New Orleans Transit Struggles to Maintain Service

New Orleans transit riders are suffering from severely reduced service since Hurricane Katrina devastated the city in 2005, according to an analysis from RIDE New Orleans, the Regional Transit Authority (RTA), and Jefferson Parish Transit. “At the moment, the average Orleans Parish resident can access only 35% of jobs in the region within 60 minutes on public transit,” notes Blake Paterson in the Times-Picayune.

Although many New Orleans buses used to run every 10 minutes, the region’s agencies now offer just 60 percent of the service they did in 2004. “Both the RTA and Jefferson Parish Transit are expected to face shortfalls in revenue in the coming years that will make maintaining existing levels of service difficult. And Jefferson Parish is in the process of exiting the RTA, leaving Orleans Parish as the sole participant in what was supposed to be a multi-parish public transit agency.”

RIDE estimates that the agencies need roughly $55 million per year for operating revenues to return to pre-Katrina service levels. Transit officials are calling for more support from the state to supplement local funding, which could help meet federal matching requirements and unlock grant dollars. As of 2022, Louisiana ranked 43rd in the nation for per-capita transit spending.