So…why is there a Flex service down here, exactly? Within the 203’s Flex Zone, we have two fixed routes that run daily service and cover most of the zone. Plus, RIPTA has extensive paratransit service throughout the zone that uses the same reservation system. So basically, the 203’s target audience is people who:

• Are under age 60
• Don’t have a disability
• Can’t use a fixed route for some reason
• Are willing to call in advance, or get on the bus at a timepoint, which only happens four times per day

Just hanging out in the parking lot, I guess.

The pictures only get worse from here…

We headed onto Point Judith Road from Salt Pond Plaza, and it quickly devolved into woods with houses here and there. We went past a golf course on one side and a farm on the other, and there were actually some dense-ish residential pockets after that. Although we had been following the 66 this whole time, the route turned off onto Burnside Ave for its Scarborough Beach deviation. It returned only about a minute later at an intersection with a few businesses.

This is basically my only picture of something.

It was more trees and houses until we turned onto Galilee Escape Road. The 66 takes a slightly longer route, since it goes to serve another beach, so we were once again solo. After running through marshland, we turned onto Great Island Road, coming past the many docks and fish markets of Galilee. “Sorry about making you come down here,” Sam said to the driver. “Eh,” he grumbled. “It is what it is.” He let us off at the Block Island Ferry Terminal just as the 66 home was leaving, so we wandered around the empty roads of Galilee waiting for the next one to finish its hour-long layover.

A minibus in Galilee!

RIPTA Route: 203 (Narragansett Flex)

Ridership: Well, clearly there’s no one at 6:00! Just based on the character of the route, I’ll bet this thing doesn’t get many people.

Pros: Huh…I have to say, there isn’t much I have to say here.

Cons: This is just such a niche route! I mean, there are just so few people who happen to be travelling to places fixed routes don’t go, and don’t qualify for RIde service! Hey, at the very least, the 6:00 timepoint could be eliminated.

Nearby and Noteworthy: Well, gee, nothing that’s not already covered by fixed routes.

Final Verdict: 1/10
I see no reason to keep this thing around. It seems to benefit only a tiny amount of people, and I’m sure many of them could just switch over to RIde instead. Narragansett is well-served by fixed routes, particularly the 66, and the 203 just feels pointless and redundant.

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates

Welcome back to the RIPTA! We’re heading down to southern Rhode Island on the rush hour-only 65x today.

Well, this is an odd picture…

The bus does the Downcity Loop like the other expresses, but Sam and I got on at its last stop, Kennedy Plaza (or Exchange Terrace, which is where the route actually boards). From there, it was a right on Francis Street and a left on Memorial Boulevard, which led us straight into a highway interchange. Express on I-95 time!

Bam!

We curved around the west and south sides of Providence’s downtown before entering a really industrial area. The highway went past warehouses and factories and the like, but as we curved southwestward, houses lined a parallel road on one side. We passed Roger Williams Park, crossed over the Commuter Rail and Amtrak tracks, and entered Cranston.

Some houses near an exit.

We came in between two streets in a neighborhood, then there was a section of woods as we crossed the Pawtuxet River and entered Warwick. There was another industrial area interspersed with more woods, as well as the highway connector that leads to TF Green Airport. We merged with I-295, and it was mostly woods after that. Once we entered East Greenwich, we merged onto Route 4, taking a course due south.

I think this is back on I-95, but…oh well.

Woods, woods, woods. Hey, farmland! Woods, woods, woods. We finally left the highway at Exit 6, which took us around onto Route 2. There was a small park-and-ride right by the interchange, and a good amount of the riders got off here. We continued down Route 2 from there, which had spurts of industry and retail as we entered North Kingstown.

Farewell!

We did a little deviation onto Ten Rod Road in order to serve Wickford Junction Station. And believe it or not, the bus is two minutes faster from Providence to here than the train, and Kennedy Plaza is more centrally located than Providence Station! Once that deviation was completed, we actually returned to the highway, zooming south through the woods.

Yup.

Route 4 turned into a regular road soon enough, but it still had long sections through forest with no other intersections. We merged with Route 1, and there were a few houses at that intersection, but nope – back to woods very soon. There was an interchange with Route 138, an uncompleted highway, and there started to be more human signs along the road: houses and farmland.

Seen here in a very blurry photo.

