New Orleans Regional Transit Authority

The New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (RTA or NORTA) is a public transportation agency based in New Orleans. The agency was established by the Louisiana State Legislature in 1979, and has operated bus and historic streetcar service throughout the city since 1983, when it took over the city's mass transit system after nearly six decades' control by New Orleans Public Service, Inc. (now Entergy New Orleans). In 2025, the system had a ridership of 13,501,100, or about 42,400 per weekday as of the fourth quarter of 2025, making RTA the largest public transit agency in the state of Louisiana.

History

NORTA was established in 1979.

Hurricane Katrina

NORTA buses were used to transport people to the Superdome before Hurricane Katrina hit. Much of the city flooded due to the storm. The NORTA Administration building on Plaza Drive appears to have been in 10 feet (3.0 m) 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

Transit service was restored to 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.

In 2015, transit service was still at 45% of pre-Katrina levels, with buses being at 35% of original service levels while streetcars were fully restored.

Service was changed again on October 2, 2016, with the extension of the Loyola/UPT streetcar line to Elysian Fields Avenue via Rampart Street and adjustment of other streetcar lines and bus routes.

In May 2020, agency operations shifted from private operator Transdev, back to in-house staff.

New Links bus routes

On September 25, 2022, NORTA launched a bus network redesign. 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.[citation needed] 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 aimed to improve access to jobs and landmarks, reduce wait times, extend service hours, and speed up transfers/connections. No changes were made to the streetcars or ferries.

Services

Buses

NORTA is the primary bus operator in New Orleans, running 28 routes as of 2025. In 2025, the NORTA bus system had a ridership of 11,250,100.

Route list

Streetcar

New Orleans currently has five operating streetcar lines travelling over 15.9 miles (25.6 km) of tracks. In 2025, the streetcar system had a ridership of 3,136,500.

Ferries

New Orleans currently has two operating ferry routes. The pedestrian-only Algiers Point–Canal Street Ferry and the Chalmette–Lower Algiers Ferry, which carries both vehicles and pedestrians.

Fares

Basic rates for all modes, except ferries, are $1.25 per boarding (or $0.40 for 65 and up, disabled and 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).

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 buses. 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.

Governance

The RTA Board of Commissioners is in charge of making major decisions for the authority. The board consists of appointees by the Mayor of New Orleans and the President of Jefferson Parish. Its overall authority for transit in New Orleans includes 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 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) was hired in 2008.

As of December 20, 2020[update], 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.[dead link]

See also

• Canal Street Ferry
• Streetcars in New Orleans
• List of light-rail transit systems

External links

• , a not-for-profit transportation policy and research organization.