We released our fourth annual State of Transit in New Orleans report on August 9.
Despite important progress in some areas – like governance and planning – we’re still falling short on the most important metric: getting people where they need to go in a reasonable amount of time.
Unfortunately, our biggest recent capital investment – the Rampart/St. Claude and Loyola streetcar extensions – did nothing to help with access to jobs. We dedicated $75 million in public money to the project, but residents along the Rampart/St. Claude corridor saw a slight reduction in total jobs accessible in 30 minutes or less via transit.
But we also saw positive momentum. At the same point that the Rampart/St. Claude streetcar extension opened, the RTA also reconnected the #15 Freret and #28 Martin Luther King bus lines to Canal Street. This very low-cost move, made a big difference. Collectively, riders along those corridors were able to reach 5,000 more jobs in 30 minutes or less via transit.
You can see read details on these and other findings at http://rideneworleans.org/the-state-of-transit-2017.