RIPTA RIPP-OFF !

I applaud your recent editorial on RIPTA .This morning I

    must scold RIPTA while it is in the very process of reforming


    itself. I am a regular user of the bus, living on Church Ave. in

    Warwick. But I started using passes just last month. Believe me

    I appreciate the convenience and the money saving. But I soon

    learned that Rhode Island is behind many other states in its

    public transportation services. Naturally !

           My friend Tommy, who has been living in Austin, Texas , tells

    me they have a one-zone system there. And a lot cheaper. In Rhode

    Island you now pay $34.50 for a two zone pass, about $45 for a three

    zone, and about $65 for a four zone pass covering the whole state ( no

    big deal ! ) .

         I understand this will change in October, hopefully for the

    better!

         Today I had my own memorable experience of the stupidity of

    the present zone system.For this month of August I bought a one

    zone pass. That means I must pay an extra $00.65 to get downtown.

    That does not seem too unreasonable. But today I was a little

    shocked to learn that the zoning has little to do with DISTANCE !

           A rude bus driver did not help. Is rudeness a qualification

    for the job ?

           Getting on the bus that stops at Church Ave, Warwick about

    five past eight-heading toward downtown Providence - I told the

    driver that I would get off at St. Paul's Church. I showed him

    my one zone pass. When I was about to get off near St. Paul's

    Church, the bus driver said -as if I was trying to get away

    with something - " You owe $00.65 ! " 

           Shocked and embarrassed - I had no change - I told him

    that I have never gone one mile on a bus and had to pay $1.65 .

       " But you crossed the ZONE ! " he said . Did he mean the

    Twilight Zone, I thought.

          " I'll pay you tomorrow ", I said sheepishly.

       You cannot catch this Warwick Ave. bus if you are in Providence

    after 8 o'clock. Imagine a main street like Warwick Ave. off

    limits to bus riders so early in the evening !

          Is this a form of curfew  for the inner city residents ? If

    I were a black or hispanic person living in Providence, I would

    conclude that I am UNWELCOME IN WARWICK ! The lack of a car is

    evidence of a certain deplorable shiftlessness. I just do not

    measure up to White Warwick's Finest !

         Paranoia or the simple truth ?