Recently in Operations Category

I'm looking at the PowerPoint slide show presented by the Urban Planning Committee of the "Bring New Orleans Back" (BNOB) Commission. I'm going to leave political comments on this to my YatPundit blog, focusing here strictly on the transit section of the presentation.

The immediate proposed plan for the city's transit system:

Longer term:

Ambitious to say the least. Here is the map for proposed light rail/commuter rail lines:

This plan would set up the following lines (directions are in New Orleans references).

St. Charles Line. No change in its current route

Canal-Elysian Fields Line. Starting at Canal Blvd. and Robert E. Lee in Lakeview, down Canal Blvd. to the Cemeteries. Down Canal Street to the river. Turn onto existing Riverfront tracks, go to Elysian Fields. Turn up Elysian Fields to UNO.

Airport Line. Starting at the foot of Canal, Up Tulane and out Airline to the Airport.

River Line. Start at Canal and the river. Up existing Riverfront line, past the Convention Center, under the CCC, and up along the river to Jackson. Turn right on Jackson to Rampart. Down Rampart past Canal, Elysian Fields, Franklin, to Poland. Right on Poland to the river, then return to the foot of Canal along the riverfront.

University of New Orleans-Claiborne-Desire Line. Start at Claiborne terminal, Claiborne and Carrollton. Down S. Carrollton to Canal, follow existing Carrollton spur to Beauregard Circle. Link up with Elysian Fields via Wisner/DeSaix/Gentilly. Turn onto Elysian Fields and go up to Lake. From UNO, down Elysian Fields to St. Claude, down St. Claude to Jackson Barracks. Return from Jackson Barracks via St. Claude to Rampart to MLK? to Claiborne. Up Claiborne to S. Carrollton.

Algiers-Gentilly Ridge Line. Starting way down on Gen DeGaulle in Algiers, go up to the CCC. Cross the river on the CCC(?!), exit onto Julia (maybe). Up Julia to Rampart, right on Rampart/St. Claude to Elysian Fields. Up Elysian Fields to Claiborne. Sort of follow I-10/Claiborne to Louisa or so, turning onto Chef Menteur. Cross the Industrial Canal at Chef Menteur and head down to Michoud.

I'm reading these routes off of what appears to be a not-very-hi-res streetmap gaphic with overlaid routes. The overlays are huge, so that they can be visible in a PowerPoint slide. In other words, this isn't the most precise first-look. I welcome comments and corrections when y'all have a look.

Perley A. Thomas streetcar #930 at Canal and Liberty last week, in the first test run of a streetcar since the storm. Decorated for the holiday season, 930 was pulled by a pickup truck from Carrollton Station on the St. Charles tracks to Canal Street. There the streetcar was powered up and initially ran to the three-track terminal at the foot of Canal. Satisfied that the overhead was working properly, RTA allowed the streetcar to continue up Canal Street to Liberty Street, where it switched back to the inbound track.

The testing went so well that RTA approved limited operations of six Perley Thomas streetcars on a hybrid line consisting of the Riverfront trackage and a portion of the Canal line. Regular streetcar service returned to New Orleans this morning (18-December) at 7am, when 930 left the French Market terminal for Canal Street.

The 900s will run on the hybrid line at least through March of 2006 for free.

One of New Orleans' most important icons is back. Things are improving.

To address a couple of comments on today's test:

Question on how 930 got to Canal Street. I didn't see it, but WWL-TV's news report showed 930 being pulled by a white pickup truck onto Canal. I'm assuming that they pulled it all the way from the barn. That means they cleared the neutral ground enough to get down to the CBD. This makes more sense than trucking the streetcar. I remember Elmer saying that it cost $6K to truck 2013 from Carrollton Station to Randolph when they were doing the final check-out of the Canal barn in 2004.

Use of Car 29, the last Ford, Bacon & Davis single-truck streetcar. Car #29 is used as a sand car, maintenance car, and as a rail grinder. Given that Elmer and company spent the better part of last year re-building #29 after it suffered severe damage from an electrical controller fire, my guess is that they didn't want to risk something going wrong today. They have a lot more spare parts for the 900s should there have been a problem getting 930 down there.

Of course, I'd love to see #29 on Canal again. Hopefully soon.

This is my first attempt at video with this little digital camera, so be gentle:

930 heading inbound towards the foot of canal

930 heading outbound from the foot of canal

Continuation of outbound run

RTA brought Perley Thomas streetcar #930 from Carrollton Station to Canal and St. Charles this morning to test the Canal trackage and wiring. I watched as they ran 930 from St. Charles to the foot of Canal, switched to the outbound track, then ran down to the crossover at Liberty. I had to get on with my day from there, but it appears that the test was a success, at least to that point.

930 waiting for the media event to be choreographed:

From the uptown side of the street:

more photos follow...

