PROVIDENCE — A revised fiscal 2026 budget, released by the House Finance Committee late on June 10, raises and reallocates about $15 million to the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority.

The funding comes from a bump in the gas tax and an increase in how much of that revenue is funneled to RIPTA.

The revised budget also stipulates that RIPTA must continue its RIde Anywhere program, a pilot that extended paratransit service beyond fixed-route corridors to the entire state.

“On behalf of our drivers, staff and riders, we are grateful to Speaker Shekarchi and the House of Representatives for their support and for recognizing the critical importance of a strong statewide public transit system,” RIPTA CEO Chris Durand wrote in a statement to ecoRI News.

“The last time the agency saw a permanent change in its funding structure was over 10 years ago; this is a needed improvement, which we are thankful for,” he added.

In the governor’s proposed budget, released earlier this year, the agency faced a $32 million deficit, which RIPTA staff said could lead to laying off a third of its employees, about 300 workers.

Under the new budget proposal, that funding gap would shrink to about $17 million, similar to the hole RIPTA faced last year.

The deficit, though smaller, will still likely lead to cuts to fixed route service. During a budget presentation Durand gave at the Statehouse in April, he said allocating $15 million to the agency would force RIPTA to cut about 150 employees.

“We appreciate the efforts of the Speaker and House Finance for understanding the need for sustainable, annual funding for RIPTA, and welcome the additional $15 million proposed,” said Dylan Giles, operations manager for the Providence Streets Coalition, one of the members of the Save RIPTA coalition.

“We hope that the General Assembly is still open to doing more to close the $17 million gap before the budget is finalized,” he continued in a statement to ecoRI News.

There are several bills in the General Assembly that could help fill the remaining gap, both in the short- and long-term.

Lawmakers have proposed separate bills on a surcharge for and sales tax on rideshares, such as Lyft and Uber, with a percentage of that revenue funneled to RIPTA.

Those bills would generate millions of dollars for the agency in the future, but likely wouldn’t resolve the entire deficit for the upcoming fiscal year.

There is also a general funding allocation bill for RIPTA that would give the agency the remaining funds it needs, which was how last year’s funding problems were resolved.