The Regional Transit Authority in New Orleans (RTA) and the entire city celebrated in true New Orleans style on Jan. 28, when streetcars rolled down Loyola Avenue for the inaugural ride of  he nation’s newest streetcar line.

Members of the RTA Board of Commissioners and New Orleans Mayor Mitchell J. Landrieu welcomed DOT Secretary Ray LaHood, FTA Administrator Peter M. Rogoff, Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-LA), and a host of local, state, and federal officials to ceremonies commemorating the opening of the Loyola Avenue/UPT Streetcar line.

LaHood praised the agency for completing the project and creating economic development opportunities around the corridor. “We are committed to helping New Orleans modernize its historic streetcar line, which has become an important catalyst for revitalizing the downtown business and tourist districts,” he noted.

Rogoff added: “The new streetcar extension is a big win for New Orleans, bringing new jobs and housing choices into the South Market District, and making it easier for residents and visitors alike to hop the streetcar to get to the Super Bowl without sitting in traffic. Bringing more transit choices to New Orleans is essential to helping this city rebuild neighborhoods and thrive in the years ahead.”

Other dignitaries spoke and schoolchildren recited the Pledge of Allegiance before special guests boarded the streetcars for the first official ride, led by the renowned St. Augustine High School Purple Knights Marching 100 Band.

Primary funding for the $53 million project came from a $45 million federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery competitive grant, secured by the RTA Board of Commissioners and its private operating partner, Veolia Transportation, in February 2010. This same team also gained additional funding for this project and future rail expansion projects through the Regional Transit Authority Sales Tax Revenue Bond-Series 2010.

A recent study conducted by the Gulf Coast Research Center for Evacuation and Transportation Resiliency credits the project with spurring more than $2.7 billion of economic development in the corridor. Mega-developments along the new streetcar line include the $243 million renovation of the recently reopened Hyatt Regency Hotel, a planned $100 million office-sports-entertainment complex, a $185 million “transit-oriented” apartment-retail development, and a major supermarket. The line also has improved access to the city’s transit network from the Central Business District and reduced travel time among residential areas, employment centers, and major activity centers.

The Loyola Avenue/UPT Streetcar line features 1.6 miles of track and specialized turn-out tracks at the Union Passenger Terminal and Canal Street and eight state-of-the-art, solar-powered transit shelters that include video kiosks for schedule information. The project also included relocation and replacement of underground utilities, road paving and striping, and landscaping.

The RTA, with its Veolia management team, has entered into the final design phase of its next rail project: a new streetcar line, bordering the French Quarter, that will connect to the Canal Streetcar line and travel down North Rampart Street to Elysian Fields Avenue. Ground breaking is projected for 2014 for this line, which when it opens will provide a significant population of workforce and transit-dependent residents with direct access to employment opportunities in the Central Business District of New Orleans.

Photos by Lloyd Dennis, RTA The St. Augustine High School Purple Knights Marching 100 Band accompanied the streetcar on its first official ride.