The Providence River, at the head of Narragansett Bay

Journal photo by Andrew Dickerman

LAST MONTH, for the first time, I spent more than $50 on a tank of gasoline.

Ouch!

Oil prices may level off for a while or continue to climb, but one thing is certain: We’ll never take $2-per-gallon gas for granted again. And contrary to the self-serving assertions of the oilman in the White House, we can’t drill our way out of the problem.

In the midst of this crisis, however, lies a sterling opportunity for Rhode Island: the chance to capitalize on our small size, high population density and extensive coastline by developing a truly innovative, next-generation statewide transportation system. It won’t be easy and it won’t be cheap, but it may be the single most important thing we can do to position the state for success in the 21st Century.

Narragansett Bay is a tremendous asset in this regard. One can easily envision a network of high-speed ferries bringing commuters to Providence. Quonset Point is one obvious departure point for West Bay commuters. On the East Bay, Newport, Portsmouth, Bristol and Warren all have existing pier facilities that could easily be adapted to this purpose. The ferries could be built right here in Rhode Island, providing jobs for local shipbuilders. What if they ran on bio-diesel, like Save the Bay’s Alletta Morris?

Two recent state efforts to develop commuter ferries (Pawtucket and Newport to Providence) failed to attract sufficient riders, but both were too slow and suffered from poor connections in Providence. They simply weren’t practical alternatives for commuters. The state should retain ownership of the former “Shooters” property at India Point for use as a future high-speed ferry terminal. San Francisco’s historic Ferry Building, on the Embarcadero, recently restored, is now a cultural asset in its own right, with restaurants and markets specializing in locally grown food. The Providence ferry terminal would be tied into a high-frequency bus or trolley running in a loop around the downtown area, from which commuters could easily access downtown locations or connect to outbound buses.

Of course, there’s a potential for environmental impacts on Narragansett Bay. Yet by shifting traffic off the roads, we can reduce automobile-related pollution such as runoff and air emissions. Further, we should reuse existing pier facilities wherever possible, rather than build new ones. Done right, I believe that a high-speed ferry service could reduce the overall environmental impact of the state’s transportation network on Narragansett Bay.

Buses, of course, offer the cheapest and most practical alternative for improving mass transit in the near term, and the state deserves credit for maintaining the existing statewide system under the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA). Yet the great failing of our current mass transit is that, for most commuters, it’s far slower and less convenient than driving, and RIPTA remains a poor cousin to the state’s road-building efforts.

To bring about a real shift in transportation patterns, our goal should be to make mass-transit and bicycling more convenient than driving. There’s nothing more frustrating than sitting on a bus in a traffic jam, as often happens on Route 95 now. The state should install high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes on Route 95 and Route 195 (as on Route 93 in Boston) and establish special bus routes elsewhere. Drivers who sit idling, stuck in traffic, while buses and people car pooling zip by them in the HOV lane will soon change their habits. Providence is in dire need of safe, convenient bike lanes, and traffic management that places the safety of pedestrians ahead of the convenience of motorists.

In a year of state fiscal crisis and budget cuts, the obvious objection to such an ambitious proposal is cost. It’s a fair point, but the cost of inaction on this issue is far greater. As fuel prices continue to rise — and they will — our current approach will curb Rhode Island’s economic growth, putting us farther behind places like Boston that already have excellent mass-transit systems in place.

Moreover, the state wastes tremendous sums of money on road building now. The new Quonset Point freeway is a $170 million road to nowhere — serving a nonexistent container port, an underused industrial park, and now, a sprawl- and traffic-inducing big-box retail development promoted by the state Economic Development Corporation. By comparison, the development of HOV and bike lanes would be downright cheap and certainly cost-effective. The new system could be financed largely through differential transit fares, “smart tolls” on automobiles, parking fees and gasoline taxes.

Finally, our current over-reliance on car travel and road construction is environmentally and economically unsustainable. From 1982 to 2005, the number of highway miles driven in the Providence metro area nearly tripled, from a daily average of four million to more than 11 million, while metro population grew less than 20 percent. According to the Texas Transportation Policy Project, the annual cost of Rhode Island’s current congestion is about $350 million in wasted fuel and time. Today, our road network generates enormous environmental costs, including air and noise pollution, habitat fragmentation, and toxic storm-water runoff to Narragansett Bay. Shifting our transportation patterns is the first step toward controlling these impacts.

Governor Carcieri and the General Assembly can show leadership in this area by immediately establishing a high-level commission to develop a blueprint for Rhode Island’s next-generation transportation system. While the relevant state agencies must be included, the panel should be led by one or more experts of truly national stature, from outside of Rhode Island, with a record of innovation and accomplishment in transportation planning. The governor should task the commission with returning its initial report early next year, so that near-term recommendations can be incorporated in the state’s 2010 budget.

Ultimately, Rhode Island — and the other 49 states — will need the assistance of the federal government to fully tackle our energy problems and transform our transportation networks. Just as President Eisenhower championed the creation of the Interstate Highway System, our next president must lead a national effort to develop and implement sustainable solutions in energy and transportation. Yet there is much we can do today to position Rhode Island for success in a world where cheap gasoline is just a happy memory.

Thomas Ardito is director of policy and communications for the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program and founder of the Center for Ecosystem Restoration.