[PRCo] Re: [PRCo]

[John Swindler]

And note that even with free transportation, only 2,500 riders per day.  We 
are all paying for this free transit service with our federal taxes.

John



>From: Fred Schneider <fwschneider at comcast.net>
>Reply-To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
>To: Bente Bruce <bbente at cytechusa.com>, pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
>Subject: [PRCo] Date: Sat, 12 Nov 2005 18:04:39 -0500
>
>Note the rider counts for Nawlins ... Please ride and keep the bus
>driver company!    A total of 16 routes at 2,500 people per
>day ...    Before the flood?   FTA 2001 data shows 165,000 daily bus
>riders and 14,000 daily on St. Charles.
>
>
>
>RTA resumes service at night
>Five routes will have expanded hours
>Saturday, November 05, 2005
>By Bruce Eggler
>Staff writer
>The Regional Transit Authority, which has been operating buses only
>in the daytime since it began offering post-Katrina service Oct. 2,
>will add after-dark service on five lines starting Sunday.
>
>The Magazine, St. Charles, Canal, St. Claude and Algiers Owl Loop
>lines will run every night until about 10 p.m.
>
>The Algiers Owl Loop line will operate only from 7 to 10 p.m.,
>serving portions of several Algiers daytime lines.
>
>Details on schedules and routes can be found at the RTA's Web site,
>www.norta.com.
>
>Ridership continues to be free on all New Orleans lines, with the
>Federal Emergency Management Agency picking up the tab through the
>Federal Transit Administration.
>
>The RTA now is operating 16 routes, using 89 operators and 36 buses.
>
>Several other route and schedule extensions also will take effect
>next week, the transit agency said Friday.
>
>Early-morning service will be expanded. Of the 16 operating lines,
>all will begin service at 7 a.m. or earlier on weekdays, and some
>will do the same on weekends. Many lines also will run later in the
>afternoon on weekdays, and some will do so on weekends.
>
>RTA ridership now totals more than 2,000 per day, officials said. It
>reached 2,679 riders for Wednesday after breaking the 2,000 barrier
>for the first time Monday with 2,462 riders.
>
>The weekly total for Oct. 23-29 was 11,505, up from 8,419 the week of
>Oct. 16-22 and 5,407 the week of Oct. 9-15.
>
>The St. Charles and Canal lines are using buses instead of streetcars
>until further notice.
>
>For now, the St. Claude line is running only between Canal Street and
>Poland Avenue.
>
>The following routes will begin extended service next week:
>
>-- The Marigny-Bywater line will provide the first post-Katrina
>service along Convention Center Boulevard. From its former terminus
>at Canal and Tchoupitoulas streets, it will continue onto Convention
>Center Boulevard, travel to Henderson Street at the uptown end of the
>Morial Convention Center, U-turn and return the same way.
>
>-- The Jackson line will be rerouted to provide direct service
>between the Guste Homes and the Wal-Mart store on Tchoupitoulas.
>Between Martin Luther King Boulevard and Calliope Street, the bus
>will use Simon Bolivar Avenue in both directions, rather than Oretha
>Castle Haley Boulevard as before. The Jackson line will run all day,
>Monday through Friday only.
>
>-- The Louisiana line will be extended to run its full pre-Katrina
>route, from Louisiana Avenue and Tchoupitoulas to Delgado Community
>College.
>
>-- The Algiers Owl Loop will run a large loop around Algiers,
>covering Algiers Point, Gen. Meyer Avenue, the Cutoff neighborhood,
>part of Tullis Drive, and subdivisions and complexes along Gen. de
>Gaulle Drive. On the east bank, the line will offer service to Canal
>Street on the same route as the Algiers Loop, Gen. Meyer and Gen. de
>Gaulle lines.
>
>-- The Aurora Express line, which operates weekdays during morning
>and evening rush hours, will add a stop at the Algiers park-and-ride
>lot, on Wall Boulevard just off General de Gaulle, supplementing the
>Pace Boulevard line, which also serves the park-and-ride lot. The
>added stop will be only on trips to the east bank in the morning and
>trips returning from the east bank in the afternoon. The Aurora
>Express line will run from about 6:30 to 8:30 a.m. and 3 to 5:30 p.m.
>on weekdays.
>
>Specific departure times on many lines will change, so riders should
>check new schedules at www.norta.com.
>
>. . . . . . .
>
>
>
>Bruce Eggler can be reached at beggler at timespicayune.com or (504)
>826-3320.
>