News Roundup

RTA Given $43M to Restore Trolleys [sic]

City Business
October 31, 2006

NEW ORLEANS — The Regional Transit Authority will receive $43 million to repair its hurricane-damaged public transportation system.

All 24 streetcars that ran on Canal Street and most of the agency’s 372-bus fleet were damaged or destroyed by the floodwaters after Hurricane Katrina last year, said Rosalind Blanco Cook, RTA spokeswoman.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency money will be split between rebuilding the Canal line street cars and replacing some of the 205 buses lost, she said.

Street cars now run on Canal but they are the green early 20th century models from the historic St. Charles line, which has been out of commission because of electrical system damage from Katrina. The new, red cars built for the Canal line were in a building that took on 4 1/2 feet of water after Katrina and will need new electrical components, paint and wood finishing.

Transportation officials expect it will take nine months before the first Canal streetcar is ready to roll.

The RTA doesn’t expect to replace all damaged buses, which would cost about $68 million. A recent estimate of the city’s population put it at less than half its pre-Katrina level of 454,000 people.

“Eventually, we’d like to replace most of our fleet but that would take time,” she said.

Transit officials hope to reopen a portion of the St. Charles streetcar line by December, Cook said. The entire line is expected to be fully operational next year, she said.