Mass transit advocates urge Rhode Island to develop its own rapid rail system

PROVIDENCE — Urban planning advocates Grow Smart Rhode Island say the state shouldn’t rely exclusively on Massachusetts to improve commuter rail service here and should create its own passenger train operation instead.

In a “Rapid Rail” plan released last week, Grow Smart proposes starting a high-frequency Rhode Island rail shuttle between the under-construction Pawtucket station and T.F. Green Airport. It would leave out, at least initially, the more lightly used and much maligned Wickford Junction stop in North Kingstown.

Further down the road, Grow Smart calls for new stations in Providence’s Olneyville section and around Park Avenue in Cranston, with service returning to Wickford Junction and extending down to Kingston Station in South Kingstown. The MBTA would continue running trains from Boston to Providence, under the plan.

The group pitches improved mass transit as a way to effectively increase the size of the shrinking Rhode Island labor force by allowing more people to get to access employers.

Read more: https://www.providencejournal.com/news/20190421/mass-transit-advocates-urge-ri-to-develop-its-own-rapid-rail-system