The United Electric Railways Company (UER) was the Providence-based operator of the system of interurban streetcars, trolleybuses, and trolley freight in the state of Rhode Island in the early- to mid-twentieth century.

The company was placed under the control of the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission upon inception, in an effort to limit the impact to service in the event of financial difficulties.

[1] UER began operations of the consolidated network in 1921, and achieved an all-time high ridership annual of 154 million people in 1923.

The first iteration of rail-based transit in Rhode Island was the Union Railroad of Providence, a privately-owned horsecar company which began operation in 1865.

[5] The technology quickly spread to the rest of the existing lines, and sparked the creation of several new railway companies, several of which were not separately owned.

The Traction Company acquired many of the suburban lines, including those running through Cumberland, Pawtuxet Valley, and Barrington and Warren.

Due to financial underperformance in its first few years of operations, the stock of RICo was traded frequently, until it was controlled (through a series of intermediaries) by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad by 1907.

RICo was unable to pay off debts, compunded by streetcars began seeing increased competition from jitneys and automobiles.

These included: To prevent future interruption to service for financial reasons, the charter placed the UER under the control of the Public Utilities Commission.

[7] Tracks first installed in 1914 at Exchange Place (known as Kennedy Plaza since 1964) were expanded, forming a major interchange with connections to Union Station by 1920.

[1] The relaunch of transit in Rhode Island under the UTC garnered an increase in ridership to 100 million annual riders.

Kennedy Plaza remains a central transit hub,[11] and the East Side Trolley Tunnel continues to be used by RIPTA buses.