RTA General Manager William DeVille testified before a House subcommittee for (among other things) Transit on 27-October-2005. His update on RTA's situation is a good one. The full text of his testimony is here.

This section caught my eye:

On a good note, there was little damage to the famous St. Charles Streetcar line other than to the overhead catenary system. Further good news is that FTA had already approved an extensive rehabilitation project for the St. Charles overhead electrical system and a contractor was preparing to get started when the storm hit. We are reevaluating the construction costs of the project and we are pushing to get the program underway as soon as possible while the system is closed. Construction on this project now should be far easier and may cost less than originally planned because there is no active service to work around. However, there is additional work required as the storm did more damage than the original work scope envisioned.

If a contractor was ready to get started on catenary work on St. Charles Avenue anyway, hopefully that will speed up a return of the 900s to the streets.

This article in Da Paper is two weeks old, but the news is still current:

Transit plans to be delayed More time wanted to evaluate ridership

Still unsure of Hurricane Katrina's impact on Jefferson Parish's public transit riders, the Parish Council is expected to delay votes today on increasing fares, slashing routes and possibly hiring a new manager to oversee bus routes and point-to-point van service parishwide.

The proposals had been postponed several times before the Aug. 29 storm as the council awaited estimates of how much money each option might save the cash-strapped transit department, which faces a potential $1.5 million operating loss this year because of escalating gasoline and insurance prices.

It's good to see that one Parish Councilman is thinking outside the box:

Furthermore, the proposals, due in June, do not reflect changes in public transportation needs prompted by Katrina, possibly rendering them useless, Councilman Louis Congemi said.

Congemi said he might encourage the council to request new proposals, asking firms to consider such anomalies as an influx of riders from St. Charles and St. John the Baptist parishes whose jobs have relocated to Jefferson from Orleans Parish or other hurricane-ravaged areas.

"Those additional riders might help you compensate for increased costs, because that was one of the problems that we faced in Jefferson is ridership," Congemi said. "If you increase the number of people that utilize the system, that may help the system. At this point in time, we don't know that."

While another is not:

Despite the uncertainty, Councilman Chris Roberts said he would encourage his colleagues to vote today on the fare increases, first proposed in February. They include a jump in the Base Fare from $1.10 to $1.50, exceeding the cost of a regular New Orleans Regional Transit Authority Basic Bus Line ticket by a quarter. Four other Jefferson bus ticket types would be raised under the rate proposal

I'm with Congemi. This is a time to re-evaluate. Maybe it's time to really put the "Regional" into RTA.

first the heart attack,now this:

RTA bus smashes light pole; 11 riders report injuries

Eleven people on the bus, including the supervisor, complained of injuries, but none was believed to be serious, RTA spokeswoman Rosalind Blanco Cook said. The student operator didn't report any injuries, she said.

RTA bus driver dies behind the wheel

The bus had just crossed the high-rise bridge when Taylor lost consciousness, police said.

Talk about a serious near-miss. Had this happened on the high-rise itself, the consequences could have been much worse. I saw this happen with a taxi once, abut 15 years ago, on Poydras Street. A full bus? *shudder*

Our condolences go out to Mr. Taylor's family, friends, and co-workers, and a tip of the hat to Mr. Hudson for his efforts to control the bus.

Crossing St. Charles...

Von Dullen streetcar 2020 has just cleared the intersection at Canal Street at St. Charles Avenue. The streetcar is on the “inbound” track, heading for the river. The early morning sun is sneaking past the World Trade Center and the two large hotels a couple of blocks up to partially illuminate 2020. The bulk of commuters who work in the CBD have not begun to fill Canal Street just yet.

For years, Canal Street has not been the hub of commuter traffic coming into downtown for the business work day. Poydras Street has taken over that dubious distinction. Many of the large office buildings in the CBD are located on Poydras, and that street has its own exit off of I-10, so it’s natural for car traffic to flow there. Canal Street is making a commuter comeback, however, because of the streetcars. The increase in the number of hotels in the CBD and Warehouse district has put a pinch on many parking lots and garages. Prices for parking have gone up dramatically, because hotels know they can get away with charging guests double or triple what a commuter is willing to pay. To fight the high prices, many commuters have gone to parking further down on Canal Street, or even Canal Blvd., and taking the streetcar into town. With a monthly RTA pass, the cost of riding the streetcar is minimal compared to downtown parking rates. And you don’t have to drive in the CBD.

Behind 2020 as it makes its way to the river is the Pickwick Club. The Pickwick Club is a private luncheon club that is closely affiliated with the Mystic Krewe of Comus, the carnival organization that held the first Carnival parade in New Orleans. Many Carnival parades would pause here to toast the members of the Pickwick Club, and the club would allow the queens and courts of other krewes to view their parades from their balcony.