Energetic leadership, an opportunity for labor-management cooperation, new service initiatives, the coming of a major new downtown mall, all suggest potential for growth. However funding is critical. Less dependent on operating support, or small systems, slated to get continued operating support. While we would prefer to see operating assistance continue, if not it is essential that language be found to make maintenance and protection of the buses that Federal grants help buy be eligible for capital funding. Also, our experience here is that more must be done to level the playing field between transit and auto commuting.
Transit helps all our environmental goals.
I urge everyone to give it a try and use it whenever practicable. A project of national and regional significance to us is the North Station-South Station rail link in Boston. New England and northern New England to us. We also suggest consideration of funding a real bus station in Kennedy Plaza, Providence, our transit system hub. This is also a social justice issue, the mostly lower income people who use these buses need a safe, secure, lighted, weather-sheltered place to wait with reliable information.