BY JIM BARON

PROVIDENCE — Shouting “Whose RIPTA? Our RIPTA,” members of Students for a Democratic Society hijacked a meeting of the transit authority’s board of directors Monday, squabbling with officials and board members, reciting a list of demands and ultimately goading the board to adjourn before it conducted any business.

Led by Rhode Island College Junior Chelsea Miller, about two dozen members of the group, chanted, tooted party favors and noisemakers and generally disrupted the meeting as soon as it started, ignoring all attempts by Board Chairman John Rupp, General Manager Al Moscola and attorney Lori Caron Silvera to restore order.
The protesters rejected the notion that they participate in the meeting during the public comment period scheduled at the end and instead insisted that the board members attend an “accountability meeting” Oct. 5 to be conducted by the public. They fashioned the protest as a “takeover” of the RIPTA board where they made and passed their own motions: no cutting or shortening bus routes, no cuts or freezes of worker wages and benefits, and push the General Assembly to provide the money to eliminate the transit agency’s $12 million deficit.
Calling RIPTA’s decision–making and policy-setting process “undemocratic,” Miller said, “Not only do I feel I have a right to sit on this board, I am a rider, I am informed, I have a relationship with management and I am affected by the services and I like to think other people affected by the services should have a voice in this process, too.
At first, Rupp and other board members tried to challenge the group, telling them to “go to the governor if you don’t like the make-up of the board.”
“We don’t like the governor, either,” someone shouted back. He also suggested that they come up with the $12 million the authority needs, or go to contact their state representatives to get the funds. “You go to the legislature,” the group shouted back, almost in unison.
The board threatened to adjourn, then tried to mollify the demonstrators by allowing them a 10-minute public comment period at the start of the meeting. But it soon became clear that the protesters were not going to yield the floor and the board gave up and adjourned, making it impossible to resume the meeting at a later time because any new meeting would have to be posted under the Open Meetings Law.
The demonstrators said they should be running the agency because they are the riders who use the service. They called the board members out of touch because they do not ride the buses. “This is public transit and you don’t see the public,” Miller said accusingly.
RIPTA is starting a three-week series of its own public hearings on proposed route cuts, but Miller said that is not sufficient because RIPTA public hearings are attended by staff members who listen and report back, but are generally ignored by the board.
There seemed to be some uncertainty at first about how unruly the meeting should get – many of the demonstrators wrote their names on a sign-in sheet that was circulated to spectators, but once Miller set down a homemade nameplate and took a seat at the board table, almost successfully taking over the proceedings, the protesters became more enthusiastic about their mission, shouting down anyone in officialdom, chanting slogans and passing their do-it-yourself motions and at one point even scarfing the sandwiches, potato chips and bottled water that had been brought in for the board members’ lunch.
The Providence Police were called, showing up toward the end of the mini-upheaval with two cruisers and a van, but no one was arrested.
It was difficult to tell how many of the protesters were committed to the cause of transit service and how many were on a lunchtime lark, taking the opportunity to make noise and cause a ruckus.
Rupp said the only thing the protest accomplished was to set back the work of the board for a month at a time when it is in the process of trying to close a $12 million deficit and avoid the necessity of reducing service.
“This board has said time and time and time again that it will do everything humanly possible to avoid service cuts, and we are,” Rupp said afterward. “But it still has to be done in the context of a meeting.”
Gov. Donald Carcieri last week announced the formation of an administration task force to assist RIPTA in developing a strategic plan to address RIPTA's short-term budget deficit and provide recommendations to ensure a sustainable RIPTA that will provide the transportation services required now and in the future. 
The strategic plan will review the current budget and organizational framework, develop funding strategies, and undertake a transit peer review.   Initial recommendations are due back to the Governor in November and will serve as a plan to work with the Legislature in an effort to develop a solution to insure the sustainability of RIPTA. Carcieri has called on the agency not to implement any service cuts until the strategic plan has been completed and has been reviewed by himself, the legislature, and RIPTA.

"I firmly support RIPTA and believe it is important to provide a sustainable public transit system which is a critical building block to the state's economic development.  With the support of this Administration and the various agencies, it is our goal to improve RIPTA's financial situation, ensure a reliable long term revenue base and make it a viable mode of transportation for today and tomorrow," the governor said in a written statement. "RIPTA is an important component in the overall transportation system of our state, especially in our urban communities."