Plans to add a Kingston Station mobility hub were announced on Thursday, Nov. 14, which would include public amenities, increased access to public transportation, with additional plans to nearly double parking spaces at the Kingston Railroad Station.
The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority defines mobility hubs as “transit sites that bring together multiple travel modes with passenger information and public amenities.”
RIPTA, in accordance with their transit master plan, will additionally make changes to bus routes that serve southern Rhode Island, according to Ella Ackerman, RIPTA’s long range transit planner.
At the time of the RIPTA meeting, the Kingston Railroad Station parking lot had approximately 160 spots, according to Ackerman. By the fall of 2025, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation plans to make that number 300.
RIPTA has already completed construction on a mobility hub at the CCRI/Warwick bus stop, and the Kingston Station would be their second, according to Ackerman. The mobility hubs can include shelters, restrooms, bike racks, and real-time bus information.
The two renovated transit sites, functioning as mobility hubs, would improve connections among bus, rail and bicycle modes of travel by combining routes and extending others, according to Ackerman. RIPTA plans to combine routes 66 and 69, creating a cohesive bus system that connects South Kingstown, Narragansett, Warwick and Providence in 30-minute intervals.
In addition to combining Route 66 and Route 69 into one long bus route, Ackerman said that RIPTA plans to have Route 16 go through CCRI/Warwick to URI’s Bay Campus, Kingston Campus and Kingston Station. Route 64 will be in service all day every 30 minutes on weekdays, and will connect to Newport and run on weekdays and Sundays.
The Kingston Station hub was planned to be at the University of Rhode Island, said Sarah Ingle, the executive director of planning at RIPTA. However, RIPTA changed the hub’s location to the Kingston Station to accommodate an increased need for space and to connect to rail service and to the South County Bike Path. A hub located at URI would additionally interfere with the coordination of both the university’s bus and shuttle paths.
RIPTA has been working on building the hub since March, Ackerman said. RIPTA was awarded an $8 million grant from the Federal Transit Association during their 2019 fiscal year.
The Kingston Railroad Station hub will have shelters with solar lighting, benches, waste and recycling bins, according to Ackerman. Information screens about bus schedules and available parking spots will also be added for passengers.
The hubs will include covered bicycle storage and ADA compliant pedestrian access to Route 138, according to Ackerman. Included in the mobility hub are two layover bays and five spots for buses. A possible addition to the renovation plan is decarbonizing the buses and stations to install electric chargers for the electric buses.
“[The chargers] aren’t in our current plans, but have dedicated space for future installment, because we don’t want to tear up something that was recently installed,” Ackerman said. “We’re making sure covering our base [of the mobility hub] is going to have a little space to establish conduit for the future.”
The last part of RIPTA’s master plan is working with the Rhode Island Department of Transportation to make walking and biking paths safer for pedestrians and cyclists, Ackerman said. There will be marked spots and connections from the bus circle to the bike path. These spots will help people trying to park at the station with a bigger parking lot.
“People are asked not to bike right in front of the station,” Ackerman said. “We want to make sure it’s really clear how people can conveniently and safely get their bikes from the bus to the path.”
To submit recommendations for the transit plan, those interested can fill out a survey on the RIPTA website by Nov. 30.