Petition the RTA!

Posted on 13 December 2011 | Leave a comment

Transport for NOLA is accelerating its work in 2012. In fact, we are moving so fast we can’t wait for the new year—we need your support starting now.

Today we are launching our first official petition of the Regional Transit Authority. The RTA has installed GPS transmitters on all streetcars, buses, and new stop signs but don’t release the data to the public.

We want the publicly-funded public transportation agency to make its data open to the public.

People in cities across America have successfully lobbied transit agencies to open their data. With open data, citizens can develop creative ways to make public transportation more predictable, dependable and easier to use–San Francisco’s BART has over 30 different apps that track the system.

The RTA needs to release their data to the public so New Orleanians can have the same opportunity. Sign our petition at change.org and share it with your family, friends and colleagues. Open data facilitates better transit service, which in turn facilitates a more prosperous New Orleans.

Sign and share the petition now!

Learn more about how this petition got started at Neighborland, and learn more about open transit data in the video below:

A Case for Open Data in Transit from Streetfilms on Vimeo.

 

→ Leave a comment

Posted in RTA, Veolia

Transit Week 2011 Survey

Posted on 11 November 2011 | Leave a comment

As Transit Week 2011 draws to a close, we would like to thank you for joining us! This week we celebrated the transit system we have, but also engaged in discussions about what would make it better. Now it’s your chance to reflect on these experiences with our Transit Week Survey.

We hope to gather as many responses as possible in the coming weeks, and deliver a summary of the results to citizens, transit agencies, and policy makers. Your feedback can help highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the current system. The survey should take less than 5 minutes to complete. Please share it with everyone you can think of – transit rider or not. We look forward to hearing from you!

Transit Week 2011 survey:

http://www.transportfornola.org/transitweek2011/transit-week-survey

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Uncategorized

Transit Week 2011

Posted on 23 October 2011 | Leave a comment

Transit Week 2011 is November 6th – 12th!

Can you pledge to ride transit one or more days during Transit Week? Fill out the form below.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Events, RTA, Streetcar, Transit Week

Transport for NOLA is hiring an Executive Director

Posted on 18 September 2011 | Leave a comment

With generous support from the Greater New Orleans Foundation secured, Transport for NOLA is primed to accelerate its activity shaping the region’s transportation future.

To do that, we will hire a top-tier Executive Director that can lead our organizational growth, policy development, and communications efforts.

Click here to read the full job description.

Salary is approximately $50,000 annually. Health, dental insurance and vacation benefits provided.

To apply, send your cover letter, resume and a writing sample (Op-Ed for newspaper publication regarding a transit-related issue) to:

Transport for NOLA Executive Search Committee at info@transportfornola.org 

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Organizational

Park(ing) Day!

Posted on 16 September 2011 | Leave a comment

Today is Park(ing) Day, where ordinary street parking spots will be transformed for a day into wonderful public spaces.  Come on out to have some fun!

Here are the details:

Spot 1: Perdido Street in front of City Hall
10am – Yoga Class with Emilie & Vivek
2pm – Self Defense Class with Sensei Emily Snyder
2:30 – 4 – NOLA Cherry Bombs Dance performance and workshop
***Impromtu dance parties and workshops all day with Dancing Man 504!!**

Spot 2: Poydras Street at St. Charles Avenue
8-9am: Music Performances by Hannah + Tom
Afternoon: Talking Transit with Sarah.
4:30-5:30pm: Music Performances by Derek + Tom

Spot 3: The Green Light District: 2000-2100 Blocks of Magazine Street
11am – 6pm
Lots of fun stuff: games (bocce ball, croquet, horseshoes and more!), free giveaways, non-profit partners, etc….

Spot 4: 3000 block of Magazine Street
Bike Valet – it’s like a coat check for your bike!
3pm – 5pm Barbecue with the KidsWalk Coalition!

Learn more about Park(ing) Day here.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Automobiles, Events, Park(ing) Day, Parking, Policy, Public Space, Roads

Letter to the Editor on LED Lights on Streetcar

Posted on 21 June 2011 | 2 Comments

Jackie Dadakis recently submitted a letter to the editor at the Times-Picayune expressing Transport for NOLA’s support for the RTA’s new LED headlights and flashing lights (queue Kanye?) on the St. Charles streetcar line, which have improved the safety and visibility of the streetcars. The LED issue also drives to the heart of a larger issue that the RTA and Veolia are confronting: the tension between modernizing the St. Charles streetcars while abiding by the regulations placed on the streetcar as a result of being listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

The Times-Picayune published the letter here.

