Reeling from a barrage of complaints from commuters and Algiers Point business owners, New Orleans transit officials pledged Thursday to run a temporary charter boat service across the Mississippi River while the city’s regular ferries remain sidelined by mechanical and other failures.

The Regional Transit Authority on Monday will select a new firm to run its ferry system, and that firm will provide a temporary ferry within two weeks, transit officials said.

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The news came shortly after City Council members lamented that the RTA's older ferries have not been regularly maintained and that it has taken more than two years for new boats to be delivered and put into service.

The ferries linking Canal Street with Algiers Point and Lower Algiers with Chalmette have been out for weeks. Public ire has mounted as ferry commuters have had to use a bus service and Algiers businesses that rely on the tourists who normally arrive daily by ferry have seen falling sales.

On Tuesday, more than 100 Algiers Point residents protested outside the transit system's headquarters.

“Within seven days from Monday, we can have that charter service up and running,” RTA Chief Financial Officer Mark Major told the council Thursday. It is not clear what boat or boats the charter service will use.

Nonetheless, some of the Algiers residents in the audience said the RTA has made so many promises about the ferries that it has no credibility.

"I don't think any of us believe that you are going to pull the trigger on any of these things ... the charter service, the help from the grant, or any of it," said Tavolino Pizza & Lounge owner Hillary Hanning. "We are mad."

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The RTA has taken heat since September, when one of the boats that has run between Algiers Point and Canal Street was taken out of service due to mechanical problems while at the same time another boat had been pulled offline for routine maintenance. Those boats, the Col. Frank X. Armiger and the Thomas Jefferson, are 40 and 77 years old, respectively.

Two months later, a separate ferry that operates between Lower Algiers and Chalmette, the 41-year-old Capt. Neville Levy, was pulled from service because of problems with its hydraulic system, leaving no ferries on the river.

The RTA, historically an operator of buses and streetcars, has struggled in recent years to properly manage the ferries it took over from the state Department of Transportation and Development in 2014.

The aging boats the RTA inherited have required extensive repairs. The RTA and its private management operator, Transdev, have long sought to be rid of them, and in 2017 they contracted with a Jeanerette company, Metal Shark, to build two modern replacements at a cost of $10 million.

But that shipbuilder's boats have been unable to pass a U.S. Coast Guard inspection. The Shearer Group of Houston and Greenwood Marine Management of Morgan City, the RTA's marine surveyors, found various problems, including corrosion and issues with the boats' rescue equipment and fuel tanks.

Metal Shark shot back that Transdev's crews were unable to operate the boats, and disputed the idea that the vessels themselves had issues.

The RTA recently hired two other firms to fix the new boats' remaining problems: project manager Vanir Consulting and marine surveyor Elliot Bay Design Group.

Canal Street ferries down due to mechanical issues, pinching Algiers Point business owners A mechanical issue has put one ferry out of service while a backup is down for routine maintenance.

Alex Wiggins, hired as CEO of the RTA in July, has called the last problems "minor." The RTA would not release Elliot Bay's boat assessment Wednesday when requested.

Crews should complete overhauling the Thomas Jefferson in coming weeks. No timetable has been offered for returning the Col. Frank X. Armiger to service. Repairs to the Capt. Neville Levy should be ready for the Coast Guard’s review by Friday, Major said.

Some council members questioned why the RTA would spend $10 million on new boats that have been problem-plagued, while others said Transdev should reimburse that amount to the RTA.

"I’m just at a loss for how one entity could pay such an amount of money for something that new, that is in need of correction," said Councilman Jason Williams.

Councilwoman Kristin Gisleson Palmer added that the charter service — a step she has urged for months — is coming too late.

RTA officials said several factors, including cost, have stopped them from chartering a boat sooner.

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Transdev has agreed to provide $100,000 in financial aid to struggling Algiers business owners. Applications will be available Friday for businesses seeking that financial help.

Meanwhile, two outfits, Labmar Ferry Services, which is a joint venture of New Orleans firms Laborde Marine, Circular Consulting, Royal Engineers & Consultants and MSF Global, and HMS Ferries, a Washington-based firm that specializes in high-speed boats, are vying for the job of running the ferry service.