Floodwaters also may be full of gasoline

Some streetcars still under water

Half of buses may be beyond repair

By Frank Donze
Staff writer
Much of New Orleans’ public transit infrastructure, including the brand-new Canal Street streetcars that debuted to considerable fanfare in April 2004, the riverfront trolleys and at least half of the 350 buses in the fleet, remain partially submerged in floodwaters and may be beyond repair, Regional Transit Authority officials said.

The 24 apple-red streetcars – assembled largely by hand by RTA artisans as part of a $161 million project that restored rail service to Canal Street after an absence of nearly 40 years - were stored at the A. Philip Randolph Operations Facility in the 2800 block of Canal as Hurricane Katrina approached the Louisiana coast.

The RTA also used the Randolph facility to house about 175 buses and the seven streetcars that have comprised the riverfront line for the past 16 years. When transit workers evacuated the building nearly two weeks ago, water levels in the parking lot had already risen “up to the steering wheels’’ of most of the vehicles.

“It wasn’t a pretty sight,’’ said Mark Major, the agency’s finance director. “Those new streetcars have a lot of delicate electronics. Even if they were sitting in clear pool water, it would have caused serious problems. The fact that the water is filled with gasoline and other corrosives is not good news.’’

He said the same holds true for buses.

In the 16 months since they began operating, the Canal streetcars, which cost almost $1 million each, became very popular among locals and visitors, boosting ridership on the line beyond expectations.

Major said the 35 streetcars on the historic St. Charles Avenue line appear to have escaped serious water damage, although the condition of the tracks and the bed beneath them, the overhead electrical system and the power stations is unknown.

“We’re hoping the metal bodies (of the streetcars) are OK,’’ he said. “But until we get a look inside, we won’t know what can be salvaged. Some may be in good shape, some may have damage and some may need total replacement.’’

While all streetcars and buses are covered by insurance, it is unclear how much depreciation will play into what the RTA can recover and how soon.

The bottom line, Major said, is that even when New Orleans’ transit system gets back in business, rail service probably won’t be part of the equation at first.

“Large portions of Canal Street are still sitting in water,’’ he said.

“There’s a lot that has to be assessed, but we believe it’s imperative to get some kind of rail back in service as soon as possible. Our streetcars are icons and it’s important that our citizens see them up and running.’’

The RTA did not store any of its buses at the agency’s headquarters in eastern New Orleans, which suffered some of the worst flooding in the city.

Some 150 buses that were moved to the Poland Avenue Wharf in the Lower Ninth Ward appear to have fared well, but about 70 of those vehicles were commandeered by the police and fire departments, the National Guard, and in a few cases by individual citizens who used them to evacuate family members, friends and neighbors.

The RTA is in the process of recovering those buses and other unaccounted-for vehicles. The agency has learned that two buses wound up in Lafayette, one in Opelousas and one in Bunkie. Two other buses were found in the Ninth Ward, where residents used them several days for shelter.

In what may be the only bit of good news, RTA spokeswoman Deslie Isidore said it looks like the passengers on the pirated buses “did not lay a finger on the fareboxes.’’

In the short term, the RTA will offer all functioning buses in its fleet for use in the recovery effort.

FEMA officials have asked that some of the buses be made available as early as next week for transport between Baton Rouge and New Orleans for staffers, clean-up crews, construction workers and other participants in the rebuilding process.

Major also said RTA buses and drivers soon may be rolling through the streets of Baton Rouge to help relieve the pressure that tens of thousands of south Louisiana evacuees have placed on the capital city’s traffic.