Rep. Tanzi bill would reform structure of RIPTA board

RIPTA needs a fix

Photo: Steve Ahlquist

Rep. Teresa A. Tanzi has introduced legislation to reform the structure of the board of the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority.

Since 2023, the director of the Rhode Island Department of Transportation has automatically served as the chair of RIPTA’s board. Representative Tanzi’s legislation (2025-H 8127) would instead make the chair a position elected by the members of the board itself. The director of RIDOT would still hold a position on the board.

“The director of RIDOT and the chair of the RIPTA board are positions with an inherent conflict of interest,” said Representative Tanzi (D-Dist. 34, South Kingstown, Narragansett). “Both positions have a responsibility to their own agencies, which not only have different aims and goals but in many cases actively compete for sources of state funding. Over the last two years having the chair be the RIDOT director has prevented RIPTA from having the authority to effectively advocate for its own best interests. The result has been the most devastating service cuts in RIPTA’s history. It’s time to end this experiment and give RIPTA back its ability to fully advocate for effective state-wide public transit.”

Representative Tanzi’s bill makes another modification to RIPTA’s board structure. Currently, the laws governing RIPTA require that the governor, when making appointments to the board, give “due consideration” to nomination recommendations from groups impacted by public transit policy in Rhode Island, including the RIPTA Riders Alliance, the National Federation of the Blind of Rhode Island, the Gray Panthers of Rhode Island, the Sierra Club of Rhode Island, the Rhode Island AFL-CIO, the RIPTA Transportation Advisory Committee, the Rhode Island business community, the Amalgamated Transit Union and the Rhode Island League of Cities and Towns.

This bill would add to that list the Rhode Island climate community and would increase the size of the board to ten members by adding one member to accommodate this additional interested group.

“An effective public transit system is essential for reducing our carbon emissions and meeting our Act on Climate mandates, so it makes good sense that climate experts have a seat at the table when it comes to RIPTA,” said Representative Tanzi. “Adding this seat aligns RIPTA’s board structure with the realities of its current mission.”

Representative Tanzi’s bill was heard by the House Corporations Committee Tuesday, April 7.