There was some suburban retail near the intersection with Bridgetown Road, just over the border with South Kingstown. Along with a connection with the 64, we did a really sad little deviation into a park-and-ride and back out. Save for some really sparse houses, it went back to being almost entirely woods as we continued south with just one other person on the bus.

In the little park-and-ride.

We finally got a spurt of development in the form of The Village at South County Commons, a “lifestyle center” combined with apartments. We started to see more frequent houses along the road after that, until…oh, we’re at the Wakefield Mall? Alright, route over!

I guess it’s just going back to Providence now…

RIPTA Route: 65x (Wakefield Express Park and Ride)

Ridership: Ridership wasn’t bad! There were about 15 people on board, which is fine for an express route.

Pros: The 65x is a good express route to the southern part of Rhode Island, and it offers a decent speed increase over the 62 and 66, since it skips most of their deviations. The route has more trips than typical RIPTA express routes, with service every 15 minutes in the morning rush (six trips) and every half hour in the evening rush (five trips, spread out over a longer time period).

Cons: My trip may have just been an exception, but only one person to Wakefield Mall? That’s pretty bad. There’s also a random evening rush trip that runs as far as Galilee, but the schedule has no information about how long it takes – they might want to provide that. It’s also strange that there’s no morning equivalent from Galilee, which seems like a better way of getting people to use the service.

Nearby and Noteworthy: Honestly, most of this route is in the complete middle of nowhere! The Wakefield Mall is pretty underwhelming, too.

Final Verdict: 7/10
It’s an express route that carries a good amount of people to their park-and-rides to return to their rural homes – seems good to me! It has more trips than normal RIPTA express routes, which is a plus, and its only problems don’t affect the riders too much. Well…okay, a morning rush trip from Galilee seems like it would make sense, though.

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates

It doesn’t help that the route is really infrequent on its branches most of the time. Okay, so why not walk from one to the other? They look close. Yes, they’re geographically close…but the branches end on separate peninsulas! COME ON!!! Well, I’ll stop complaining about how hard it is to ride the route, and just…ride the route. We’ll start with the independent section of the 3A.

The bus coming down Narragansett Boulevard.

Going southbound, the route first splits from the 3B at Broad Street. The 3B goes down Warwick Ave while the 3A continues down Broad, which started out with a lot of businesses. However, it quickly became residential, lined with dense but suburban houses.

Coming into Pawtuxet Village.

Suddenly, the retail started to come back. Indeed, charming businesses were now lining the street on both sides! It felt like a classic New England town center – this was Pawtuxet Village. We went over the beautiful Pawtuxet River, which had a ton of boats lined up in a nearby cove. The road became Narragansett Parkway on the other side as we entered Warwick.

This is awesome!

There were a few more businesses and a lovely park before it became a residential neighborhood once again. We zoomed past a ton of charming houses that were only broken by one apartment development, after which the road started hugging the huge Providence River. The houses sorta lost their charm at this point, looking more like typical Rhode Island suburban homes, as Narragansett Parkway curved westward.

Down by the river!

We made our way back to Warwick Ave, joining up with the 3B. This was a big change from before – now we were passing gross suburban businesses and really ugly shopping malls with a ton of vacant retail space and huge parking lots (although I’m contractually obliged to point out this store). And just like that, we left the 3B again by turning onto West Shore Road. The 3 is two separate routes, I’m telling you!

Eww…

There were some residual suburban businesses along West Shore Road, but it eventually made its way back into a residential neighborhood. That being said, we still did see some bursts of retail at various points, and in particular, there was a village of sorts called Conimicut. I didn’t think it had anywhere near the charm of Pawtuxet, as the businesses were more spread out and a lot less interesting.

Right by the water!

There was a connection to the 29, another headache of a route to ride, here in Conimicut, but we were on our own again beyond the village. It went back to being mostly suburban houses, though we got a break with some marshland when we went down Tidewater Drive. This took us into the Riverview neighborhood, which was…more houses. And that’s about it.

A marshy river on Tidewater Drive.

We turned onto Longmeadow Ave next, and then Samuel Gorton Ave. This took us to Warwick Cove, where we turned onto Warwick Neck Ave. We entered the Warwick Neck neighborhood along here, but since it seems to become much more wealthy the further south you go, the bus terminated at a tiny busway at the intersection with Barton Ave.

The bus laying over at its busway.

From here, Josh and I made the walk to the 3B, which begins at a place called Oakland Beach. It is, in fact, a beach, and we took some time to step out onto the sand and appreciate the amazing view. “Hey, are you guys selling Pokemon cards?” a sketchy guy asked from his pickup truck. Okay, I guess shady things happen at Oakland Beach in the winter.

