The New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (RTA or NORTA) is a

public transportation Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

agency based in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

. The agency was established by the

Louisiana State Legislature The Louisiana State Legislature (french: Législature d'État de Louisiane) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is a bicameral body, comprising the lower house, the Louisiana House of Representatives with 105 repres ...

in 1979, and has operated

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

and

historic streetcar Conservation and restoration of rail vehicles aims to preserve historic rail vehicles. Trains It may concern trains that have been removed from service and later restored to their past condition, or have never been removed from service, like UP ...

service throughout the city since 1983. With an annual ridership of over 18.6 million riders, the Regional Transit Authority is the largest public transit agency in the state of Louisiana. Basic rates for all modes, except ferries, are $1.25 per boarding (or $0.40 for 65 & up, disabled & Medicare, $0.50 for 5-17). 24-hour Jazzy Passes are $3, or $1 for youth and $0.80 for seniors, good for all modes including ferries. There are free transfer cards, good for next 120 minutes of unlimited use (round-trips/stopovers prohibited). Under 5 with a limit of three per paid rider can board for free. Transfers to ferries from busses/streetcars require paying difference in rates.

Hurricane Katrina

City buses were used before

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...

hit to transport people to a refuge of last resort, of what's now the

Caesars Superdome The Caesars Superdome, commonly known as the Superdome (formerly known as Mercedes-Benz Superdome), is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Central Business District of New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the home stadium of the New Orleans Saints ...

. Much of the city flooded due to the storm. The NORTA Administration building on Plaza Drive appears to have been in of water. Almost eighty-five percent of the fleet was rendered useless and inoperative; 146 city buses were visible outdoors in the flood at the 2817 Canal St. facility, while only 22 were at 3900 Desire Pky. The 8201 Willow St. facility was one block within the flood but was built above street level. The buses at the flooded facilities were mostly written off. All but one of the streetcars built in the 1990s and 2000s were severely damaged in the flooding resulting from the hurricane. The historic Perley Thomas-built streetcars of the St. Charles line were undamaged in the disaster. The damaged streetcars, which had been built by hand on the property by local workers, were repaired in the same facility with components from Brookville Equipment Co.

Post-disaster recovery

, service had been restored to certain areas as they became habitable again. However, there was no 24-hour service on any bus or streetcar line, except for the St. Charles streetcar line. Streetcars were returned to the full length of Canal St. and the Riverfront, initially using the historic St. Charles Line streetcars, which had not been damaged, as had the red Canal cars. In 2008, the St. Charles streetcar resumed running the entire length of its route. By early 2009, the red Canal streetcars were repaired and had taken over service on the Canal and Riverfront Lines. The buses that have been restored to operation have returned to several major thoroughfares, including

Elysian Fields Avenue Elysian Fields Avenue is a broad, straight avenue in New Orleans named after the Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris. It courses south to north from the Lower Mississippi River to Lake Pontchartrain, a distance of approximately . The avenue i ...

, Esplanade Avenue,

Claiborne Avenue Claiborne Avenue is a major thoroughfare in New Orleans, Louisiana. It runs the length of the city, about , beginning at the Jefferson Parish line and ending at the St. Bernard Parish line; the street continues under different names in both dire ...

, St. Claude Avenue, Judge Perez Drive, General Meyer Avenue, Lapalco Boulevard, Robert E. Lee Boulevard, and the Chef Menteur Highway. And just a few express routes, Morrison Express, Lake Forest Express, Read-Crowder Express and Airport Express, serving both

Eastern New Orleans New Orleans East is the eastern section of New Orleans, the newest section of the city. It is bounded by the Industrial Canal, the Intracoastal Waterway and Lake Pontchartrain. Developed extensively from the 1950s onward, its numerous residenti ...

, and New Orleans Louis Armstrong International Airport in Kenner, La. have been reinstated so far. Service enhancements as of October 2, 2016: Operate the new N. Rampart/St. Claude Avenue streetcar from Elysian Fields to UPT via Rampart St. and Loyola Ave. Loyola/UPT line will no longer operate on Canal St. to the river, nor on Riverfront to the French Quarter stop. Restore service to Canal Street on the 15-Freret and 28-MLK buses. Increase service on the Canal and Riverfront streetcar lines. Continue lines 57-Franklin and 88-St. Claude to Canal St. Operate 57-Franklin via Claiborne Ave. to increase service along N. Claiborne Ave. between Elysian Fields and St. Bernard Ave. FEMA - 48805 - RTA Street Cars (Before)

Decrease travel times for riders from farther-out neighborhoods by operating Lines 88-St. Claude and 91-Jackson/Esplanade with fewer stops along Rampart to Canal. Improve reliability of lines 5-Marigny/Bywater and 55-Elysian Fields with new schedules. Provide earlier daily trips and later weekend trips on line 80-Desire/Louisa.

