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2009 State Legislative Priorities
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Urge the General Assembly to Grow Transportation Choices in Rhode Island
Creating more transportation choices will generate new transit jobs, give Rhode Islanders access to greater diversity of job opportunities, cut global warming pollution from single-occupancy cars, protect open spaces by encouraging smarter residential and commercal growth, and reduce imported oil, making the Ocean State more energy independent.
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Grow Public Transportation in Rhode Island
Rhode Island could have the best transportation choices in the nation. The Ocean State is not only the smallest geographically, but it is the second densest state in the Union. Unfortunately, current transportation choices in Rhode Island are pitiful when compared to other places. We have no rapid transit or light rail. And while the commuter rail is being extended, our bus system is under-funded. See the Sierra Club's written testimony to the Rhode Island House Committee on Finance.
Advancing Bus Rapid Transit (S160, H5010)
Last Year, the Rhode Island General Assembly passed a law that will allow RIPTA buses to use a new technology, called Transit Signal Priority, to extend green lights signals for buses along bus routes. Unfortunately, the bill was vetoed by Governor Carcieri last summer. Senator Daniel Connors (D-Cumberland) and Representative Edwin Pacheco (D-Burrillville) have reintroduced the bill this year. The authority to use the transit signal priority, recommended by the Aquidneck Island West Side Master Plan and the Providence Transit 2020 Working Group, lays the ground work for Bus Rapid Transit in Rhode Island. Bus Rapid Transit, or BRT, is a form of rapid transit that uses buses, bus lanes, and bus sub-stations to provide rapid transit, rather than trains or streetcars. It is generally cheaper to build than rail transit.
The UPass Act (S120, H5722)
Last year, the General Assembly also narrowly passed a bill that would give students at state colleges the ability to purchase discounted RIPTA passes through RIPTA's UPass program. So far, most private colleges in the state, including Slave Regina and Brown Universities, use the UPass program with great success. The UPass program provides an opportunity for college students to reduce their gasoline costs and will help to reduce pollution from cars. Unfortunately, Governor Carcieri vetoed the bill last year. The bill has been reintroduced this year by Senator Joshua Miller (D-Cranston, Warwick) and Representative Art Handy (D-Cranston)
The Energy Independence and Climate Solutions Act (S488, H5706)
The State of Rhode Island needs to regulate the emissions of greenhouse gases from all sectors. When passed into law next year, this bill will cap global warming pollution by 20% by 2020 and 80% by 2050 and create a reporting mechanism for all sectors of the Rhode Island economy. Rhode Island's global warming bill is the only one in the country that addresses the need to significantly reduce automobile traffic to solve global warming. In this way, Little Rhody is pushing any federal legislation to seriously address vehicle-miles travelled. This legislation is sponsored by Senator William Walaska (D-Warwick) and Representative Art Handy (D-Cranston) Take action today and tell your State Representative to Support H5706.
The Green Jobs Task Force (H5261)
Rhode Island was once the center of the American Industrial Revolution. With new wind farms being built along the Eastern Seaboard, energy efficiency retrofit projects for American homes, and renewing our transportation system, thousands of new jobs could be created right here in Rhode Island if we are prepared. Now that the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act is moving forward with stimulus money, we must be prepared to use it to get a competitive edge in the new energy economy. The establishment of a Green Jobs Task Force in Rhode Island would play a crucial role in the long-term economic development of our state. The new energy economy that is emerging in America at this time presents Rhode Island with an opportunity to become a national economic center as it was a century ago.
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