Public Safety Director Robert F. Drapeau said RIPTA will be at its full academic year operating capacity starting Wednesday, Sept. 8, the first day of classes. Community members ride free with a campus identification card.
The Hill Climber and the 211 Blue Line will now operate in a clockwise direction. The buses ran in the opposite direction last year.
The Hill Climber, which is one of RIPTA’s large city buses, is an express bus that serves the northern section of campus — Plains Road, Flagg Road, Upper College Road and West Alumni Avenue, which runs between the Carothers Library and Learning Common and Rodman Hall.
The Blue Line also serves that route, but it makes stops along Keaney Road, Fraternity Circle, Butterfield Road, Baird Hill Road, Lower College Road, Fortin Road and Upper College Road.
All of the bus shelters have been moved from last year’s spots to accommodate the new direction of the buses.
“After analyzing our needs, considering rider input and realizing that new buildings have shifted pedestrian and parking patterns, we decided to re-orient the Hill Climber toward Flagg Road,” Drapeau said. “We wanted to maximize the number of people we can accommodate during peak times.”
Drapeau said because of the upcoming construction of Hillside Hall, the new residence hall planned for the existing site of the Terrace Apartments, the Blue Line bus will travel behind Browning and Adams halls. Other vehicles will be prohibited from that part of the route. Drapeau said if cars are blocking we will be forced to tow.
In addition, the RIPTA 210 line serves URI’s Graduate Village. URI community members can also reserve a pickup at a specific time and location on a Flex bus by making a reservation at 1-877-906-FLEX from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, at least 48 hours in advance.
“We encourage all students, faculty and staff to take advantage of this service,” Drapeau said. “In many cases, using RIPTA buses saves time from searching around for that one elusive spot near a certain building.”
Drapeau said the other big change is that RIPTA has discontinued evening runs from the campus on Thursday, Friday and Saturday to Wakefield because of low ridership.
For detailed maps and route information,
download this pdf.