The legislative struggle to fund the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority is an old story of advocates repeating arguments that have already been made to decision-makers who have already heard them, but, hello, here is a seldom-mentioned bottom-line reason to generously fund RIPTA and it is huge: tourism.

Rhode Island has barely begun to tap the power of public transit to attract visitors and support its tourist industry. All the necessary factors are in place except a message.

Providence, Newport, and a few other places are rightly famous for being “walkable.” It’s no secret our ocean scenery, historic preservation, arts, culture, activities, good food, casual vibe, and compactness add up to a perfect destination for variety-filled weekends and vacations. Right now, on their own, actual tourists are figuring out how to enjoy Rhode Island without arriving in an automobile or renting one. They are the tip of a tourist iceberg.

New England fascinates people across the country and around the world. Antique and modern, peopled by families in place for centuries yet diverse with immigrants, set by the ocean yet complete with mountains, cities, forests, and farms at short distances, there is no place quite like it. But just like in the rest of the United States, the prevailing assumption is you can’t get there from here without a car.

Think about travel and sightseeing in the U.S.: Except in a few big cities, theme parks, and inclusive resorts, vacation success depends on an automobile. But this is not true in Rhode Island. When this uniqueness becomes widely known, the economic impact will be significant. Plenty of people would love to know about New England’s exception to the must-have-a-car rule. More importantly, theme parks and cruises prove that millions of Americans are delighted to to leave cars behind on vacation.

How do I know Rhode Island is special this way? The learning began when I wondered what might I do when my kids start to worry about me driving. Would I be difficult and dangerous? Well, living in Providence, the only thing about having a car I would seriously miss are out-of-town trips to the ocean and countryside. I thought if I could find just a few transit-accessible destinations where I could scratch that itch, giving up the keys wouldn’t be so bad. I got on the bus to find out.

After more than a year, finding out is far from finished. I expected the reachable places would be an inferior subset of the world I could reach by car. Instead, hiding in plain sight was an ample, beautiful world away from expressways, brake lights, and vast parking lots; timeless, quirky, laid-back and utterly authentic. Rhode Island at 60 mph is pretty darn small but at walking speed it is infinite!

So I have been writing articles about recreational travel by bus and foot. I am also creating a series of maps that invite locals and visitors to independently explore a remarkable variety of beautiful places via walking, bike, and public transit. I do these things because I love Rhode Island and I am eager to share it with people from all over the world in the most sustainable, low-impact manner possible.

You don’t need a study to know that car-free visitors do not contribute to pollution, traffic congestion, or a parking shortage. Money that tourists save by not renting a car gets spent at local attractions, shops, and restaurants. Where else can a $2 bus ride bring you to a deep-sea fishing party boat or an easy hike through farms and woods to a rustic winery overlooking a sparkling estuary?

A dependable stream of car-free tourists will foster development of small hotels and actual B&Bs, much healthier for neighborhoods and the housing market than those “Air” ones. They won’t require ugly garages and parking lots. Transit that properly serves downtown events and nightlife will solve drunken driving and other problems. More passengers justify more frequent service, a virtuous cycle making transit more useful for everyone.

Simply walking around, independently exploring beautiful interesting places is the slow food of tourism. People who love to walk seek out places like Rhode Island. Let’s welcome them! Rhode Island owns an enviably secure, environmentally friendly niche in the tourist economy — only if we save and improve our public transit.

Andrew Nosal, a Providence resident, didn’t grow up in Rhode Island but has lived here longer than most living natives.