RIDOT is still discussing merging the RIPTA park and ride at Routes 2 and 102 with the parking facility at Wickford Junction MBTA station, a mile away.

“The property’s highest and best use is not as a parking lot,” said Paul Carcieri, the DOT’s real estate specialist. “It’s a very valuable property.”

Approximately $1.9 million dollars valuable.

Committee members are concerned about whether moving the Park-n-Ride roughly a mile to Wickford Junction would make it less convenient to RIPTA users, whether bus riders who park at the MBTA garage would be guaranteed free parking as they get now and whether the garage operator would keep the facility open as needed by RIPTA users — on weekends, for instance.

Why are we still talking about this!? How many years and how many tens of millions of dollars did we spend building Wickford Junction Station, and in all of that spending and planning we couldn’t figure out how move a bus stop one mile to meet the train service? And 4 years later we still can’t figure it out! How stupid can we be?

And we can’t have RIPTA use the garage because of free parking!? FREE PARKING!? People in North Kingstown get a free place to leave their car and pay the same $2 to ride the bus all the way into Providence as I pay to ride the bus across town, and I don’t even ask the state to provide daycare for a car for that price.

Move the park and ride, have a bus shelter stop at the location of the old park and ride for the 1 person who might walk to that stop, charge people for parking, and sell the damn land.

Last time we talked about this:

Greater City Providence: Wickford Junction Station and the Route 2/102 Park and Ride (Jan. 2013)

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