There are bills in the state Senate to stabilize the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority's struggling finances and to conduct an audit of the state Department of Transportation.
Providence Senator Sam Zurier said one of his bills would double RIPTA's share of state highway maintenance account money to 20-percent, starting July 1st.
“Last summer’s efficiency study showed that RIPTA operates at least as efficiently as its peer organizations. However, because that study did not arrive before the end of session, the General Assembly left RIPTA with a nearly $10 million budget gap that led to cuts to essential service routes,” said Senator Zurier (D-Dist. 3, Providence). “Increasing RIPTA’s share of highway maintenance funds will provide a stable mechanism to adequately fund the agency, and I believe that a study of RIDOT’s efficiency would uncover enough areas for savings to offset—at a minimum—this funding loss. At the very least I believe we should apply the same standards of fiscal prudence that we apply to RIPTA to RIDOT’s much larger annual budget.”
Citing a report that ranks Rhode Island 30th nationally in cost efficiency,
Zurier's second bill orders the state to commission an independent efficiency and performance audit of RIDOT.
(Photo Credit: Rhode Island State Senate)