Taking the Train: Connecting With our Neighboring States

Four ways to make the most of the MBTA and support rail in RI

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• Commute on the T, if you commute to Boston, with a monthly pass
• Invest in a 10-ride pass if you take the train fairly often
• Take the T to T.F. Green when you fly and never pay for airport parking again
• Support rail initiatives that could make travel between towns, cities and states easier

Whether you go to Boston every day for work or every so often to visit the city, taking the MBTA can save wear and tear on your nerves as well as on your car. If you take the T,  you need only drive as far as the parking lot and then use your train ride to rest, read, or talk with your traveling companions. You can check the rates from your closest station. Children 11 and under ride for free, and people with disabilities and seniors ride for half price. The Wickford station has free parking—and the less time we spend in our cars, the more our state’s greenhouse gas emissions fall.

Rhode Island’s Long-Range Transportation Plan also includes rail travel, and our relationships and interactions with nearby states could become swifter and easier by adding commuter rail tracks alongside the ones that already exist between Rhode Island and New York. Running the MBTA on electricity, as Amtrak already runs its trains, could reduce not only car travel and traffic but fossil-fuel-powered bus travel. Other visions include working with the Northeast Corridor Future Project to develop a New Haven-Hartford-Providence-Boston high speed rail corridor,  reestablishing commuter rail from Woonsocket to Westerly.