Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Back in the early 20th century a subway was planned by the city of Providence. The problem, much of down city is fill and thus construction problems. This led to a delay in planning and The Depression finally put an end to any thought of a subway. FYI, both Rochester and Cincinnati had partially built subways that were never completed or just partially used.
I think the best thing to do is just get rid of all the big buses except maybe for between city routes and just add to the existing Providence Link trolleys. They run on natural gas and they're attractive looking. They look like SF cable cars.
RIPTA: Providence LINK Trolley (http://www.ripta.com/schedules/index.php?section=70 - broken link)
I find them a bit tacky looking to be honest; though I know they serve their purpose. They look like parade floats or something out of Disney to me. I think 4 or 5 large street car routes could go a long way to replacing some of the buses in addition to more of the LINK trollies. For shorter distances, a good number of small, electric buses would do well.
Every time I'm in Quebec City riding around on their Ecolobus, I think of how perfect it would be between Downtown Providence and College Hill. Also along Federal Hill/Downtown.
Ecolobus is small (21 person max), but 100% electric. It can go for 12 hours or about 80 miles on a single charge and has a max speed of around 30mph. It costs Quebec City $3 Canadian per day to operate it and it's free for all passengers. It's PERFECT for Providence. Not only is it clean and cheap, it would be a heck of a draw for tourists and anything that makes it easier to get people who are spending to places where they can spend is a good thing.
Here are some pictures I snapped of Ecolobus on my last trip to Quebec about 2 weeks ago:
Inside:
On the Streets:
I can't believe these aren't more widespread yet. For the sprawling cities out West, they're not practical. For Providence and dense, compact Northeastern cities, they're perfect.
Wow, the ecolobus...that is exactly the same kind of bus we have here in Japan. I live in a tiny little town in Japan, and that is exactly the one I use when I go to the train station here downtown or out to the mall. Even the seat cushion patters (and pretty much every interior detail) is the same.
Good point Machino. Gas saving would be big. However, I'll bet those buses cost a lot.
I do remember reading something a while back about how the link trolleys haven't been profitable and so they raised the fare to $1.50 which is kind of a lot for a ride that might be only a mile or two-- so I think that has turned out to be a disincentive to riders. Believe they were even talking about discontinuing them.
(By the way LR, I think they're cute!- OK... maybe a tad kitschy...)
Having said that- the colleges and unis get free fares and pay a fixed amount for the privilege. That probably needs to go up - but of course they probably have contracts in place now. RIPTA also subsidizes low income, seniors, etc.
Since RIPTA's always crying about deficits- I assume all this $$$$ for a new system is supposed to come from the FEDS???
Why do they keep proposing to "redo" Kennedy Plaza?? I can personally remember about 3 total redos already.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
