A mass transit lesson from Katrina

Steve Hiniker, executive director of 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, wrote this op-ed published in the October 9, 2005 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Among the indelible images of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina are the tens of thousands left behind in the evacuation. ...

While the cleanup continues and the fingers of blame are pointed, one sad fact remains: Those without access to a car were left behind. ...

To paraphrase Will Rogers, we'll hold the distinction of being the only Nation in the history of the world where people couldn't be refugees unless they had an automobile.

Despite the obvious need for transit for employment, economic development and national security purposes, we see local levels of government forced to either cut bus routes or raise fares almost every year. Meanwhile, we have no shortages of new roads. ...

Since we have all these roads, you might expect he'd advocate spending more to expand bus service or subsidize lower fares, or even build dedicated bus lanes.

Economic development follows in the tracks of modern transit like light rail and streetcars. ...

People could have been evacuated from New Orleans if only it had streetcars. New Orleans wouldn't be so poor if only it had streetcars. Then I remembered, New Orleans still has streetcars. It's one of the few cities that didn't completely eliminate them.

We can, however, learn from the devastation along the Gulf Coast that a robust transit system can help avoid leaving tens of thousands of people behind.

If streetcars are practical at all, it's to serve densely populated areas. The tracks can't be built the long distances through the countryside that evacuees need to go, and sit idle otherwise. An approaching hurricane could cut electric power or flood the track, and streetcars would be immobilized. If he suggested that bus systems receive a subsidy to ensure buses are available for emergencies, that would make more sense. Advocates of rail transit don't help their cause by claiming it's a panacea.

Here's the September 30, 2005 bulletin from the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority.

RTA service will resume with four transit lines: 12-St. Charles, 114-115-General de Gaulle, 108-Algiers Local, and 201-Kenner Loop.

All four lines will run along the regular routes they used before Hurricane Katrina, although 12-St. Charles will use buses instead of streetcars until further notice.