Ride the red bus

Like many New Orleanians who occasionally find themselves having to traverse the "Hospitality Zone" even though the Mayor has made clear that area belongs more to the tourists than the residents, I'm very much looking forward to being stuck in traffic behind one of these giant obnoxious double-decker tour buses.

Yes, I'm looking forward to it for a couple of reasons.  First, I'm reasonably certain the none of the buses will keel over and die in the middle of the street no matter how hard they are worked. 

Second, now that I've seen the route,



I'm reminded that only a few years ago, our city fathers tried to waste a federal public transit grant building a streetcar that would have served the same purpose.



So at least this way the tourists will be funding their own amusement ride (to the tune of $40 per adult).

I'm a little confused, though, about this.

Meg Lousteau, executive director of the Vieux Carre Property Owners, Residents and Associates group, said there's potential for the buses to draw tourists across the city. "But we hope this won't continue to overload the French Quarter with visitors," she added.

Peter Boese, the National World War II Museum's director of sales, said he hopes the new bus routes will bring tourists who might otherwise remain in the French Quarter to other parts of the city.

"If they have the means to venture out and explore the rest of the city, it's going to be a great opportunity for them to see other attractions," Boese said.

Lousteau and Boese are both hoping the buses "draw tourists across the city" but, according to the map published in today's T-P, the route stays well within the "Hospitality Zone" so I'm not sure how this is accomplished.  But then, adding to the confusion is this bit from WWLTV.

Riders can buy a day pass and hop on and off a bus at one of several different tourist attractions. The continuous loop includes stops at the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas, New Orleans Museum of Art, World War II Museum, as well as the Superdome, Audubon Zoo and Magazine Street shopping area.

If the big red buses are going to the Zoo and to Magazine street, I'd like to see which route they're taking.  Magazine is crowded and hazardous enough as it is.  One would hope we'd be doing our best not to cram it with even more oversized vehicles at this point.

More importantly, shouldn't visitors trying to get across town just figure out how to use the available public transit anyway?   After all seeing how a city actually works is part of the point of traveling, isn't' it? See the real people, hear the real accent, that sort of thing. Gambit's Megan Braden-Perry has spent much of this year demystifying the RTA for first-time riders.  It isn't very hard to figure out. So why sequester yourself in a big red rolling tower with the rest of the adult kindergarten?

Well, according to the bus operator's website, there is always this incentive.

City Sightseeing New Orleans will give you a set of their own Free souvenir earbuds, so you can hear this exhilarating tour in any of 7 Languages: Spanish / French / Portuguese / German / Italian / Japanese / Chinese. Plus look forward to our Kid’s Club Channel and even, hear the tour in that local Cajun accent!

 Well alright then, by all means don't pass up a chance to hear "that local Cajun accent!" It's all part of that "authentic" experience we're selling these days.

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