Gambit:
Here’s what riders had to say at public meetings about RTA’s future
POSTED BY Kay Stromquist
on Friday, September 15, 2017 – 5:04 p.m.
At two public workshops held at New Orleans Public Library branches this week, New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (RTA) riders were alternately enthusiastic and skeptical about elements that could be incorporated into the Strategic Mobility Plan set to roll out at the end of this year
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Since you posted this I’ve been trying to organize my thoughts on the matter. Having spent my teens in New Orleans in the '50’s, I remember what a great public transit system could be. As much as I love the streetcars, I’m a strong believer that a transit system should first and foremost provide the best possible transportation for everyone. Your post on Nashville emphasized this idea. The notion that streetcars promote development is in my mind completely bogus–that’s not the mission of a transit authority. Streetcars should be built in only the most heavily traveled corridors where they can be fed by bus lines.
The Rampart line mentioned above is in my mind a great boondoggle. It parallels an existing five-mile bus line for about 1.4 miles, so anyone going farther will take the bus rather than transfer at the end of the line, and there is not much prospect for extending it since it would have to cross NS tracks, and in the past they have been unable to strike a deal with them.
There is another streetcar line in New Orleans that’s a complete waste–North Carrolton. It was never a streetcar line in the past and the bus that ran there was a rare and poorly patronized one. It was put in about 20 years ago for the sole purpose of taking tourists from Canal Street to the N. O. Museum Of Art in City Park. It’s got to be the loneliest streetcar line in the world.
There is one project they are currently working on that is worthwhile and should have been done long ago. Until now, the Canal line ended about 500 feet short of the hub where several bus line