At least the views are still nice!

We walked back to the busway past Iggy’s Doughboys & Chowder House, Iggy’s Boardwalk, an overflow parking lot for Iggy’s customers only, and a sign saying “Welcome to Oakland Beach – the home of Iggy’s” featuring a strange anthropomorphic something-or-other mascot. Boy, talk about a monopoly! There were a few other people already waiting for the bus, including someone who was having a very spirited (i.e. swear-filled) conversation with someone else on the phone.

There it is…

Boarding the bus.

There were a few beachy businesses along Oakland Beach Ave, but it was mostly residential, particularly as we got further inland. However, we eventually went by a skate park, an elementary school, and an intersection with a ton of suburban retail. There was a brief break from that, but once we merged onto Warwick Ave, that was it – suburban businesses with parking lots everywhere!

The intersection with West Shore Road.

We were briefly joined by the 29 before it left us, and Warwick Ave continued to be mostly just suburban businesses. Yeah, there were a few houses mixed in, but their aesthetic was degraded by everything around them. The 3A joined us for a bit when it came off of West Shore Road, but it soon left on Narragansett Parkway. All alone once again…

No idea what this is, but here it is!

A gas station.

Huh…

This is one of them, I assume…?

It was hard to get a good picture because we were speeding through so fast.

The surprises weren’t done yet. Eventually, a train track came to the middle of Allens Ave. I have no idea if this thing is used anymore, but it’s really hard to imagine huge freight trains running straight down the middle of a four-lane thoroughfare! There were all these spurs into random industrial lots, as well.

A factory of some sort.

Finally, we left the area by turning onto Blackstone Street under I-95. We then turned onto Eddy Street, joining the 1 and passing the Rhode Island Hospital, although unlike the 1, we didn’t deviate into it. We went under I-95 again and entered an older industrial area with a lot of brick buildings.

Going by the hospital.

Niceeeeeee!

I’ve covered so much of the RIPTA, but I have yet to do a formal review of its main hub, Kennedy Plaza! This changes now.

Inside the main building.

Kennedy Plaza’s indoor waiting area always has a ton of people in it. It gives you all the amenities you could ask for, including a ticket desk, a rack with paper schedules for every RIPTA route, seating space, wastebaskets, a nice mosaic, a water fountain, and a bathroom that was full of people doing, er, questionable things when I went in. Finally, there’s a vestibule where people like to wait as well, since it has screens showing the departure times for every RIPTA route that comes out of here! That’s very convenient.

Out on the plaza.

I love how this huge downtown plaza in Providence is dedicated to transit. That’s just so cool! Kennedy Plaza proper features a main shelter in the middle that has system maps and ticket vending machines, while there are berths spread out all over the place. They each get nice, modern glass shelters with little screens showing when the next bus is arriving at the berth.

The main building from outside.

RIPTA Station: Kennedy Plaza

Ridership: The station gets 69,000 people per day, according to a completely fabricated statistic on Wikipedia (believe me, I checked the source and this number doesn’t show up anywhere – the source did have RIPTA’s total ridership, which ended up being less than 69,000 a day). So that’s a bust, but regardless, this place is basically always busy – it gets good ridership, we’ll say.

Pros: Again, I love how Providence has dedicated its downtown to transit. There are plans to relocate the RIPTA hub to Providence Station and make Kennedy Plaza more of a recreational area, which should be…interesting (how will they get so many bus routes to fit in the tiny space around the station?), but for now, it’s a great setup. The building has a ton of amenities, and each berth is well-equipped with shelter and real-time arrival screens.

Cons: There’s no denying that the plaza is a breeding ground for questionable folks, and it’s apparently a big drug-dealing haven. As far as the station itself goes, the berth arrangements can be strange. They go way beyond the plaza itself, but signage around the station isn’t great, so it can be confusing to find them. Each berth can have as many as ten routes or as few as one, and there isn’t much rhyme or reason as to which route uses which berth.

Nearby and Noteworthy: We’re right in downtown Providence! Go and explore it! This is a really cool city, and it’s probably the most interesting place you can go on the Commuter Rail.

