Greater City Providence

RIPTA online fare survey

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From RIPTA:


RIPTA Launches Online Transit Fare Survey

Survey Available Through May 1, 2015

Is it easy for passengers to buy tickets and passes to ride the bus? Do we offer the types of fare products they are looking for? The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) wants to know how passengers feel about their fare pricing and products, and is inviting their passengers to take their Transit Fare Study Survey. It is available on RIPTA’s website now through May 1, 2015. Also, copies of the survey are available at the customer service window at Kennedy Plaza and our Commuter Resource Team will be making it available to passengers at various locations, including some Park ‘n Ride commuter lots.

RIPTA is conducting the survey as it embarks on a comprehensive transit fare study that will review all fare products as well as the rates that are charged. One of the main goals of the study – which is expected to take about four months – is to determine if RIPTA is offering the types of fare products that best meet passengers’ needs.

Passengers are encouraged to visit RIPTA’s website and click on the Survey Link or they can find the survey directly at HERE. This anonymous survey will help RIPTA better understand its customers’ opinions of existing fare products and structure. RIPTA staff will also survey passengers on board some buses as well as at the Kennedy Plaza Intermodal Center, Newport Gateway Center, and Pawtucket Visitors’ Center.

RIPTA is currently also conducting another online survey regarding customer service satisfaction. That survey is part of nationwide polling conducted by the American Bus Benchmarking Group (ABBG).

“We know that people are busy these days, but we really hope they take the time to take both surveys,” said Barbara Polichetti, RIPTA’s Director of Public Affairs. “The more input we get from the public on a different transit issues, the better job we can do in meeting passenger needs.”

[alert type=”muted”]More information on the fare study[/alert]

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6 comments

  • I still wonder why they haven’t tried to turn the monthly tickets into plastic cards that can be reused month after month. Would that not save money given enough time? Not to mention getting rid of all the tickets along sidewalks would be nice.

  • One thing RIPTA could do is perhaps drop an automated kiosk in Kennedy plaza where one swipes a debit or credit card and out pops the fare product of their choice.

    And one other thing – I note in the survey they ask if you use other services like SEPTA, GATRA and the MBTA. I would LOVE to be able to use my monthly MBTA commuter pass on RIPTA.

  • Getting rid of transfer fees is a major goal that everyone filling this out should have in mind:

    http://www.humantransit.org/2014/08/charging-for-connections-is-insane.html

    I think that longer trips should charge more than shorter trips, but I also think that we have to have some kind of parking tax if we’re going to do that. For instance, I would gladly pay $4 instead of $2 to go to Newport if it also meant my trips downtown could be free or $1, but I’m sure a lot of long-distance bus riders would take the cue that they should drive if fares went up. If fares went up but parking prices went up even more, then that would be a horse of a different color.

  • All I want is a card that doesn’t expire that I can set to either auto-fill when it gets low, or go online and re-fill myself. If that card could live in my phone somehow that would be pretty sweet too.

  • +1 to Jef.

    Actually, that would dramatically increase my ridership now that I’m not a Brown employee. A lot of convenience rides I now walk or drive when I really wouldn’t have to largely to not deal with the ticketing process.

  • All good suggestions so far and they are ideas that Ripta is or should be considering. Unless Jef says not to, or has already done it, I’ll send a link to this site’s discussion to Greg Nordin who is coordinating the fare study for RIPTA.

    By the way, RIPTA had a “short zone” (Thayer St, Davol Sq, Classical HS, State House) from its founding until about 2003 when that fare was just $.50 when the basic fare was $1.25. If it were re-established to $1 it would make downtown area transit more competetive.

    With regard to MBTA-RIPTA coordination, I had once suggested an experimental agreement whereby MBTA monthly passes are accepted on all the bus lines that serve the station (50, 55, 56, 47, R) and RIPTA monthly passes were accepted by the MBTA for intrastate RI travel on commuter rail, and see what happens. Also what happened to the combined Aiprort RIPTA schedule that included the #14, 20 bus routes and mbta trains??