After disruptions, RIPTA issues travel advisory for high school students for Thursday

PROVIDENCE – The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority is advising high school students affected by Wednesday's disruptions to ride their local RIPTA bus to Kennedy Plaza on Thursday and then transfer.

Students can use the trip planner at RIPTA.com to plan their trip from home to Kennedy Plaza, or they can call RIPTA customer service at (401) 784-9500, ext. 2012 for assistance.

Potentially dozens of high students had their rides to school canceled Wednesday as RIPTA struggled to deal with a shortage of drivers.

"Like other transit agencies nationwide, RIPTA is facing a critical shortage of staff necessary to maintain daily transportation service," RIPTA said in a statement. "As a result, this is causing a disruption in daily fixed-route bus service and special school trips for Providence schools."

RIPTA said it was short 31 bus drivers and that the agency has been aggressively recruiting drivers and other employees. RIPTA is holding a job fair Oct. 12 from noon to 3 pm at RIPTA headquarters.

RIPTA said it posted Wednesday's bus cancellations on its website at 7:04 a.m., but some students had already left for school by then.

RIPTA will now update morning school alerts at 6 a.m. to prepare students for a disruption in their service. RIPTA will also notify the local news media to reach as many families as possible.

RIPTA will have outreach staff in Kennedy Plaza to assist students.

Valerie Taylor, a parent of a Classical High School student, said bus disruptions have been commonplace this fall, adding that the problem began the first day of school, when her son's bus never showed up.

Since then, she said, it has happened about 10 times.

Taylor is fortunate. She can driver her son – and some of his friends – to school, but she said many parents lack cars or have to go to work in the morning.

"It says there isn't a collective effort to have Providence schools succeed," she said Wednesday.

She complained that RIPTA doesn't post an alert on its website until after her son has left for the bus, which is scheduled to arrive at 7:04 a.m.

"There has been a lack of communication" from RIPTA, she said.

The school bus trips are public routes, but they are express routes intended to reduce overcrowding on regular routes and travel to the schools with fewer stops and no stop at Kennedy Plaza.

At the start of the school year, due to the labor shortage, some of the school trips were missed.

"We continue to work diligently to make sure all routes are staffed and the number of school trips missed has been greatly reduced," said spokeswoman Barbara Polichetti. "For example, yesterday, all school trips were dispatched."

"We are continuing to monitor the situation to make sure parents are getting the information they need and will adjust accordingly," she said.

District spokesman Nick Doming said he was informed out of the bus disruptions by a parent who forwarded a brief statement posted on RIPTA's social media site.

Doming said in years past, as many as 4,500 students took RIPTA to the city's high schools. WAVE passes are issued to students who live more than a mile from school.

But fewer WAVE passes were handed out this fall due to a reported shortage caused by supply-chain issues, so it is unclear how many students were affected Wednesday morning.

Attendance is a top priority this year

Boosting student attendance is one of the top priorities of the district this year, especially given the challenges posed by COVID-19 the last two years.

Doming said he is getting information on when the district was notified and how the district is responding to the crisis.

He said a recent study shows that missing even two days during the first two months of school can have a negative impact on students.

According to an announcement on the company's website, the following high schools were affected by the bus-driver shortage: Central, Classical, Alvarez, Mount Pleasant and Hope.

Linda Borg covers education for the Journal.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RIPTA cancels morning runs to five Providence high schools