Final Verdict: 7/10
Kennedy Plaza really tries its best to be nice. Sometimes those efforts are compromised by some of the people that use the station, but I can’t blame it for that. At least it has lots of amenities and tries to be as welcoming as possible, unlike, say, Buckley. The one big problem I have with the plaza is the random berth locations and assignments – at the very least, there could be better signage that points the way to each berth.

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates

We’re still going to northwestern Providence, but this one is a little…weird. The 27 has a strange loop thing within North Providence, and I had a master plan to ride the whole thing around in separate chunks. Thus, we’re starting this trip at Stop & Shop to ride the section on *breath* Woonasquatucket Ave. That’s a long name!

The bus leaving the supermarket.

From Stop & Shop, we immediately turned onto Fruit Hill Ave, then we merged onto Woonasquatucket Ave. The houses were dense along here, but they felt less apartment-like than some of the other homes we’ve been seeing along these RIPTA routes. It was generally residential, but there were a few, mostly industrial-feeling businesses that came up sometimes. That lasted until we looped around at Centerdale, the downtown of North Providence.

An apartment development – look at the size of that street sign!

From Centerdale, Josh and I hopped on the 57 and took that into Providence. My master plan was to walk from Fatima Hospital on the 55 back to Centerdale in order to get a 27 on its other leg of the loop. Unfortunately, Josh and I were about a minute late, and we saw the bus leaving just as we arrived…

Darn it!

So we were forced to wait for the next bus, which was another one down Woonasquatucket Ave. Luckily, from what I can see on Google Maps, the other leg down George Waterman Ave is more or less the same kind of scenery as Woonasquatucket, so we didn’t miss much. I guess we’ll just take this bus back to Stop & Shop and start the review from there to Providence…

The view from the deviation.

We headed down the twisty Manton Ave, which was entirely lined with dense houses. There are a few random trips that deviate into Hillcrest Village Apartments, but ours was not one of them, so we just continued through the dense residential neighborhood. The intersection with Atwells Ave had lots of retail, though, and from that point, there were plenty of businesses mixed in with the houses.

A curvy hilly side road.

It was interesting to see an old factory converted into a shopping center, and soon after that, we turned onto Westminster Street into Olneyville Square. This is the transfer point for three other bus routes, and we stay with one of them, the 28, from here until Providence. Thus, we headed down Broadway, leaving the square and making our way over/under/over (don’t ask) the Amtrak and Commuter Rail tracks and Route 6.

Olneyville Square.

Broadway seemed like an up-and-coming street. It was mostly residential, sure, but there were businesses mixed in that seemed new and interesting. We soon crossed over I-95 and made our way onto Fountain Street, which was definitely less interesting than some of the more easterly parallel streets here in downtown Providence. Finally, we made our way into Kennedy Plaza.

The 27 became a 28 at the plaza, so here’s a photo from nearby.

RIPTA Route: 27 (Broadway/Manton)

Ridership: The route seems to get great ridership. Our outbound ride from Stop & Shop had nine people on it, while the full inbound got about 15.

Pros: Along its main trunk, the 27 has great weekday frequency, with service every 20 minutes – that means that on the combined section with the 28, there’s 10 minute service! As for weekends, I’ll say that RIPTA did a good job coordinating with the 28: there’s a bus every 19 minutes on Saturdays and every 25 minutes on Sundays on the combined section.

Cons: However, this means that service on the 27 alone is lacking. I understand every 50 minutes on Sundays, but every 38 minutes on Saturdays is a really strange frequency for people to remember. Also, the route has two branches, so we have to cut the headways in half again – the branches get 40 minute service on weekdays, 76 minute service on Saturdays, and 100 minute service on Sundays! Also, since the two branches take different amounts of time to complete, the departure times from Centerdale have to alternate strangely. For example, the route has to run every 16-24 minutes from Centerdale on weekdays in order to maintain 20 minute service on the trunk. Finally, having two random trips serving Hillcrest Apartments on weekdays and Saturdays adds even more confusion to the departure times, since those trips have to leave a tiny bit earlier, and it just seems like a pointless deviation in the first place!

Nearby and Noteworthy: I gotta say, Broadway seems like a cool place to walk around.

Final Verdict: 6/10
Well, the chain of 8s is finally broken. I really don’t like the 27 personally, since it has really confusing headways and low frequency on each of its branches. I think it would be more effective to just choose one branch or the other and just stick with it, but maybe they get fairly equal ridership. Sure, the 27 is ostensibly a “good” route, but I still have a lot of problems with it.

Latest MBTA News: Service Updates