The state budget that took effect July 1 closes the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority's projected $14 million operating deficit, ending a two-year cycle of shortfalls that produced the largest service reductions in the agency's history.
Lawmakers added roughly $13.4 million above what Governor Dan McKee proposed for RIPTA, drawing on revenue from a 2-cent gas tax increase enacted in the previous budget and on a larger share of the Highway Maintenance Account, a state fund fed by vehicle fees and administered by the Department of Transportation. Because both sources recur annually, the money is ongoing rather than a one-time patch — the distinction RIPTA leadership had been asking for.
For riders, the practical effect is narrow but real: no new round of cuts this fiscal year. Service reductions that took effect in September 2025 across dozens of routes are still in place. The budget balances RIPTA's books; it does not buy back the frequency riders lost.
Local sponsorAffordable photography lessons in Newport, Jamestown, or your town.E.L. Photo RIThat loss has been measured. Routes with service reductions saw an average 14 percent drop in ridership between November 2024 and November 2025, equal to about 4,033 fewer daily riders, according to an impact report by the Save RIPTA Coalition.
How the gap opened
McKee's fiscal 2026 budget proposal, released in January 2025, left RIPTA with a $32.6 million hole, driven by the end of federal pandemic relief, inflation and higher driver pay after an 18 percent raise for bus operators. The House Finance Committee's revised plan that June moved about $15 million to the agency — roughly half the gap. RIPTA's board then approved a modified reduction plan in August 2025 that avoided eliminating routes outright but cut frequency and weekend service on 46 of them.
Paratransit was walled off from that round of cuts. House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi said at the time that the paratransit program would remain untouched. The RIde Anywhere program, which provides door-to-door trips anywhere in the state for qualified passengers with disabilities, was made permanent by the General Assembly in 2025 after launching as a pilot in January 2024.
In his January State of the State address, McKee pledged to "fully close" RIPTA's projected fiscal 2027 deficit, then estimated at $13.8 million. The final budget, passed in June, delivered about $14.3 million.
Shelters, buses and who runs the board
Lawmakers also removed the RIDOT director from the chair of RIPTA's board. Advocates had pushed for the change, arguing that the same official could not weigh highway and transit funding claims neutrally. When legislators floated shifting gas tax revenue toward transit in 2025, RIPTA's board chairman — RIDOT Director Peter Alviti Jr. — objected, saying it "would result in an annual loss of approximately $7 million, significantly impacting our capital program."
The budget also puts money toward bus stop infrastructure. The Conservation Law Foundation, in a post summarizing the session, said the spending plan includes $3 million to repair and replace aging shelters, and sets aside money from the regional program that charges power plants for carbon pollution to potentially cover up to half of RIPTA's required match for electric bus grants. Neither figure appears in independently published budget summaries reviewed for this story.
The shelter need is documented. RIPTA's transit master plan counted 375 shelters and 20 freestanding benches across the system, with fewer than 10 percent of stops having either, and called for upgrading what exists while adding 300 more.
On buses, the federal piece is confirmed: Rhode Island's congressional delegation announced in November 2025 that the state would receive $25 million through the Federal Transit Administration's Low or No Emission Grant Program to support RIPTA's shift to low- and zero-emission vehicles. Federal transit grants of that type require a local match, which is what the state carbon-revenue set-aside is meant to help cover.
What advocates say
The Save RIPTA campaign, launched by the Providence Streets Coalition in 2023, organized riders, disability advocates, faith groups and ATU Local 618 members through three budget cycles. In an end-of-session statement, the coalition said the additional money above McKee's proposal "represents the realization that the 'right sizing' of RIPTA was wrong from the start."
RIPTA CEO Christopher Durand framed the funding in economic terms, saying that when Rhode Island invests in public transit, "it is investing in the success of students, residents and businesses." The agency employs more than 800 people and serves riders traveling to jobs at employers including Miriam Hospital, General Dynamics Electric Boat, the Naval Undersea Warfare Center and Amazon.
Whether the September 2025 reductions come back is a question for the next budget. McKee's fiscal 2028 proposal is due to lawmakers in January.