RIPTA kicks off third year of ‘hop-on, hop-off’ service in Newport
NEWPORT, R.I. (WLNE) — The city of Newport and the Rhode Island Public Transportation Authority officially kicked off their third year of hop-on hop-off today, a free bus service for Routes 67 and 68.
“We were in the 90,000 rough number, and in the two years that we’ve sponsored this, we’ve grown up to 160,000 riders,” Discover Newport President Evan Smith said.
The hop-on hop-off program began back in 2022 to try and cut down the amount of cars and traffic as tourism spikes during the warm weather.
“Ensuring that that option remains cheap and accessible to people is the key to public transit working, and that’s proving itself out here, down in Newport with both Routes 67 and 68,” said Newport Mayor Xay Khamsyvoravong.
“I mean, I think it’s a great program, and it’s definitely a model that we would love to replicate elsewhere. So, anybody who wants to conduct something similar, reach out, and we’d be happy to cooperate,” said RIPTA Interim CEO Chris Durand.
Destinations for the service include First beach, CCRI Newport, and the Bellevue Ave Historic District.
The service will run from Friday, May 24 until Halloween.
