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Transportation planning for Providence and the state in general, can occur at various levels and agencies. At the local level, the city council and planners can affect transportation through zoning ordinances, parking regulations, and landuse planning. At the state level, the primary agencies responsible for transportation are the Rhode Island Department of Transportation (RIDOT) and the Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA). RIDOT, the state’s transportation agency, is charged with the maintenance and construction of the state’s transportation infrastructures. These include highways, bicycle/pedestrian paths, freight rail, and passenger rail. RIPTA's scope extends to public buses, paratransit, park and rides, and ridesharing. As stated in a recent report by the Rhode Island Public Expenditures Council, RIDOT and RIPTA generally operate independently of each other [12]. Coordination between the two agencies is done only a per-project and need basis.

All transportation projects originating from RIDOT, RIPTA, the city, or any other entity must be placed on the state's Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) to receive funding . The TIP is drafted biannually and provides an outline of all transportation projects [18]. The TIP is put together, reviewed, and approved by the Statewide Planning's Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC), who sends it out to the Statewide Planning Council for final approval.

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