Algiers residents, business owners sounded off last night to RTA officials and City Council members.
Angry attendees faced RTA CEO Alex Wiggins, who tried to explain why its taking so long for his agency to find a new operator for the ferry.
"Our next step is the final written report," Wiggins told the crowd at Algiers United Methodist Church Tuesday."We should have that in about two weeks."
But frustrated business people were not satisfied. “What I think I am hearing is that I am about to lose 50 percent of my business for probably at least the next month-and-a-half to two months,” said Hillary Hanning owner of the Tavolino Pizza and Lounge.
City Council Member Kristin Gisleson-Palmer was on hand and she expressed her frustration to WWL-TV: “I asked them months ago to look at a charter operation and they finally found one and it’s going to be too expensive. So they are basically telling us that we aren’t worth it for $180,000 a month for a situation that they caused.”
Wiggins contends a new operator for the two new, but uncertified, $10,000,000 boats will be in place soon. RTA will also look for an overseer to keep an eye on boat builder Metal Shark as the company struggles to make fixes on the craft so they can pass muster with the Coast Guard.
For the time being both the ferry, its standby boat, and the two new boats sit tied to the dock.
When running the ferry crossing takes approximately five minutes. A bus ride into downtown New Orleans from Algiers takes 30-minutes.