NEW ORLEANS — Officials from the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority are promising to have temporary ferry boats running between Canal Street and Algiers as early as next week.
Thursday, they appeared before the city council to give an update on the ferries which have been out of service for more than two months.
Some of the council members like Kristin Palmer, whose district includes the French Quarter and Algiers, displayed signs indicating it's been 67 days with no ferry.
"The management system was flawed, deeply flawed," Palmer said. "The operations and maintenance of the ferry system has been deeply flawed. So, we're hear to get some answers."
RTA Board Chairman Flozell Daniels' agreed.
"The process was managed poorly," Daniels said. "There was not as much accountability as there should have been The contractor did not do what we thing was the right job to make sure it was managed appropriately."
Daniels promised the RTA is now trying to do better for the public. Two new ferry boats, delivered about 18 months ago have yet to pass Coast Guard inspection.
The $10 million vessels were supposed to replace two older boats, neither of which is currently in working condition.
People who rely on the ferries to get to work are hurting.
"We've ignored the fact that this is a commuter problem," commuter Fabienne Keenum said. "This is public transportation and I and other service industry and lower income workers rely that ferry to get across."
It's also a problem for Hillary Hanning who owns Travolino's Pizza in Algiers.
"Every business in the Point is down 20-30 percent with no growth," Hanning said.
Beatrix Bell owns a gift shop on the Point.
"If I do not have a ferry, I do not have tourists," Bell said. "If I don't have tourists I am going out of business. My business was thriving and very successful until the day the ferry quit running."
RTA officials meet Monday to approve an emergency contract to hire a charter boat company.
The company would provide ferry service across the river on a temporary basis.
The new ferries are now going back to boat builder Metal Shark in Jeanerette to make the repairs needed to pass inspection.
Council President Helena Moreno suggested Transdev return the $6.5 million it charged the RTA this year to run the ferry program.
"Clearly they have failed to operate the ferries," Moreno said. "So, we have been paying them to do nothing."
The RTA is now replacing Transdev as the ferry operator.
Laura Bryan, Director of the Mayor's Office of Transportation also appeared before the city council.
Bryan said, "The administration fully shares in the frustration residents and business owners are experiencing, and we remain steadfastly committed to getting this problem solved. We are working closely with RTA Director Alex Wiggins and with RTA leadership as they work through multiple, overlapping challenges – and we support their efforts. We all want to see this resolved, and we are committed to making it happen with full transparency and accountability."
The RTA also updated the status of the ferry that takes passengers and vehicles across the river from Lower Coast Algiers to Chalmette.
It's been out for about 3 weeks.
Officials say a problem with a ramp on the boat is expected to be fixed by Friday.
They hope to have the Chalmette Ferry back in service early next week.
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.
WWL-TV reporter Paul Murphy contributed to this report.