Jump to content

New Orleans RTA


Buzz2kb

Recommended Posts

Despite having much of its fleet decimated by Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans RTA remains one of the most comprehensive TA in the South, and has steadily renewed its fleet during last few years. The bus side of its operation is now totally low-floor, and consists of only two types in 3 lengths, both with Canadian connection. Their first post-Katrina buses are 38 shorty (35-ft.) Orion VII NG's. They retain the old logo but carries a modified livery emphasizing their use of bio-diesel fuel, as depicted bus 181 on Line 16 pictured at Canal Street in the CBD on last December

They are followed by up to 75 Orion VII NG's in a totally redesigned livery. They are 40ft. buses, and I really enjoy the livery, which is simple and clean, yet embodying the three main colors of the local Mardi Gras tradition. An example is bus 239 on layover at the Claiborne/Carrollton end of line of the St. Charles Avenue Streetcar, on Line 39.

Their latest buses are 4 New Flyer DE60LFR of a revised design (similar to Honolulu's The BUS and Sound Transit's latest artics). They are believed to be the first artics in New Orleans's transit history and are presently used on Line 94 (their busiest bus route). Bus H004 is pictured at Canal/Broad, along the Canal Street streetcar line.

As a result, they have easily the largest fleet of Orion VII NG fleet in the Southern US, and maintaining their pre-Katrina brand loyalty to Canadian brands, especially Orion (with the huge Orion V fleet supplemented by New Flyer D40HF's)

It is however, their streetcar operations that attracts most nostalgia. Consisting of three lines - St. Chalres Avenue, Canal Street and Riverfront; the first two are among the RTA's busiest lines. Cars 2002, 910 and 457 are the representatives of the streetcars used on these lines.

My New Orleans RTA bus gallery is available at http://picasaweb.google.com/Buzz2kb/NewOrleansRTABus , and streetcar gallery at http://picasaweb.google.com/Buzz2kb/NewOrleansRTAStreetcars .

Hope that you'll enjoy my pictures!

RTA_r016_181.JPGRTA_r039_238_1.JPGRTA_r094_H004_3.JPGRTA_CSC_2002.JPGRTA_StCh_910.JPGRTA_RF_457_3.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting fleet there as many of their buses were ordered following Hurricane Katrina to replace many of their destroyed buses from that hurricane.

Their latest buses are 4 New Flyer DE60LFR of a revised design (similar to Honolulu's The BUS and Sound Transit's latest artics). They are believed to be the first artics in New Orleans's transit history and are presently used on Line 94 (their busiest bus route). Bus H004 is pictured at Canal/Broad, along the Canal Street streetcar line.

Did the acceleration you hear was hybrid? Because I know that those roof top designs on the New Flyer artics are also available on D60LFR as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Interesting fleet there as many of their buses were ordered following Hurricane Katrina to replace many of their destroyed buses from that hurricane.

Did the acceleration you hear was hybrid? Because I know that those roof top designs on the New Flyer artics are also available on D60LFR as well.

There are plates explicitly proclaiming that they're hybrid buses at the driver side of the front section and the rear of these buses as illustrated by this shot. The H-prefixed fleet number is another evidence of these buses being hybrids.

And a couple more interesting footnotes on the curb side of their latest livery: The roof slogan "It's Easy." is so catchy in the promotion of the system in matching the city's "Big Easy" nickname, and the big Fleur-de-lis in two shades of violet on the rear reflects well on the French heritage of the city, and is one of the best decorative symbols used in North American transit in my opinion, as illustrated by bus 219 on Line 11 taken at Audubon Park.

Hope that this answers your question!

RTA_r094_H004_2.JPG

RTA_r011_215_5.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like the fleur-de-lis design but I wish they had incorporated it into the livery a bit better; it's only on buses' curb-sides toward the rear and viewed from any other angle it can't be seen.

Interesting fleet there as many of their buses were ordered following Hurricane Katrina to replace many of their destroyed buses from that hurricane.

All buses in NORTA's current fleet were manufactured post-Katrina. The streetcars, obviously, are not.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Any photos of the V's and D40's?

