[PRCo] New Orleans Transit Infrastructure

[Fred Schneider]

Because of Herb Brannon's interest in New Orleans, I'm posting this  
article from the New Orleans Times-Picayune to the Pittsburgh list.   
I have no idea if this indicates that the newspaper was up and  
running or only that the editorial department had a web site in  
operation.It needs to be pointed out that the new Canal cars needed  
to be Americans With Disabilities (ADA) compliant and NORTA would not  
even run them on fantrips or with any passengers on St. Charles  
Avenue for fear or because it might comprise the ADA historical fleet  
exemption that applied to the St. Charles line.
For those who did not hear it, PBS Morning Edition news this morning  
suggested that residents may be allowed back into areas of the city  
that were not flooded within a day.  However there was also a  
suggestion that 160,000 dwellings may be permanently uninhabitable.    
If each on housed a family of three, that would total 480,000 people  
out of a population in Orleans Parish of about a half million.  Does  
not compute does it?   So make your own opinions.   I've concluded  
that there is a hell of lot of wet wood and that if I were a young  
man living in an apartment who had already found a job or some good  
prospects in another city, I wouldn't go back.   If I had found a job  
somewhere else and didn't have flood insurance back home, I think I  
would stay where I am.  If I had been bright enough to buy flood  
insurance, then it might be a toss up.  Depends on how good my job  
had been and if it even exists tomorrow.

Your guess is as good as mine.  Mine is that several hundred thousand  
people will not return.  If my thoughts hold true, NORTA may  
initially need a larger fleet than they had before (because of all  
the flooded automobiles) but shortly will need fewer vehicles owing  
to fewer people.

Now you can read on about what happened to the trolleys and buses in  
New Orleans:



(From the New Orleans Times-Picayune)

Some streetcars still under water
Half of buses may be beyond repair

By Frank Donze
Staff writer

Much of New Orleans' public transit infrastructure, including the
brand-new Canal Street streetcars that debuted to considerable  
fanfare in April
2004, the riverfront trolleys and at least half of the 350 buses in the
fleet, remain partially submerged in floodwaters and may be beyond  
repair,
Regional Transit Authority officials said.

The 24 apple-red streetcars - assembled largely by hand by RTA artisans
as part of a $161 million project that restored rail service to Canal
Street after an absence of nearly 40 years - were stored at the A.
Philip Randolph Operations Facility in the 2800 block of Canal as
Hurricane Katrina approached the Louisiana coast.

The RTA also used the Randolph facility to house about 175 buses and
the seven streetcars that have comprised the riverfront line for the
past 16 years. When transit workers evacuated the building nearly two
weeks ago, water levels in the parking lot had already risen "up to the
steering wheels'' of most of the vehicles.

"It wasn't a pretty sight,'' said Mark Major, the agency's finance
director. "Those new streetcars have a lot of delicate electronics.
Even if they were sitting in clear pool water, it would have caused  
serious
problems. The fact that the water is filled with gasoline and other
corrosives is not good news.'He said the same holds true for buses.

In the 16 months since they began operating, the Canal streetcars,
which cost almost $1 million each, became very popular among locals and
visitors, boosting ridership on the line beyond expectations.

Major said the 35 streetcars on the historic St. Charles
Avenue line appear to have escaped serious water damage, although the
condition of the tracks and the bed beneath them, the overhead
electrical system and the power stations is unknown.

"We're hoping the metal bodies (of the streetcars) are OK,'' he said.
"But until we get a look inside, we won't know what can be salvaged.
Some may be in good shape, some may have damage and some may need total
replacement.''

While all streetcars and buses are covered by insurance, it is unclear
how much depreciation will play into what the RTA can recover and how  
soon.

The bottom line, Major said, is that even when New Orleans' transit
system gets back in business, rail service probably won't be part of
the equation at first.

"Large portions of Canal Street are still sitting in water,'' he said.
"There's a lot that has to be assessed, but we believe it's imperative
to get some kind of rail back in service as soon as possible. Our
streetcars are icons and it's important that our citizens see them up
and running.''

The RTA did not store any of its buses at the agency's headquarters in
eastern New Orleans, which suffered some of the worst flooding in the  
city.

Some 150 buses that were moved to the Poland Avenue Wharf in the Lower
Ninth Ward appear to have fared well, but about 70 of those vehicles
were commandeered by the police and fire departments, the National  
Guard,
and in a few cases by individual citizens who used them to evacuate  
family
members, friends and neighbors.

The RTA is in the process of recovering those buses and other
unaccounted-for vehicles. The agency has learned that two buses wound
up in Lafayette, one in Opelousas and one in Bunkie. Two other buses  
were
found in the Ninth Ward, where residents used them several days for  
shelter.

In what may be the only bit of good news, RTA spokeswoman Deslie
Isidore said it looks like the passengers on the pirated buses "did not
lay a finger on the fareboxes.''

In the short term, the RTA will offer all functioning buses in its
fleet for use in the recovery effort.

FEMA officials have asked that some of the buses be made available as
early as next week for transport between Baton Rouge and New Orleans
for staffers, clean-up crews, construction workers and other  
participants
in the rebuilding process.

Major also said RTA buses and drivers soon may be rolling through the
streets of Baton Rouge to help relieve the pressure that tens of
thousands of south Louisiana evacuees have placed on the capital  
city's traffic.