Some days the shark eats you

Late last week we learned that, once again, the aluminum catamarans built by Metal Shark for RTA had failed an inspection and were not yet ready for duty.  But at some point someone does have to ask why we're building aluminum catamarans to operate on the Mississippi anyway. In other words, maybe this is at least in part the fault of the people writing the orders. That seems to be what RTA has decided, anyway.  Today they fired Transdev from the ferry business.

But in July, Metal Shark’s boats were again rejected by the Coast Guard. That appeared to be the last straw for the RTA board members who agreed Wednesday to seek bids from new ferry operators. 

That move will strip Transdev of at least $6 million a year it had been getting to manage the ferry service, Wiggins said. In all, the firm has been paid more than $80 million annually.

Mitch Landrieu wanted to get a lot of projects approved in a hurry as the clock ticked down toward the Tricentennial celebration and his departure from office. Maybe meeting those deadlines was never really the point in comparison with just shoveling out the money as quickly and with as little scrutiny as possible.  Was Veolia/Transdev really the best choice to oversee RTA's first ferry operation?  Or did they just happen to be the contractor of convenience? 

Mitch also happened to think Veolia would have been a great choice for privatizing Sewerage and Water Board management.  Apparently Mitch was trying to sell the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad off to Veolia at one point too.  That company sure did have a good friend in Mitch.  Wonder what that was all about.