE

Beginning Saturday, July 1, 2017, passengers enrolled in RIPTA’ s Reduced Fare Bus Pass Program for low income senior citizens and persons with disabilities will travel for free. Thanks to collaboration between the Governor’s Office and the General Assembly, RIPTA will no longer be charging program participants a reduced fare of 50-cents per boarding and 25-cents per transfer. That reduced fare, which was one-fourth of full fare prices, has been in effect since February 1, 2017.

Passengers enrolled in RIPTA’s Reduced Fare Bus Pass Program will not have to make any changes to ride for free. Although their RIPTA photo identification cards state “reduced fare”, RIPTA is reprogramming the fareboxes on its buses to accept those cards as full payment when tapped at the farebox. This will apply to passengers who have the light blue cards with a white wave design that are labeled as “valid all day.” In order to qualify for this program, participants must be at least 65 years old and not have an annual income in excess of 200-percent of the federal poverty level or they must be certified as having a disability and not have an annual income in excess of 200-percent of the federal poverty level. Specifics about the application process and examples of documentation required can be found at: http://bit.ly/1iYyI5l. If any future changes need to be made to the cards that program participants are issued, RIPTA will notify the public accordingly.

RIPTA officials noted that the State has provided funding for the program for two years and stipulated that a study be conducted to coordinate human service transportation needs and resources in the state with the goal of finding future funding for this type of assistance. “We thank our government partners for providing this temporary funding which allows RIPTA to offer no-fare service to those most in need,” said Ray Studley, CEO of RIPTA. “We look forward to upcoming discussions about the best way to make this service sustainable.”

BUS STOP DESIGN GUIDE

It’s here – the Official Bus Stop Design Guide! Over the past year, RIPTA held public meetings and presentations to solicit valuable passenger input on setting guidelines describing where and how a bus stop should be built. These guidelines will be used by RIPTA, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation, municipalities and others, when roads with RIPTA bus routes are reconstructed or otherwise improved.

Click here to view the guide.