RIPTA Plans New Bus Shelters, Upgrades. Will Funding Follow?
April 27, 2026
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NEWPORT, R.I. — Robert Hunter used to take the bus from his house to Middletown to shop at Shaw’s before 2017.
The bus shelter on East Main Road, where he waited after shopping, was removed during a road construction project where the state Department of Transportation added a center turn lane and upgraded a traffic signal in front of the Aquidneck Shopping Center.
Transit riders were forced to sit on the new concrete sidewalk with their groceries when construction ended.
Without a place to rest, Hunter, a 77-year-old Air Force veteran, now rarely makes the trip to his preferred grocery store, saying bus stops without benches and shelters limit his options. Even a 10-minute wait, he said, is a painful experience.
The Rhode Island Transit Authority reported in its transit master plan that less than 10% of its bus stops had a shelter or bench. The plan counted 375 shelters and 20 freestanding benches and called for upgrading existing shelters and adding 300 more.
The plan aims to create bus stops that enhance riders’ experience and reduce perceived wait times to increase ridership.
But funding shortfalls, failed federal grant applications, and a “lengthy” regulatory process hinder the agency’s progress. The shortfall forced the largest service cuts in the agency’s 59-year history, shifting priorities to restoring service.
Transit advocates said in 2023 that sheltered stops were among riders’ top concerns and updated shelters were needed if any cuts went into effect.
Since 2024, RIPTA has upgraded six shelters, deputy chief of communications Cristy Raposo Perry wrote in an email.
The agency has added nine additional shelters since 2024 — four in Pawtucket and five in Warwick — and is awaiting National Environmental Policy Act approval for eight more planned for Providence and Woonsocket, according to Raposo Perry.
About 75 bus stops statewide have freestanding benches, but only 10 belong to RIPTA. Property owners and municipalities own the rest, according to Raposo Perry, who noted the agency is waiting for National Environmental Policy Act approval for 15 benches slated for Providence.
She said federal grant applications over the past two years to support RIPTA’s goal of expanding and upgrading shelters were unsuccessful.
The grants are competitive, and funding is limited.
RIPTA’s former chair and current board member Normand Benoit said bus shelters and benches aren’t a “big priority” at the federal level and are seen as local issues.
“It doesn’t necessarily line up with what the federal government perceives it should be doing. So, I think that has an impact on how much money is available federally,” Benoit said.
He added that the cash-strapped agency’s funding woes have made it difficult to sometimes match the federal government’s 20% requirements for projects.
Ray Gagne, executive director of the Rhode Island Organizing Project, backed the Providence Streets Coalition’s transit master plan bond referenda last year and hopes lawmakers approve the measure this session.
Legislation from Rep. Teresa Tanzi, D-South Kingstown, with a Senate companion from Sen. Lammis Vargas, D-Cranston, would authorize a $100 million bond for capital improvements tied to RIPTA’s transit master plan.
Some of the money would go toward bus stop improvements. Gagne said those improvements are needed especially for Rhode Island’s aging population, which his organization serves.
“We need more shelters,” he said. “We need them closer to where people live.”
Nearly 18% of RIPTA’s trips are used to shop, according to the agency’s 2024 rider survey results.
Advocates argue that service outside Providence remains limited, making it harder for residents to access groceries.
Transportation is a key thing for food security, Gagne said.
This is a dumb issue. Please create a design built from wood pallets and then offer it up to schools and individuals to build. When the benches exceed their life they can be burned or recycled. They would be easy to build with minimal tools. Heck, even create some kits. Wood pallets and construction site cutoffs in the hands of minimally talented workers would create the benches. Even installation could become a private/public program. Seriously, bus riders sitting on the ground. What a crazy way to live. I’d be glad to get involved with this if someone gets back to me. Thank you.
Yes the bus shelters have been vandalized, busted and no where to sit or get away from the weather conditions! There is literally 1 bus shelter on all of Cranston St 1!!! Aside from there just being a need of a bench anywhere not just the bus lines. They get damaged and don’t get replaced at all. For YEARS, regardless of how many complaints are put in. I used to be able sit on the inbound across from Whole Foods on N Main St not for 5 years?! Having to use my flashlight on my phone to catch the bus from Warren to Providence, ducking the sun with a truck parked near a stop etc.
RIPTA needs to get their Shatz together.
In the last year or so, RIPTA – I presume – has actually removed several R-Line shelters on Broad Street. So, not only aren’t there enough shelters, their numbers are decreasing…
why are we foisting this off on the Feds? This isn’t a federal issue, it’s a RHODE ISLAND issue. Helping people get around, no matter age, ability, etc. I lived in the Netherlands for 12 years, where public transportation is a RIGHT to anyone there. These knuckleheads who have allegedly been running RIPTA have no idea what they’re doing. Spending money on stupid stuff and then whining when the Feds don’t want to pony up, and ridership tanks. Two very simple things to do that would increase ridership and not cost and arm and a leg: Make sure every bus stop has at least a 2’x4′ cement base, put a single very simple bench on it. Whether covered or not, people have at least a place to sit or lean. Then put a QR or bar code on the bus sign at that stop which people can use to find out what time the buses stop there. I have 2 bus stops at the bottom of my street on opposite sides of post road, and I cannot for the life of me figure out their stop “names” or the timings of the bus. And not just the schedule, let’s give people REAL TIME. It’s not rocket science.
If you can’t afford the champagne, have a beer. We had shelters, and all too often, they were vandalized. The hoped-for revenue from advertising on the shelters never materialized, also in part due to vandalism. (You know, the Snidley Whiplash mustache on a Realtor?….sorry, showing my age). Yes, we SHOULD have shelters. But in the meantime, by all means get some good benches, with the dividers that discourage sleeping on them. Riders might just have to bring umbrellas. I wish we could afford better, but it just hasn’t worked in the past, and “federal grant” or not, we should not waste money…again.
This is pathetic! We should not only have bus shelters, but they should be attractive, have the bus schedule posted, at least, if not an electronic sign regarding when the next bus will arrive. This is the way to inform and increase ridership.
RIPTA took out lots of benches in the shelters because people were taking over them, drinking, smoking weed. You couldn’t sit in the shelter. Look at the one across from Classical HS on Broad St. The shelter across from Whole Foods…the same thing plus the people from the rehab place down the street had plastered the shelter window with their visitor’s passes. You couldn’t see out of the windows. And these are NOT homeless people. Homeless people carry their stuff around. These are people have no bags, etc; they are people who just like to hang around, dirtying up the area. The Trinity Square area is awful. Look at Kennedy Plaza and the benches there: filled with people who just hang around all day, drinking, smoking weed, dealing drugs, dumping food and bread on the ground for pigeons AND rats. So unless Providence is going to enforce loitering laws, the new shelters will wind up the same way…useless for riders.