New Orleans Regional Transit Authority

New Orleans Regional Transit Authority

RTA building on Canal Street
Founded 1983
Headquarters New Orleans, Louisiana
Service area City of New Orleans and Orleans Parish, Louisiana
Service type Public Transit
Heritage streetcar
Routes 30 (bus)
5 (streetcar)
Stops 2154 (bus)
286 (streetcar)
Annual ridership 18,634,500+ (2013)
Fuel type Diesel (bus)
Electric (streetcar)
Operator Transdev
Website
Streetcar network
Streetcar on Canal Street, April 2007

The New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (RTA or NORTA) is a public transportation agency based in New Orleans, Louisiana. Since 1983 it has operated bus and historic streetcar service throughout the city. With an annual ridership of over 18.6 million riders,[1] the Regional Transit Authority is the largest public transit agency in the state of Louisiana.

Hurricane Katrina

City buses were used before Hurricane Katrina hit to transport people to a refuge of last resort, the Louisiana Superdome. Much of the city flooded due to the storm. The NORTA Administration building on Plaza Drive appears to have been in 10 feet (3.0 m) of water. Almost eighty-five percent of the fleet was rendered useless and inoperative; 146 city buses were visible outdoors in the flood at the 2817 Canal St. facility, while only 22 were at 3900 Desire Pky. The 8201 Willow St. facility was one block within the flood but was built above street level. The buses at the flooded facilities were mostly written off.

All but one of the streetcars built in the 1990s and 2000s were severely damaged in the flooding resulting from the hurricane. The historic Perley Thomas-built streetcars of the St. Charles line were undamaged in the disaster. The damaged streetcars, which had been built by hand on the property by local workers, were repaired in the same facility with components from Brookville Equipment Co.[2]

Post-disaster recovery

As of 2007, service had been restored to certain areas as they became habitable again. However, there was no 24-hour service on any bus or streetcar line, except for the St. Charles streetcar line. Streetcars were returned to the full length of Canal St. and the Riverfront, initially using the historic St. Charles Line streetcars, which had not been damaged, as had the red Canal cars. In 2008, the St. Charles streetcar resumed running the entire length of its route. By early 2009, the red Canal streetcars were repaired and had taken over service on the Canal and Riverfront Lines. The buses that have been restored to operation have returned to several major thoroughfares, including Elysian Fields Avenue, Esplanade Avenue, Claiborne Avenue, St. Claude Avenue, Judge Perez Drive, General Meyer Avenue, Lapalco Boulevard, Robert E. Lee Boulevard, and the Chef Menteur Highway. And just a few express routes, Morrison Express, Lake Forest Express, Read-Crowder Express and Airport Express, serving both Eastern New Orleans, and New Orleans Louis Armstrong International Airport In Kenner, La. have been reinstated so far.

As of April 17, 2016, full 24-hour service has been restored to the Canal-Cemeteries streetcar line and to the 39 Tulane, 52 St. Bernard-Paris, 55 Elysian Fields, 84 Galvez, 88 St. Claude, 94 Broad, and 114 Gen. de Gaulle-Sullen bus routes. Other routes have extended hours in the morning, late-night, and/or weekend schedules.[3]

Bus & Streetcar Route List

RTA Governance

The body in charge of making major decisions for the RTA is the Board of Commissioners. The board consists of appointees by the Mayor of New Orleans and of some appointees by the President of Jefferson Parish. The RTA Board has the overall authority for transit in New Orleans including setting fares, overseeing service and operations, developing operating budgets, approving each year's annual transportation development plan, and deciding upon capital purchases and expansions. Under contract to the RTA Board of Commissioners, a company called Transdev Services manages all day-to-day aspects of the transit agency on behalf of the RTA Board. Transdev handles operations and service, safety issues, vehicle maintenance, customer care, route design and scheduling, human resources, administration, ridership growth, capital planning, grant administration, communications, purchasing, and other agency functions. Transdev is under contract to and reports to the RTA Board of Commissioners. The company operates public transportation for some 5,000 transit authorities around the world.

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.apta.com/resources/statistics/Documents/Ridership/2013-q4-ridership-APTA.pdf PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION RIDERSHIP REPORT - Fourth Quarter 2013
  2. ↑
  3. ↑ "Summary of Service Changes". Retrieved April 22, 2016.

External links

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