New Links Bus Routes

In September of 2022, the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority announced that they would be almost entirely changing the lines, names, and wait times for the authority starting on September 25, 2022. The changes were made after a survey was conducted containing 3,000 people saying that the old lines had been outdated, and were not convenient for everyday use. For 4 days after the new routes started, RTA offered free boarding on all buses, streetcars, and the Algiers Point Ferry. The changes were part of the New Links Network, a project designed to upgrade the transit authority to service the people of New Orleans. Upgrades from the previous lines include more access to jobs and landmarks, reduced wait times, longer service times, and faster transfers/connections. On July 18, 2022, the authority released Le Pass, a new trip planner and ticket app. It includes tickets and tracking for both RTA and Jefferson Transit busses. On August 29, 2022, RTA shut down ticket buying on the old RTA GoMobile app. Le Pass updated from the old routes on September 25, 2022. No changes were made to the streetcars or ferries.

Bus and streetcar routes

Current bus routes

List of streetcar routes

*2 Riverfront Streetcar (currently combined with 49) *12 St. Charles Streetcar (24-hour service) *47 Canal Streetcar to Cemeteries (24-hour service) *48 Canal Streetcar to City Park/Museum (24-hour service) *49 Rampart-St. Claude Streetcar Line (currently blocked due to Hard Rock hotel collapse, partially combined with 2 Riverfront as 49 UPT-Riverfront)

Former routes

*1 Easy Rider Downtown Shuttle *3 Vieux Carré *5 Marigny-Bywater *10 Tchoupitoulas *13 St. Charles Shuttle *14 Jackson *15 Freret *16 S Claiborne *19 Nashville Express *20 Nashville *22 Broadway *24 Napoleon *28 M L King *30 Airline *34 Carrollton Express *39 Tulane *40 West End Express *41 West End *42 Canal – Cemeteries *43 Canal Boulevard – Lake Vista *44 Canal Boulevard Express – Lake Vista *45 Canal – City Park *46 Orleans (originally 46 City Park) *48 Esplanade *49 Lakeview *50 St. Bernard – Senate *51 St. Bernard – Lake Terrace *52 St. Bernard – L. C. Simon *53 Gentilly *54 Mirabeau (originally 54 Cartier) *56 Elysian Fields Express *58 Franklin Express *59 Congress *60 Hayne *63 New Orleans East Owl *64 Lake Forest Express *65 Six Flags Express (originally 65 Plaza Park-and-Ride) *65 Read-Crowder Express *66 Chef Menteur Highway Express *67 Crowder *69 New Orleans East Owl Loop *70 Read – Hayne *71 Read – Casino *72 Paris Road Express *73 Oak Island Loop *80 Louisa *81 Almonaster *82 Desire *83 Lower Ninth Ward *85 Barracks *88 St. Claude – Barracks *89 St. Claude – Refinery *90 Carrollton *94 Broad *96 Broad Rapid *97 Broad – Oak Island *98 Broad – Village de L'est *99 Broad – NASA *100 Algiers Owl *101 Algiers Point *102 General Meyer *103 General Meyer/Pace *104 Algiers Park-and-Ride *105 Aurora *106 Aurora Express *106 Aurora Local *107 General DeGaulle *108 Algiers Local *114 General DeGaulle-Sullen *115 General DeGaulle-Tullis *202 Kenner Park-and-Ride *408 Algiers Local-L.B. Landry

Governance

The body in charge of making major decisions for the RTA is the Board of Commissioners. The board consists of appointees by the Mayor of New Orleans and of some appointees by the President of Jefferson Parish. The RTA Board has the overall authority for transit in New Orleans including setting fares, overseeing service and operations, developing operating budgets, approving each year's annual transportation development plan, and deciding upon capital purchases and expansions. Under contract to the RTA Board of Commissioners,

Transdev Transdev, formerly Veolia Transdev, is a French-based international private-sector company which operates public transport. It has operations in 17 countries and territories as of November 2020. History The group was formed by the merger of ...

formerly managed all day-to-day aspects of the transit agency on behalf of the RTA Board. Transdev handled operations and service, safety issues, vehicle maintenance, customer care, route design and scheduling, human resources, administration, ridership growth, capital planning, grant administration, communications, purchasing, and other agency functions. Transdev was under contract to and reported to the RTA Board of Commissioners. The company operates public transportation for some 5,000 transit authorities around the world. Transdev (then

Veolia Transport Veolia Transport (formerly Connex and CGEA Transport) was the international transport services division of the French-based multinational company Veolia until the 2011 merger that gave rise to Veolia Transdev. Veolia Transport traded under the ...

) was hired in 2008. , Transdev no longer manages the RTA. All bus, streetcar, and paratransit operators, and also maintenance personnel, are now employees of RTA. Ferry services continue to be operated for RTA by LabMar Ferry Services.

References

External links

New Orleans Regional Transit Authority

Bus Schedules & Maps

Ride New Orleans
a not-for-profit transportation policy and research organization. {{Authority control Government agencies established in 1979 Bus transportation in Louisiana Passenger rail transportation in Louisiana Intermodal transportation authorities in Louisiana Transportation in New Orleans Light rail in Louisiana Bus rapid transit in Louisiana