The Communications and Mobile Engagement Intern will work alongside our Executive Director on implementing a broad communications strategy and be the first member of our mobile engagement team.  For more details – check out the job description.

The Research and Education Intern will dig deeper into key transportation issues ranging from financing to education and will play a key role in shaping our campaigns.  For more details – check out the job description.

To apply, submit 1) your resume, 2) a letter of interest describing your skills, interests and goals for educational or career pursuits, and 3) a writing sample to rachel@transportfornola.org.

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.

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

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

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 

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.

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

View the letter here.

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.

Public Comments / Questions

Bob Barnsworth

• Asked RTA to consider another connection point between the CC and Riverfront lines at Andrew Higgins, which would provide further connectivity to the arts and entertainment district.

Carlos Hornbrook

• Asked why RTA is not considering a connection point down St. Joseph instead of Girod.
• HDR responded that Girod’s land use pattern is more conducive to foot traffic and thus streetcar use.
• Hornbrook objected, stating that the only supportive land use is one restaurant, not much else.
• HDR replied that given they are only at 30% DD, they can entertain other options of turning points and will take his comment into consideration.

Peter Bennett

• Asked RTA for exact timetables, particularly at connection spurts. Streetcars work in a delicate system and he wants to see how all lines will coordinate.
• RTA responded that bus timing transfers and streetcar timing is something that will be worked on as the plans and designs develop.
• Bennett feels that there is limited potential for TOD in this area despite streetcar plans; he feels that everything that is built up now or that will be built in the future will continue to remain at the same density and land use pattern.
• Bennett wants to see the CC shuttles relinquish some of their service so that the streetcar makes a bigger impact. He feels that the CC doesn’t really support the streetcar unless it makes these sorts of gestures: giving up parking, giving up shuttles, essentially moving people to use streetcars from the CC side.

Bill Stagel

• Why is there not a planned Poydras stop along the CC route?
• RTA responded that DPW and the city have concerns regarding the efficient operation of vehicular traffic if a stop is too close to Pydras. They added that the stops are not set in stone however.

Gentleman #1

• Is there anything else being done to reduce noise and vibration damage other than special tracks at turns?
• HDR responded that extra work is not necessary, since all vibration and noise is dispersed with these minor interventions.

Gentleman #2

• Represents shuttle bus drivers near CC, is opposed to the new route, wants to know who the intended riders are and how much patronage would be taken away from his business.
• HDR responded that an early transportation analysis showed that 70% of the CC loop users would be locals going to work, and that the streetcar would not have the capacity to fulfill total demand. Shuttles still seen as a necessity.

Gentleman #3

• Instead of building a new streetcar one block away from the existing Riverfront line, the gentleman recommended expanding the Riverfront line instead. This would mean extending the track to Henderson, creating an additional stop at Mardi Gras World, reworking stops along the route to make them ADA and publically accessible, installing a transit- and pedestrian-oriented exit from the CC to the Riverfront streetcar (making it more legible), installing a river observation deck and cafe near that exit to attract people, taking the streetcar line and adding an up-river direction so it could return to Canal Street, and finally connecting the entire system up at Howard to St. Charles and Loyola lines.

Gentleman #4

• As a representative of the Marriott, this gentleman approves this project. He supports it because it is not just tourists but hospitality workers and those seeking jobs in hospitality that need transportation to the CC area.

Lady #1

• Asked if streets in the general vicinity of the CC will be switched back to 2-way streets.
• RTA responded that it would have to discuss this with DPW and the city, but are considering this option in their studies of the line.

Gentleman #5

• Asked RTA to consider funding from Cruise Ship terminal.
• RTA has considered this.

Gentleman #6

• Asked why the passageway / skywalk from CC Blvd. to the riverfront and Riverfront streetcar line is out of service.
• Bob Johnson replied that it was a series of financial, legal and permitting issues that closed the skywalk down, as well as the fact that it leads from “nowhere to nowhere” in his opinion (from a parking lot to the cruise terminal).
• Bob added that all future development of New Orleans will all happen upriver, mentioning the Power Plant redevelopment, Worlds Fair buildings, and Convention Center renovations as major projects. Given this, he wants to see the CC Blvd. line and CC streetscaping create a driving force for future development up river.

Gentleman #7

• Why not put the streetcar on the other side of CC Blvd. so that people can leave the CBD / city more easily?
• Why haven’t 2-way tracks been considered for both the Riverfront and CC lines?