The New Orleans Regional Transit Authority and the Plaquemines Port Harbor and Terminal District signed an agreement on Friday (Jan. 17), allowing the RTA to use one of the Plaquemines’ ferry boats as needed for its service between Chalmette in St. Bernard Parish and Lower Algiers across the Mississippi river in Orleans Parish.
The five-year long contract allows for the port to lend the boat — the Belle Chase II — to the RTA in moments when its ferry boat is out of service or the agency needs supplemental service. Though the contract is meant to secure, rather than expand, the RTA’s service outside of Orleans Parish, agency officials touted it as a step toward meeting their long-time goal of providing transportation for the region, not just the city.
The RTA has not been able to meet that ambition since the State Legislature created the agency in 1979. Over the past year, the modest progress the RTA made toward regionalization has eroded with the exit of Jefferson Parish and the city of Kenner from the system. The withdrawals followed a scandal over unauthorized payments to a contractor, which is the subject of an FBI investigation, according to a December report by The Times-Picayune. “This is our first formal relationship with Plaquemines Parish in our entire history,” RTA CEO Lona Edwards Hankins said at the CEA signing. “This is the start of something new and we’re open to exploring where it could grow.”
Officials also hope the partnership will ensure more consistent service. Currently, the RTA has only one ferry serving the route — the 83-year-old Thomas Jefferson — which experienced an extended outage last year.
In an interview following the signing, Roberto Lopez, director of marine operations at the RTA, said the agreement has been in the works for some time.
Both agencies had hoped to enter the agreement before the RTA drydocked its 83-year old ferry boat, the Thomas Jefferson, that services the Chalmette-Lower Algiers ferry, for three months of required inspections and maintenance last summer. Although they were not able to beat that clock, Lopez said they wanted to have an agreement in place for future needs.
In an interview after the signing, Fred Neal — the chair of the RTA’s governing board — said the agency is continuing to work toward improving service in the city and expanding across the region.
“We still believe in our strategic mobility plan, which has an emphasis on providing better regional connectivity for riders.” Neal said in a phone interview after the CEA signing, referencing the agency’s outline for improving transit service in the long term.“When we talk to riders what we hear most is that they care that the transit service that runs frequently, runs on time and gets them to the places they go. We haven’t heard that riders are overly concerned about who runs the systems, but that we provide quality transit options.”