Mass Transit in New Orleans

[Puddinhead]

Now on to expanding the system again! I hoping for a loop to the Superdome- New Orleans Arena off of loyola! The return of the Desire Streetcar would be huge! Also, the riverfront to Napoleon- St charles would help plenty too! And after that a line that goes all the way to West End on the Lakefront!One can hope!!!

A line to West End is a good thought, but I still contend that the first "River to Lake" streetcar line should follow the historic path of the old Pontchartrain RR right up Elysian Fields, terminating at the Quarter on one end and the University of New Orleans at the other. It would be a great tool for UNO; much as Loyola and Tulane can now boast to prospective students that they are "just a streetcar ride away" from the French Quarter and Downtown, so would UNO be able to do so to those prospective college students whose families' pocketbooks (like mine..LOL) can't quite handle Tulane or Loyola.

Edited May 1, 2008 by Puddinhead

[NCB]

An RTA official that was just being interviewed on WWLTV mentioned that due to high gas prices and continued population return, RTA's ridership has increased by 53% over the last year.

[JPKneworleans]

It sure was great to see the Streetcars back on S. Carrollton! Now....it'll be good to soon see a red streetcars return to Canal. I think the first one is suppose to be ready in August.

[blackcoat]

Here's the Times-Picayune article on the St. Charles streetcar now running on S. Carrollton. Mostly a fluff piece, but something caught my attention at the end when the RTA spokeswoman mentioned that it was running nearly 24 hours a day. The latest schedule for the St. Charles route, effective as of yesterday, has trains running from 4:15am (first train leaving downtown) to 3:07am (last arrival on Canal St.), though service is somewhat infrequent in the late night hours (scroll to the very bottom for departure times from Canal + Carondolet). Anyway, this is great news that should be celebrated by taking a ride on the streetcar.

Edited June 23, 2008 by blackcoat

[nola17]

When are all the major street projects supposed to start???

[NCB]

Here you go, nola:

City launches $42.8M road-repair program

New Orleans CityBusiness

NEW ORLEANS - The city's Department of Public Works this week kicked off a roughly $42.8 million road- and sidewalk-repair project involving about 17,000 minor-street sites eligible for Federal Emergency Management Agency funding.

[djp4lsu]

Here you go, nola:

City launches $42.8M road-repair program

New Orleans CityBusiness

Haven't they been saying that this project is going to start since like the beginning of the year?

[NCB]

Haven't they been saying that this project is going to start since like the beginning of the year?

Well they annonuced the project at the beginning of the year, but I believe they set the actual start date as summer '08. It did seem like it took a long while to get this project actually rolling, though.

[NCB]

New buses ready to roll in New Orleans

Times-Picayune article

Just in time for an increased demand for public transportation and fuel economy, eight brand spanking new, biodiesel buses will start picking up passengers in New Orleans Thursday.

The release of the brand new buses comes at a time of increased reliance on the RTA - from April and May of 2007 to April and May of this year, there has been a 53% increase in ridership, RTA spokesperson Rosalind Cook said.

[blackcoat]

Today, the RTA board or directors announced its selection of Veolia Transportation to manage day-to-day operations of the RTA system. RTA is aiming to have a 3-year agreement signed within the next month, with an option to extend the contract for an additional 2 years if the RTA is pleased with Veolia's services. Veolia has expressed their desire to roll out "'rapid transit' bus routes to Uptown, Algiers and the NASA facility in eastern New Orleans and smaller buses for less-populated areas".

[blackcoat]

Over a week ago, the RTA board approved Veolia Transportation to take over management of the local transit system for the next 90 days, with an option to extend the temporary contract an addition 90 days. This time will be used to negotiate a longer management contract (current proposal: 10 years) while sorting out issues with an underfunded pension system, union contracts, and arrangements with vendors. The T-P reported in June that the RTA has financial troubles aside from the pension shortfalls, including a 70% reduction in its customer base, $200 million in debt, and an end to the post-Katrina aid from the federal government.

The Veolia management team started on the job today (Monday). New schedules for the system were issued on the 12th, and I am kicking myself for not having the old ones handy in anticipation of the takeover to see what changed >_< . Anyway, Veolia's stated short term goals for the RTA system are:

* "Easy Bus" service. Instead of a normal fixed-route line, customers make a reservation in advance on a 15-seat "Easy Bus", which then picks up/drops off every passenger at their door. Software aboard the vehicle maps the route for the driver on demand. 10 such buses are to service Gentilly and other sparsely populated neighborhoods.

* Complete replacement of old bus fleet (!!!)

* Improved streetcar service (more frequency ?)

* New signs (I can't find the citation though, but I definitely read this *somewhere*)

* "Infrastructure Improvements". Several articles have mentioned Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), but this sounds like an exploratory plan for some time in the future.

On a related note, the first of fourteen new transit shelters debuted on Canal Street. Each shelter is decorated by a local artist, and all fourteen are slated for completion before the opening of Prospect 1 on November 1st.

