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    1. Management

    RIPTA to reduce service in late October due to workforce shortage

    Oct. 3, 2022
    The reduction in statewide services will be temporary with RIPTA committing to returning service when staffing levels can support it.
    Related To: Rhode Island Public Transit Authority
    RIPTA
    Labor challenges mean RIPTA is temporarily reducing service frequencies in late October; the authority says they will return when more staff are added.
    Labor challenges mean RIPTA is temporarily reducing service frequencies in late October; the authority says they will return when more staff are added.

    The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) will reduce service frequencies beginning Oct. 22, 2022, as it faces a labor shortage it labels as unprecedented. RIPTA assured riders the change is temporary and says service frequencies will return when staff levels support it. No services are being cancelled.

    While RIPTA regularly makes service adjustments three times a year in response to seasonal changes and/or passenger use, this round of changes is directly related to the agency’s struggle to competitively recruit new drivers in the current marketplace.

    RIPTA will temporarily reduce service frequencies on Routes 17, 19, 21, 22, 27, 28, 29, 31, 50, 51, 54, 55, 56, 57, 60, 63, 65X, 67, 72, 87, and 92 beginning Saturday, October 22, 2022.

    Early morning, night, weekend and holiday service will not be impacted. Temporarily reducing service to match RIPTA’s current staffing levels means that riders will encounter fewer canceled trips as the agency will be able to run service truer to schedule.

    “In Rhode Island and across the country, there is a shortage of staff necessary to maintain daily transportation services. RIPTA is facing fierce competition from higher-paying private-sector companies for commercial drivers,” said Scott Avedisian, RIPTA’s CEO. “As a result, this is causing a disruption for our customers in daily fixed-route bus service.”

    RIPTA is currently in negotiations with Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Division 618 (which represents RIPTA drivers) to increase starting hourly pay for van operators to become more competitive in the marketplace.

    “Our goal is to always move transit forward. Reducing service is the last thing that we want to do as a transit agency,” said Avedisian. “Unfortunately, the unprecedented labor shortage we are experiencing due to unforeseen impacts of COVID, coupled with eligible retirements make moving forward a challenge.”

    Avedisian added that RIPTA’s ambitious Transit Master Plan calls for service expansion “but we cannot continue to expand service if we do not have the manpower necessary to maintain even current service levels.”