Dear Sir:

In response to the letter concerning the LED lights on the St Charles Streetcars, I respectfully disagree with the author about maintaining the historic nature of the line. Landmarking the St. Charles line as an historic landmark was an innovative tool for preserving the transit system in an era when highways were king. It is not, however, an effective policy for guiding safety and operating decisions on the current line.

The new LED lights and the signs urging drivers to look both ways are steps the RTA took to reduce the number of vehicular, bike, and human accidents that occur on the line. The new features make the streetcars much more visible to the other traffic and they thus improve the safety and performance of the line. Since introducing these safety measures, the system has experienced a decline from 20 to 11 accidents/100,000 miles, a nearly 50% reduction.

To insist that the system remain static puts an undue operating burden on the transit system. Moreover, the insistence that we maintain the St. Charles Streetcar as is discriminates against disabled citizens, reduces the total capacity of the system by using smaller outdated cars, and affects on-time performance because the cars lack modern equipment like radios and defoggers.

I am proud that New Orleans is home to the longest running streetcar line in the world. To maintain that record, we must allow the system to embrace modern technology that improves safety and efficiency so the line can remain viable for another 100 years.

Jacquelyn Dadakis

Board Member

Transport for NOLA

20110716-062109.jpg

→ 2 Comments

Posted in Letters, Operations, Policy, RTA, Streetcar, Veolia

Rampart—St. Claude Petition Letter Submitted to the RTA

Posted on 8 June 2011 | Leave a comment

On Tuesday, Transport for NOLA submitted a letter to the RTA and other public leaders and employees.  The letter summarized TfNOLA’s position on several key points regarding the design of the proposed Rampart—St. Claude streetcar line (sometimes referred to as the ‘French Quarter loop’), focusing in particular on placing the entirety of the new streetcar line in the neutral ground.  A petition containing the signatures of hundreds of interested community members supporting such a design was attached to the letter.

View the letter here.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Expansion, Outreach, Policy, Rampart/St. Claude, RTA, Streetcar

Ray LaHood at Loyola Groundbreaking

Posted on 7 June 2011 | Leave a comment

Ray LaHood speaking at this morning’s groundbreaking ceremony at the Union Passenger Terminal.

20110607-064840.jpg

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Expansion, Loyola, Public Meeting, RTA, Streetcar

TfNOLA Notes from RTA Convention Center Street Expansion Meeting

Posted on 24 April 2011 | Leave a comment

RTA/Consultant Presentation

Barbara Major

  • Understands “the importance of tourism to the city”
  • No funding for this line; RTA staff looking at federal dollars as well as other creative financing options

Justin Augustine

  • Introduced Julianne Dryer (sp?), FTA representative present at the meeting. She will hopefully help RTA cut through red tape regarding financing the Convention Center line.
  • Small Starts and PPP initiatives will be studied as financing options.

Winsome Bowen (HDR)

Provided basic update, summary of environmental analyses, engineering highlights. Notable remarks:

  • A traffic analysis conducted by HDR showed that a significantly larger segment of the population would take streetcar if it ran along Convention Center Boulevard (CC Blvd.) instead of the Riverfront line that currently exists.
  • HDR recommended that RTA consider uncanopied stops along CC Blvd. to protect historical viewsheds.
  • A new traffic light was recommended at Girod and CC Blvd., as well as a left turn light leading drivers from Girod onto CC Blvd.
  • HDR recommends grade crossing protection where the line runs into the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad.
  • No traffic lanes will be taken out for CC streetcar ROW construction. Instead, the streetcar will share the innermost lane heading towards the CBD on the CC side of CC Blvd.
  • Estimated project cost is $49-53M, with a 20% contingency cost included in this estimate.
  • An FTA decision on final design documents is expected Sept-Oct 2011. The 30-day public review of the EA is expected to begin June 1.

Continue reading →

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Convention Center, Expansion, Public Meeting, RTA, Streetcar

RTA Public Meeting on Convention Center Streetcar Expansion Plans

Posted on 24 April 2011 | Leave a comment

The RTA is hosting the second of two planned public meetings on their streetcar expansion plans, focusing on the proposed Convention Center loop.  Transport for NOLA believes that local and federal transportation funding should be spent on other projects in New Orleans, and therefore does not support this line as currently proposed.  Please attend to tell the RTA your thoughts!

For more information, see our email.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Convention Center, Expansion, Public Meeting, RTA, Streetcar