------------------

Recently, New Orleans City Business had a 3-part series on transit in the region, though I haven't found part 1:

* Part 2: N.O. Developers See Need for Upgraded Transit System

* Part 3: Money is Main Roadblock for Expanding Area Transit

There is a separate examination of the flaws in RTA service, though it does not explicitly state that it is part one of the three-part series.

[Antrell Williams]

This thread has been dead for years, is there no further information on mass transit from the CBD to the BR CBD?

[xav13r]

This thread has been dead for years, is there no further information on mass transit from the CBD to the BR CBD?

No word on a BR to NO connection. On the other hand, construction is about to begin on the new Loyola streetcar line and plans for a St. Claude/Rampart line with future extensions to Poland have been green lighted. There's also plans for an Elysian Fields line to run from the river to the lake at UNO.

http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2011/01/streetcar_service_along_rampar.html#incart_mce

[Ronald120]

What is everyone's opinion public transit right outside of New Orleans? I have a little rant I want to let off my chest as it pertains to that subject but I'll await for a few responses before I inject my opinion.

Edited April 2, 2012 by Ronald120

[Antrell Williams]

Is Metry the only city with transit?

[Ronald120]

Is Metry the only city with transit?

Wow.....

lol I guess I can't blame you for posing that question as it is indicative of how luckluster transit is outside of N.O.

To answer your question.....no, Jefferson Parish and St. Bernard has transit too.

Edited April 2, 2012 by Ronald120

[Antrell Williams]

Wow.....

lol I guess I can't blame you for posing that question as it is indicative of how luckluster transit is outside of N.O.

To answer your question.....no, Jefferson Parish and St. Bernard has transit too.

Yep. Blame the state for me not knowing that one.

Any cities on the northshore have bus service? Hammond would be a good candidate.

[Ronald120]

You would think that one the state's fastest growing parishes with a population of over 233,000 people (St. Tammany) would have some semblance of public transit, but NO it doesn't neither does Hammond which says a lot about the nature of that area....

wait a minute, I stand corrected (well, sort of), here's something from St. Tammany (though I wouldn't consider it mass transit)....

http://www.stpgov.org/gostat.php

...and here's what Tangipahoa Parish (Hammond) has to offer...

http://www.dotd.louisiana.gov/intermodal/transit/resource/providers.asp?Parish=53

It's a pretty sh*tty situation if you live in one of these areas with no car.

But to give you more insight on why things are the way they (or the attitude contributing to the current state of things), read the comments n this article and this link -- an interesting little eye-opener.

[Antrell Williams]

goSTAT sounds the a pretty good system. Has anyone ever used it?

The comments don't surprise me, it's the northshore...

[Ronald120]

goSTAT sounds the a pretty good system. Has anyone ever used it?

What about that system sounds "good" to you?

To me, it seems like it's simply old people/handicapped small vans that only them use. Doesn't very efficient to me.

Very few use this system; I think I read somewhere that only 0.06% of the population in St. Tammany uses the system.

Again, I wouldn't consider it mass transit.

[Antrell Williams]

What about that system sounds "good" to you?

To me, it seems like it's simply old people/handicapped small vans that only them use. Doesn't very efficient to me.

Very few use this system; I think I read somewhere that only 0.06% of the population in St. Tammany uses the system.

Again, I wouldn't consider it mass transit.

Well it's a form of transit for a rural parish, which is better than what EBR, Ascension, and Livingston have right now.

[Ronald120]

How that's better than what EBR has??? I'll be the first to admit to the sh*ttness of EBR's system, but at least EBR has a system, at least it is mass transit. What that goSTAT is is nothing but a glorified, subsidized cab that wouldn't be sustainable if more people used it more frequently. Again, tell me what attribute(s) about that goSTAT that make you think it is better than what EBR has (an actual system of large buses with fixed routes that is actually used by people) or would llicit a response when describing it as "good"?

Now if you want to point to a smaller, sparsely-(sub)urbanized Louisiana parish with some semblance of a public transit system, then Good Earth Transit is, imo, your best example. It serves both Terrebonne and Lafourche Parishes (primarily just Houma and Thibodaux). It isn't comphrensive if you follow the trend of the role (or lack thereof) public transit plays in Louisiana's largest suburban/rural parishes (Jefferson, St. Tammany, EBR, Ascension, Livingston, Tangipahoa, etc.), the fact that area has some organized, vibrant form of public transit serving it at all is a pleasant surprise.

Edited April 7, 2012 by Ronald120

[Antrell Williams]

It was basically a joke on CATS. Didn't mean to get you worked up.

[po-boy]

No word on a BR to NO connection. On the other hand, construction is about to begin on the new Loyola streetcar line and plans for a St. Claude/Rampart line with future extensions to Poland have been green lighted. There's also plans for an Elysian Fields line to run from the river to the lake at UNO.

http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2011/01/streetcar_service_along_rampar.html#incart_mce

 

The new Loyola line opened up in January in time for the Super Bowl.

 

http://www.wwltv.com/news/local/loyola-streetcar-188647681.html

[Antrell Williams]

Why isn't there service to all of Carrolton? I would think that line, the St. Claude, and some form of light-rail or commuter from Kenner, Metairie, to the CBD would be top priority.