 |
 |
DOT 12-06
Contact: Brian Turmail
Tel.: (202) 366-4570
Thursday, January 26, 2006
U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta Says New Orleans Transit
Workers Who Serve Despite Personal Losses Are “Hurricane Heroes”
New Orleans transit employees directing critical bus service for Hurricane
Katrina evacuees while living and working out of temporary facilities in Baton
Rouge, LA are “hurricane heroes” according to U.S. Transportation Secretary
Norman Y. Mineta, who visited them Thursday.
Mineta toured a facility being used by the New Orleans Regional Transit
Authority (NORTA) to maintain and repair buses, dispatch transit service in
Baton Rouge, and house dozens of displaced employees.
“In less than five months, you have taken a devastated transit infrastructure
and you have begun to bring it back to life,” Mineta said. Soon after the
hurricane, NORTA began to serve about 2,800 passengers a day in Baton Rouge,
running routes that focus on stops in temporary housing areas established for
evacuees. Ridership has grown to about 14,000 passengers a day in New Orleans,
he said.
Mineta praised transit workers for their service and sacrifice. “Each and every
one of you continue to make an extreme personal sacrifice every day to make sure
that citizens throughout this area are able to rebuild their lives… even as you
try to rebuild yours,” Mineta said. “You are all hurricane heroes,” he added.
As evacuees nearly doubled the population of Baton Rouge almost overnight, the
local transit system was overloaded, Mineta noted. In addition, the city of New
Orleans was left with damaged streetcars and buses, he said. “When FEMA
established temporary facilities for evacuees in locations with no public
transportation, NORTA filled the gaps,” Mineta said.
Today, with $47 million from FEMA, the Federal Transit Administration is working
with NORTA to bolster local service in Baton Rouge and provide emergency transit
service in New Orleans. NORTA currently operates 44 buses on 13 routes in Baton
Rouge, and 59 buses on 30 routes in New Orleans, including paratransit service
as needed.
“The hurricanes forced us out of the box in the way we respond to urgent needs
in disaster situations,” Mineta added. “Hurricane Katrina has asked much of
public servants and of the transit community. And you have risen to the
challenge,” he concluded.
The Secretary is touring the Gulf Coast this week to recognize people who
responded to the hurricanes. On Wednesday, Mineta visited Lackland Air Force
Base in San Antonio, TX, where he spent time with troops who helped transport
and care for hurricane evacuees during the largest domestic airlift in U.S.
history. On Friday, he will travel to Jacksonville, FL to meet with truck
drivers who delivered thousands of loads of life-saving supplies to the
storm-ravaged region.
# # #
Click here for Secretary Mineta's Remarks
Briefing Room