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Rhode Island Commuter Rail Proposals

Cotuit

By Cotuit
in Rhode Island

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mental757 Burg

mental757

Posted
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After reading this article - it seems that there will be (at least) 8 weekday trains between Wickford/TFG and Provicdence. Shore Line East is clearly mentioned as 'having interest in extending it's trains to Warwick.'

That would be great - maybe SLE can stop at Westerly and Kingston until the MBTA trains can be extended to those.

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Recchia Town

Recchia

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^ That Pare engineering study that was done for TOD in South County was a total waste. I had to read it last summer, its basic finding was "there can be no TOD in South County, except for a little bit in Westerly." You'd think they woulda realized this already given the already sprawling nature of South County. No way would they ever plunk a dense development in the middle of big-box in the making North Kingstown. The best we can hope for is maybe some sidewalks leading up to the train station and connecting to the RIPTA park n ride and the under construction Stop and Shop.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Garris Town

Garris

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Hoo-F'ING-RAY! :yahoo:

And the last weekend train out of South Station is 11:10pm!

This is so big on so many fronts. I can't even begin to think of the options this opens up for both people here to take advantage of Boston and visa versa.

I think this just made Providence a hugely more desirable place to live, and certainly not just for Boston commuters (although I think the Waterplace developers and Avalon owners must still have tears of joy still streaming down their faces).

- Garris

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mental757 Burg

mental757

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Garris - you are so right - this is so huge. Think of waterfire (or any other big event) nights - it'll be a better experience for people to come into the city, making it a more positive and 'easy' thing to do. All the monthly pass holders can now come into Providence to shop at the mall or meet friends for dinner/drinks on the weekends.

The Convention Authority will have an easier sell for the spouses and families of attendees of conventions to do day-trips up to BOS 7 days a week (not that I don't think there isn't enough to do in PVD already of course). The pedestrian traffic created by more commuters using the train into the city and even those coming down from corporate offices in BOS for meetings (Fidelity).

There are just so many positives!

My son (who like me loves the train) and I are already planning a Red Sox game in August now - just to go on the train from Providence...

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Cotuit Megalopolis

Cotuit

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Anybody know if the Trolley runs between Kenedy Plaza and the train station (I know it's very walkable, but need to know for work purposes).

The Gold Line does. It would be nice to see RIPTA take more advantage of this... The Newport bus meeting the trains on weekends is one way to take advantage.

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Cotuit Megalopolis

Cotuit

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So, its airport to Kenedy to Gold Line to MBTA?

If they don't want to walk, yes. Also buses 50, 52, 55, 56, and 57 serve the train station at Gaspee Street. I'm sure the airport shuttle services will run direct though.

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mental757 Burg

mental757

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If they don't want to walk, yes. Also buses 50, 52, 55, 56, and 57 serve the train station at Gaspee Street. I'm sure the airport shuttle services will run direct though.

these are typically people who are using TFG to get to SE MA or BOS, so walking is out. The Shuttle is the most direct from the airport to the train station, but costs the most (except for a taxi). The college students and or budget conscience are the ones who use these means the most, so with that in mind - whats the best way, in your opinion to bridge the gap between the airport and the train station using RIPTA?

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Cotuit Megalopolis

Cotuit

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so with that in mind - whats the best way, in your opinion to bridge the gap between the airport and the train station using RIPTA?

Honestly, unless RIPTA steps up the frequency of the trolleys, walk. I would be ever so annoyed if I waited half an hour for the Gold Line, then found out the train station was only two blocks away.

IDEALLY, the airport corporation should get RIPTA to make the airport buses terminate at the train station until Warwick Station is complete. They could even try to get MBTA to put it on commuter rail maps and schedules as temporary service until the station is complete.

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mental757 Burg

mental757

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great idea - that would make sense. I wonder if RIPTA could even do an "express" bus (even on the smaller sized buses) that went from the airport to Kenedy Plaza and then to the Train Station. They could even time the buses around the trains to cut out any excess bus usage...

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runawayjim Metropolis

runawayjim

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great idea - that would make sense. I wonder if RIPTA could even do an "express" bus (even on the smaller sized buses) that went from the airport to Keneday Plaza and then to the Train Station. They could even time the buses around the trains to cut out any excess bus usage...

there is an airport express bus, but i don't think it runs on weekends... it should.

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mental757 Burg

mental757

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there is an airport express bus, but i don't think it runs on weekends... it should.

goes to show you how much of an airport expert I am. I made a call and discovered I was given incorrect info long ago that there wasn't express from the airport...

Off to the RIPTA website I go!

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mental757 Burg

mental757

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OK - there is indeed express service and they do run 7 days a week:

airport to KP (M-F):

Time: route:

10:11 66

11:28 66

1:23 66

2:43 66

2:51 14

3:26 14

4:33 14

5:54 14

6:17 14

6:51 66

Route 66 does 9 roundtrip express buses on both SAT and SUN.

On M-F's, there are 16 other route 12/14 buses that stop only once (Weybosset & Eddy) and bunch of route 20 buses that make 5 stops before reaching KP...

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runawayjim Metropolis

runawayjim

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OK - there is indeed express service and they do run 7 days a week:

airport to KP (M-F):

Time: route:

10:11 66

11:28 66

1:23 66

2:43 66

2:51 14

3:26 14

4:33 14

5:54 14

6:17 14

6:51 66

Route 66 does 9 roundtrip express buses on both SAT and SUN.

On M-F's, there are 16 other route 12/14 buses that stop only once (Weybosset & Eddy) and bunch of route 20 buses that make 5 stops before reaching KP...

hmmm... when i checked, only the south prov bus went to the airport on weekends...

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Cotuit Megalopolis

Cotuit

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There's no reason those buses can't do a run up to the train station after they reach Kennedy Plaza. Even better, through route the buses to Pawtucket so Pawtucket residents can have one seat access to the train station and the airport.

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Cotuit Megalopolis

Cotuit

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So Providence Station will now become a main gateway to the city. Weekend service is killer. But, here's the problem, the sad state of the area outside Providence Station (and what makes it even sadder is the relative youth of this area):

2006-0713-pvdstation001.jpg

First glance, not so bad. A few weeds, some cracks in the sidewalk... Notice it appears that the two faces of the clock tower are in seperate time zones, neither one of them Eastern.

2006-0713-pvdstation002.jpg

More weeds, cracked concrete.

2006-0713-pvdstation003.jpg

2006-0713-pvdstation004.jpg

Wall falling apart. Puddle right at the top of the stairs. It was raining today, but that was 3 or 4 hours before I took the photo, plenty of time for the puddle to drain away if the plaza had been pitched properly.

2006-0713-pvdstation005.jpg

More falling down walls, weeds, cracks.

2006-0713-pvdstation006.jpg

Dead shrubs, dying tree, amber waves of weeds...

2006-0713-pvdstation007.jpg

Broken lamp, bars for phantom signage.

Then if you choose to walk downtown, which I assume you are if you took the train here, you have to cross this clusterf--k:

2006-0713-pvdstation008.jpg

Note the pedestrian (who has the light) running for his life.

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