I can't make sense out of the RIPTA Map... (Providence: home, transfer)

[Mr.Wonderful]

...
I'm gonna be moving to University at Blackstone and my girlfriend wants to get to Mathewson St.(downcity) by bus, and I've seen RIPTA stops on Angell heading downtown,but RIPTA doesn't provide an online map that explains how this works.
Anyone understand how this works?
Is there a bus that goes all the way downtown from Wayland Sq. and back?

[mr2448]

Originally Posted by Mr.Wonderful

...
I'm gonna be moving to University at Blackstone and my girlfriend wants to get to Mathewson St.(downcity) by bus, and I've seen RIPTA stops on Angell heading downtown,but RIPTA doesn't provide an online map that explains how this works.
Anyone understand how this works?
Is there a bus that goes all the way downtown from Wayland Sq. and back?

check out the 40 bus. This goes one way down Blackstone Blvd toward Providence and returns from Providence by Elmgrove Ave on a circular Route to return to the city by Blackstone Blvd. Angel is one way and all return trips are on Waterman Ave. There is other service thru Wayland Square on Rumford Tunnel and the 78 bus. Coming home on these routes will mean a walk from Waterman( at Wayland Ave) to University Ave. Unfortunately East siders don't use the bus often thus very reduced service from even 15 years ago. BTW, the Fox Point Trolley to East Side Marketplace runs every 20 minutes, but it is a walk to University Ave up Butler Ave.

[ProvGuy]

The 35 and 78 run down Angell/Waterman.

[GermanSpy]

This is how RIPTA schedules work. To find out if there's a bus matching your needs you need two things:

The place where you want to go and the place where you want to get on the bus (or something close by).

Go to RIPTA: and look for the field called "Find schedules by place name". There you'll enter where you get on the bus, it'll spit out links to the lines which stop at this location. Now you can click on each one and see when and if it'll bring you to where you want to go. This becomes a little bit more complex if your destination involves a transfer.

Give it a try, it's easier than it looks.

[ediet]

Whenever I go on RIPTA, I first look at the system maps and see what line is in the general direction of where I want to go. Then I use the pull down of that specific line to see if it stops at both places. You can also check the time that the bus arrives on the pull down by bus #.
Good luck, I have found it is a tricky site to navigate and their maps are not very descriptive.

[urbie]

Originally Posted by ediet

Whenever I go on RIPTA, I first look at the system maps and see what line is in the general direction of where I want to go. Then I use the pull down of that specific line to see if it stops at both places. You can also check the time that the bus arrives on the pull down by bus #.
Good luck, I have found it is a tricky site to navigate and their maps are not very descriptive.

As an old geography major, I feel qualified to say that the maps are awful! >8[

When I'm looking for a way to get somewhere on the bus, I start with Google Maps. Pinpoint the place you want to go, then look for a bus-stop logo on the map. Click on it, and it'll tell you which RIPTA route(s) go to that stop. Once you've done that, go to ripta.com and look at the system maps and schedules.

Which, as I say, are awful. The other day, I was trying to figure out if I could get to Dudek's Lanes in Warren. OK, I looked at Google Maps and found the bus stop and which bus goes there. But ripta.com gave me one of those dotted-line routes on the map, which mean "infrequent service," meaning that they probably only go there on weekdays (not very useful when you're going to a bowling tournament on a Saturday night). But does the schedule spell out exactly when the bus goes down the dotted line and when it does not? Nope -- zero information on this.

More detailed information on the maps and schedules would pay for itself in increased ridership/revenue. But nooooooooooooooooo....

Urb

[HopeStreet]

Originally Posted by urbie

When I'm looking for a way to get somewhere on the bus, I start with Google Maps. Pinpoint the place you want to go, then look for a bus-stop logo on the map. Click on it, and it'll tell you which RIPTA route(s) go to that stop. Once you've done that, go to ripta.com and look at the system maps and schedules.
Urb

When you click on the bus stop icon, you should see a hypertext link which says "View more upcoming departures". If you click on the link, it should provide the times when that route services that stop (see link for example).http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=...5&iwd=1&dtab=0

[urbie]

Originally Posted by HopeStreet

When you click on the bus stop icon, you should see a hypertext link which says "View more upcoming departures". If you click on the link, it should provide the times when that route services that stop (see link for example).http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=...5&iwd=1&dtab=0

Thanks! How'd I miss that the first time?

Urb

[urbie]

OK -- I got another one. I need to get to Mac's Bowlaway (another tournament) this Saturday afternoon. Mac's is at 890 Main St., W. Warwick. When I go to maps.google.com, I get the bus-stop icon right about where Mac's is -- great. It says the #13 and 29 bus routes go there -- however, the 29 is an East-West route (not through Kennedy Plaza). So 13 is the one. Mac's is between "Clyde" and "Lippitt" on the map.

When I look at the route map on ripta.com, though, I cannot, for the life of me, figure out where 890 Main St. is. On the RI system map, the route does appear to go down E. Main St., but on the route map that goes with the schedule itself, it's hard to tell if... that bus really goes by Mac's Bowlaway, even though Google Maps says it does.

How do you figure this stuff out for sure?

Urb

[HopeStreet]

Originally Posted by urbie

OK -- I got another one. I need to get to Mac's Bowlaway (another tournament) this Saturday afternoon. Mac's is at 890 Main St., W. Warwick. When I go to maps.google.com, I get the bus-stop icon right about where Mac's is -- great. It says the #13 and 29 bus routes go there -- however, the 29 is an East-West route (not through Kennedy Plaza). So 13 is the one. Mac's is between "Clyde" and "Lippitt" on the map.

When I look at the route map on ripta.com, though, I cannot, for the life of me, figure out where 890 Main St. is. On the RI system map, the route does appear to go down E. Main St., but on the route map that goes with the schedule itself, it's hard to tell if... that bus really goes by Mac's Bowlaway, even though Google Maps says it does.

How do you figure this stuff out for sure?

Urb

Some RIPTA route maps do require a bit of time to figure out where and when the buses go. One thing that would help reduce the confusion is for RIPTA to revise their timetables to show a bus route on an actual map with the full street grid, rather than a map with no context or scale.

That said, the bus stop you reference is on the #13 bus trip to Hope Road and Route 116. Unfortunately, this spur route is only on weekdays and very infrequent at that. Your only option on Saturday is to take the #13 bus and get out at East Main Street and Main Street in West Warwick then walk north on Main Street for about one-third of a mile until you reach the bowling alley. Hope that helps.