RIPTA will drastically cut service

Getting off RIPTA bus 21 this afternoon I was handed this leaflet put out by citizens of Rhode Island concerned that " Gov. McKee and state leaders are ATTACKING RIPTA ". " Mc Kee's proposed budget gives RIPTA devastatingly low funding, which would force RIPTA to cut service on 29 of its 68 bus routes ,with 11 bus routes set be completely cancelled. SAY no at the service cuts hearings ". As a longtime RIPTA rider myself I think that there is no excuse for this smallest of states not to have a very efficient public transportation system. Such a system -which would include trains and boats - would have eased the infuriating traffic jams caused by the Washington Bridge shut down. We are told that this horror show could last two years ! The idea that most Rhode Islanders are hopelessly attached to THE CAR is ridiculous. There is on local TALK RADIO ( 630WPRO) a pronounced petty-bourgeois CLASS contempt for RIPTA bus riders. It would make sense to take the bus at least to work , for example, if the present RIPTA transportation system allowed it. You should be able to get anywhere in Rhode Island within an hour-by bus. I chuckle whenever I glimpse a book at the Cranston Public Library titled : " Divorce Your Car ". I gave up THE CAR more than 25 years ago .