| R 217 |
| 2025 -- S 0632 Enacted 04/10/2025 |
| S E N A T E R E S O L U T I O N |
| RESPECTFULLY REQUESTING THE GOVERNOR, THE DIRECTOR OF THE RHODE ISLAND DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION (RIDOT), AND THE RHODE ISLAND DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION TO EXPLORE INCREASING THE MASSACHUSETTS BAY TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY’S (MBTA) EVENING SERVICE TO THE WICKFORD JUNCTION/PROVIDENCE/STOUGHTON LINE ON WEEKDAYS AND INITIATING A WEEKEND SCHEDULE |
Introduced By: Senators Sosnowski, DiMario, Valverde, Euer, Kallman, and Pearson |
| Date Introduced: March 07, 2025 |
| WHEREAS, The Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) coordinates with |
| transportation partner agencies such as RIPTA, Amtrak and the MBTA to promote driving |
| alternatives through public bus and rail service; and |
| WHEREAS, Currently, The MBTA Providence/Stoughton Line and RIPTA bus routes |
| are the main ways to travel between Providence and Wickford Junction, Rhode Island; and |
| WHEREAS, The MBTA’s Providence/Stoughton Line connects Providence, T.F. Green |
| Airport, and Wickford Junction to Boston and is the longest and busiest line on the MBTA |
| Commuter Rail system; and |
| WHEREAS, On weekdays, as of February 2022, the Providence/Stoughton Line runs 20 |
| round trips between Boston and Providence, with approximately half of those trips continuing on |
| to Wickford Junction; and |
| WHEREAS, On weekends, the Providence/Stoughton Line runs nine round trips between |
| Boston and Providence, but does not serve Wickford Junction; and |
| WHEREAS, Taking the commuter rail avoids highway traffic, parking in downtown |
| Providence or Boston, and means less congestion on the busy Route 4 and I-95 highways and in |
| downtown Providence, and helps to minimize commuters' environmental footprint; now, |
| therefore be it |
| RESOLVED, That this Senate of the State of Rhode Island hereby requests the Governor, |
| the Director of RIDOT, and the General Manager of the MBTA to explore the potential for |
| increasing the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s Wickford |
| Junction/Providence/Stoughton evening line on weekdays, initiating a weekend schedule, and to |
| report their findings to the Senate on or before June 1, 2025; and be it further |
| RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized ad directed to |
| transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to the Governor of Rhode Island, the Director of |
| RIDOT, and the General Manager of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. |
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| LC002228 |
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