New Orleans RTA to make more streetcar stops wheelchair accessible
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — In the next few years, more people will be able to ride New Orleans’ streetcars.
With the help of federal funds, the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (RTA) will make more streetcar stops wheelchair assessable.
The historic New Orleans streetcar, a popular tourist attraction, plays a big role in public transportation.
For some, however, the streetcar wasn’t always an option.
“To know that the St. Charles streetcar for many, many years wasn’t accessible, and then having to be confronted by that challenge, was just another challenge in the day of the life of somebody with mobility challenges,” said Mark Raymond, Jr., the RTA Board of Commissioners chair. “I’m glad to see we’re solving that problem.”
A taste of Greece along Bayou St. John for New Orleans Greek Fest
Raymond, who uses a wheelchair, had the opportunity to show U.S. Congressman Troy Carter what it’s like to be him.
Carter says the experience gave him extra motivation to secure funding through the All Stations Accessibility Program.
“It’s very self-explanatory,” Carter said. “It gives an opportunity for everyone who enjoys our streetcar line, a picturesque, beautiful opportunity to see the city in our beautiful garden district.”
Five and a half million dollars will go to the RTA to transform their streetcar stops.
“It will have a lift apparatus that will allow a person to, from the point of entry on the sidewalk, to roll their chair and have it lifted and have them brought to even where they can then roll onto the streetcar,” Carter explained. “There will be space where there are currently benches.”
A taste of Greece along Bayou St. John for New Orleans Greek Fest
Raymond is grateful for the work Carter is doing, saying public transportation should be accessible to everyone.
“It just shows where his interest is in and where his work is being done, and it’s being done,” Raymond said.
A spokesman for the RTA released the following statement:
We will next work with the FTA to obligate the funds in the federal systems, and then then we will hire a designer for the physical modifications that are required, then procure and construct the enhancements. This is typically a 3- to 3.5- year process.
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