With buses as a backdrop,  Rhode Island Public Transit Authority CEO Scott Avedisian, along with U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse and Congressmen Jim Langevin and David Cicilline announced  Monday  a $900,000 federal grant to help RIPTA  develop plans for a transit corridor to connect Central Falls to Warwick via Providence.

The funding will be used to help improve mass transit in Rhode Island, plan for the future, and support the development of the Metro Providence High-Capacity Transit Corridor, which was one of five goals identified by RIPTA in their Transit Master Plan. 

“These funds are essential to the execution of the Authority’s long-term vision and the success of our Transit Master Plan,” Avedisian said in a press release following the event. “This funding is also pivotal to ensuring that Rhode Island is able to meet the goals defined in the Transit Forward RI vision by 2040.”

According to a press release the planning grant could enable RIPTA to complete the preliminary work needed to enter the transit “New Starts” or Capital Investment Grant pipeline for a bus rapid transit or light rail project. 

Avedisian in a phone interview Tuesday said the grant will help them to determine if it is best to build bus rapid transit which would be designated bus lanes or a light rail.

The  grant was made available through the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability & Equity (RAISE) grant program. RAISE grants support transportation planning and capital projects that will have a significant local or regional impact, particularly in underserved communities

Reed led a bipartisan effort to add $1 billion to the RAISE/BUILD Grant program through the 2021 Omnibus Appropriations Bills and COVID-19 Relief Package, according to a press release.  A provision championed by Reed to provide an additional $7.5 billion for the RAISE Grant program was included in the bipartisan infrastructure bill that was recently signed into law.

“This new federal grant is about increasing opportunity, connecting communities, and preparing for the future.  It will help RIPTA advance a major part of the Rhode Island Transit Master Plan by developing alternatives to meaningfully improve service to along its most transit-heavy corridors, which includes several historically disadvantaged communities,” Reed said in a press release. “Once complete, the study will position Rhode Island to take advantage of the many funding opportunities that are available under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, signed into law by President Biden last week.  I am committed to delivering federal resources that will help steer us toward a more equitable future with more convenient and efficient public transportation options.  This is a wise investment in RIPTA’s future development and connecting the state to drive greater economic opportunity.”

Cicilline  said that the lack of transportation remains a major issue for people in Rhode Island when it comes to employment. He said during the press conference that it will be improved through the project. 

“There are good job opportunities available but the ability to get to them and to get home easily remains a challenge,”  Cicilline said. “This is going to be the beginning of adjusting that in a real systemic way.”

Langevin, who is a native to Warwick wasn’t at the press conference but said in a press release “these federal funds are going to make it easier, greener, and more efficient to travel across our state, so that even those who don’t have a driver’s license or a vehicle can still get to work.” 

“Building a convenient, efficient public transportation route from Central Falls to Providence and Warwick will create more economic opportunities not only for families in Central Falls, but for all Rhode Islanders. I’m proud of our work to deliver the necessary federal funding to begin planning for this new corridor.”

For RIPTA the goal is to get more people making the choice to take the bus. 

“We want to get people out of their cars and onto our buses. We also want to make riding our buses as user friendly as possible,” Avedisian said.