Nope, as they have retired all their high-floor buses, mostly due to Katrina-related attrition; and the surviving examples has largely reached the end of the federally-stipulated operational life. (The Orions are mostly 1997-98 buses, while the New Flyers are 1994 buses.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As a result, they have easily the largest fleet of Orion VII NG fleet in the Southern US, and maintaining their pre-Katrina brand loyalty to Canadian brands, especially Orion (with the huge Orion V fleet supplemented by New Flyer D40HF's)

Houston has 176 Orion VII NG buses. 3601-3696 and 4601-4680.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I should say in the largest Orion VII NG fleet in the Southeast, and I frequently regard Texas as part of the West or Southwest instead of Southern US in my mind.

Uh-huh. Not only do we already 3601-3696 and 4601-4680, we're getting 100 more but those will be EPA 2010 hybrids---kind of like what Seattle's getting and what Mississauga Transit currently has in their fleet.

BTW, excellent photos of the buses from the Big Easy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hope that you'll enjoy my pictures!

Thanks for sharing the photos. The New Flyer hybrids are especially interesting.

Ok.. This may be a long shot, but does anyone know of any photos of M.A.N. Americana's from New Orleans at all or know of any websites with them? So far, I have searched around and have not found any. Thanks!

A fair amount viewable at streetcarmike.com

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice photos! Interesting that New Orleans ordered with rear window on the artic.

That 1990 Orion V has the small front door like Mississauga, very rare. I guess their system was very late to get the ADA on the next order.

Was New Orleans become contractor not long ago?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...
  • 1 year later...

Nice photos :) Am I missing it, or does that bus only have two exterior fleet numbers?

:huh: What is in that rear window?

That is actually the EPA10 rear engine compartment vent, the mesh is so fine it does look somewhat like a window given the right amount of lighting.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice photos :) Am I missing it, or does that bus only have two exterior fleet numbers?

That is actually the EPA10 rear engine compartment vent, the mesh is so fine it does look somewhat like a window given the right amount of lighting.

Thanks. Geez, I guessed it was HVAC but couldn't figure out why a window there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 11 months later...

Updates from my Memorial Day sightings:

Looks like the Orion VII 3G sub-fleet is much smaller than I've previously thought. Based on my observations and from various pages covering NORTA at www,streetcarmike.com, they have no more than 8 of these buses, numbered 267-274. This means that they have a further 10 Orion VII NG's numbered 257 to 266 (for a combined fleet of 93 Orion VII 40ft.'s). Here attached are buses 269, 273 and 274. A crucial difference compared to the much more numerous NG's is that the 3G's have rear route number displays, while the NG's do not. Also note the different driver windows compared to NG bus 266.

Meanwhile, there are actually green and gold versions of the big curbside Fleur-de-lis decoration, as shown by Orion VII 3G 274 and NG 242 respectively. A bonus pic here is bus 266, numerically the final Orion VII NG.

They have apparently purchased another batch of 10 or 11 artics, as shown by buses H007 and H008. The biggest differences between these and the earlier four buses are that the latest artics have no rear windows, but carry rear route number displays.

As a further note, they are apparently repainting their 35ft. Orion VII NG's (Their first post-Katrina buses), as shown by bus 181 (numerically the final bus of this group). It also seems that they are scaling down the operations of these 35-footers. Some of the Lines run with them on my December 2010 visit (like Line 16 where bus 266 was pictured on) were upgraded to 40-footers (possibly driven by ridership growth due to post-Katrina recovery). From my knowledge, only Lines 5, 15, 45 and 80 are strictly 35-ft. services. They've also sent a few of such buses to Port Arthur Transit in Texas as temporary/permanent replacements for their propane-powered Thomas Bus SLF-200's. That may be the reason that the Orion VII 3G's were purchased in the first place.

All but buses 181, 266 and 273 are taken at the New Orleans CBD. Hope that you'll enjoy my latest jottings!

RTA-r011-273-2.JPG  RTA-r057-269-1.JPG  RTA-r101-274-3.JPG  RTA-r101-274-5.JPG  RTA-r039-242-2.JPG RTA-r016-266.JPG  RTA-r062-H007-1.JPG  RTA-r062-H008-1.JPG  RTA-r062-H008-2.JPG

RTA-r045-181-3.JPG  RTA-r045-181-4.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...