December 18, 2020 By Frank McCormack
While 2020 and the fear of COVID-19 brought, for a time, the unforgettable sight of empty streetcars rumbling down the streets of New Orleans, the year ended on a high note for another of the city’s modes of public transportation: its passenger ferries.
The New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (RTA) put a pair of catamaran passenger ferries into service during the fourth quarter of 2020, with RTA2 coming online October 10 and the identical RTA1 put into service December 15.
Both ferries, built by Louisiana shipbuilder Metal Shark at its Franklin, La., yard, measure 105 feet long and can carry 150 passengers. To date, Metal Shark has built 36 passenger ferries for the U.S. market, including 22 for New York City.
RTA1, the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority s new 149-passenger ferry boat, passes Algiers Point on its way downriver for sea trials in New Orleans, La., Tuesday, July 10, 2018. Built by Jeanerette, La.-based Metal Shark to serve the Algiers Point-Canal Street ferry crossing, the $5 million, 105-foot Catamaran style boat features space for 15 bicycles, four wheelchair tie downs and two scooters.
Advocate photo by SHAWN FINK