The Rhode Island Public Transit authority first began in 1865 as a privately owned horse-operated system known as the Union Railroad. Transportation was rapidly transformed with the introduction of the electric trolley car in 1889. By 1902, the Union Railroad became the Rhode Island Company, and just four years late in 1906, became a part of the New Haven Railroad. Over the years, the transit system saw the rapid increase of services and passengers. In 1921, it was reorganized as United Electric Railways Company, only to be purchased in 1926 by the New England Power Company and Rhode Island Service Company. Soon enough, the system was reinvented as the United Transit Company in 1951 and several years later, buses replaced the trolley system. In 1964, the Rhode Island General Assembly created the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority. Services began in July of 1966, ending the privatization of transit system in Rhode Island.
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Records of the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority, Mss. Gr. 234, University of Rhode Island, University Archives and Special Collections.
The Records of the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority include an assortment of documents and ephemera from RIPTA's earliest inception as the Union Railroad up until RIPTA today. Documents include business agent files, operations manuals, ticket books, and other management-related documents.
The collection is arranged in six series as follows:
The collection was given to Special Collections by Scott Molloy in July of 2009. Molloy collected and compiled the sources while he researched the history of transportation in Rhode Island.
The Union Railroad was the first horsecar company in Rhode Island. Amasa and William Sprague merged several already operating horsecar systems into the Union Railroad in 1865. Eventually, technology replaced the horses, and the electric trolley was introduced in 1893. This series contains ordinances, petitions, photographs, and other original documents from the Union Railroad.
The Union Railroad became the Rhode Island Company in 1902. By this time, all horsecars had been replaced with electric trolleys and the system was operating across many parts of Rhode Island. This series contains documents such as annual reports, repair s and updates correspondence, and photographs.
The United Electric Railways Company lasted from 1921-1951. By this time, trolleys were operated by a single person who drove and collected fare, and passenger rates had declined. Buses began replacing trolleys by 1922 and by 1948 trolleys had disappeared from the streets of Rhode Island. This series contains news clippings, photographs, engineering and repairs correspondence, equipment documents, and a variety of reports.
The United Transit Company replaced the United Electric Railways Company in 1951. By this time, all trolleys had been replaced by buses. While these buses were considered "trackless trolleys" these too were soon replaced by electric buses. This series contains photographs, news clippings, and employee passes, many of which were collected by former employee Richard Wonson.
The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority was created in 1964 and began service in 1966. For the first time in the state's long history of transportation, the transportation system became publically owned. RIPTA still operates the public transportation system in Rhode Island. This series contains photographs, news clippings, and an assortment of other documents.
This series contains all oversize photos, newspapers, and posters from the RIPTA manuscript collection. It also contains some of the oversize images and news clippings from the Division 618 collection and Arthur Riani/Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen collection.