New Orleans Regional Transit Authority

I had a disturbing RTA experience last week. The driver was very impatient and aggressive and I have had bad experiences with thèm before. One time I rode that bus, I had a little trouble feeding my dollar into the machine and my basket fell off when I was taking my bike off the bus. This driver has been hostile to me ever since and, last week, refused to let me deal with my own bike and had a real nasty attitude. I am actually uncomfortable riding on their bus but that is a bus I need to take, so what can I do?

Big huge thank you to streetcar driver of #2002 &bus driver of bus #175 for helping getting my cell phone back to me. These people went way beyond the call of duty to help. Thank You, thank you, thank youuuuuuuu!!!

This is a review for the streetcars, which I absolutely loved! So much fun! I’d recommend getting the day pass which is only $ 3. I probably used the streetcar at least 10 times, so it was definitely worth the pass. You can buy it on any streetcar, which is super convenient.
The streetcars themselves were beautiful, very clean, and well-​maintained. When the weather is cool, you can put the windows up and enjoy the beautiful breeze, but otherwise there is AC.
As a tourist, I thought the lines were convenient and served all the places that I wanted to go to. It can get packed sometimes, but I’d definitely recommend it!

AIRPORT TO DOWNTOWN/​FRENCH QUARTER AND UNLIMITED TRAVEL ON TROLLIES AND BUSSES FOR ONLY $ 5.00!!!
How do you do that, you might ask after trying to search on public transportation from the New Orleans airport only to get a bunch of search results for shuttles, limos and taxis. A taxi is a flat rate of $ 33, a shuttle service one way is $ 20, but why spend that when you can take the E-​2 bus line outside of Concourse ‘C’, up by the Delta ticket counter at the airport (head out Concourse C doors and look for the E-​2 sign in the middle curbed area (median strip). The E-​2 is $ 2.00 and the end of that line is Tulane/​Loyola Streets, a short walk over to Canal Street where you can board a trolley or a bus and ask for a one-​day adult ticket for $ 3.00. This is an all day pass on all the busses and trollies you want to take and it saves you counting out change for individual tickets. There are 3 day passes also, but for those you have to go to particular transit stations to buy. The one day $ 3 pass you can buy from any bus or trolley driver. You can’t buy the $ 3 pass from the driver of the airport E-​2 bus, however, because those are two different county (Parrish) bus lines. So, 2 dollars to get to the airport to downtown and then $ 3.00 on any bus/​trolley to ride all you want. It is an amazing deal and it will save you a lot of money if you are planning on hitting more than a couple of areas. The Riverwalk trolley (#2)is a lot of fun and brings you from the aquarium/Harrah’s casino area to the French Market which has some amazing food booths and is part of the French Quarter.

Street cars are great for tourists with literally no where to actually be but seeing the city and going to try and get a table at Jacques-imo’s on oak street. But at least they allegedly come every 15 min most of the time. The busses on the other hand are more unreliable in all the worst ways. They are almost never on schedule and if they are even close they are certainly running late. That said if you can’t afford a car or taxi you should buy a bike just don’t ride it on magazine st.

Trying to locate a simple Google Map with an overlay that has all bus/​tram/​mass transit… there is none. The NORTA does NOT have one. Unbelievable!
There is only the option of a start point and an ending point… and that is not helpful if anyone needs to look at the actual route.
For a city that has a huge tourist/​visitor income dependency, I’d think/​hope you’d have an interactive map. New York City has one,
as do many other cities in the US. You just plug in where you are and the destination area… and the map routes a «lit» line with any switches/​or changes. it also looks for alternative routes, if you desire. A kid wrote this code in Java, ran it for years online. NYC transit bought it from him and installed in into their system.
You guys need to find a 12-​year old and ask them to do the same for you.
They’ll likely have it done in an afternoon.
New Orleans needs this desperately!

Being from chicago, I did NOT expect new orleans to have sufficient public transportation. But I was totally wrong. We were able to get out and about and back and forth with easy. They also have an iphone app which tells you which buses to take in order to get to your destination. It tells you EXACTLY when the bus is coming and where it will drop you off. Very helpful. Especially when you don’t have a car, and downtown new orleans doesn’t have much parking even if so. We used the street car and the buses. And for only $ 1.25, it’s a steal. The buses are faster than the streetcars though. I’m glad this option existed so we didn’t have to take cabs everywhere and I really wasn’t seeing much über coverage either. I’m a fan.

This has got to be THE what transit system ever! They need to let me run the company. I have to leave 2 hours in advance just so that i don’t miss the connecting bus because they really do not connect in a timely manner. You have to wait about 45 minutes. The bus drivers are rude and won’t move from the busstop until you put your entire fare in. I guess the companyp0 is not federally funded. They argue with the patrons, they are just rude. I’ve been0 sitting at the busstop for almost an hour and still no bus

Im a nola resident and unfortunately have to relay on the rta quite regularly. This is absolutely the worst, most unorganized, poorly ran public transportation i have ever encountered and i’ve been all over the country. They never run on time and the drivers are rude. Norta sucks

The City of New Orleans is famous for its hospitality. Its historic trolleys have been restored and regularly serviced to take care of the many visitors who come to this magical place every week. Unfortunately, their legendary hospitality doesn’t extend to the locals when it comes to the public transit.
I was told several times to avoid public transit unless you are taking a trolley. The buses must be for the exclusive use of the poor and underprivileged. Why is this the case?
I attempted to take a bus to the airport on a lazy Sunday. The Sundays here are lazier than most. My first bus arrived 20 minutes late. Then, the driver stopped outside of a Walgreen’s to take a phone call for more than 10 minutes. I decided to get off and take a cab instead of chancing to miss the last flight out for the night. That cab ride cost me $ 33, but the missed flight would have cost me far more.
There was another person on that bus taking the same route as me trying to get to the airport. I offered to split a cab with him, but he seemed unwilling or unable to split the fare as he was trying to save money to buy a car.
This city is beautiful and the people in it are amazing. They deserve a better bus system.

Absolutely the worst public transit system I have ever seen. Waited an hour on the trolley that runs along the river. Then the driver felt like he needed to visit with the replacement driver for 10 more minutes. Quicker just to walk.

Really loved being able to catch a street car and ride to the connecting car or where you want to go. And saved a bunch by not needing to rent a car or catch a cab. The most issues we had this trip was with the Riverfront car and the large volume of riders. It couldn’t ever get it together and be on time and was nearly packed all the time. There was a big convention in town and more tourist than I expected in July. I thought we would be part of a few that would be goofy enough to go to New Orleans in the middle of summer. Other than the Riverfront being late and parts of St. Charles Street being under construction, we had great time riding the trolleys. Just wish they could add a couple more cars when it’s so busy.

I think we have a «familiarity breeds contempt» problem here with the locals’ reviews. Granted, I didn’t find myself riding the buses in every nook and cranny of New Orleans, and the buses appear to be the recipients of most of the complaints.
NORTA, or RTA for short, does what it’s supposed to do, for a city that is only dense in its core areas and more spread out than I imagined it to be. So what’s the problem?
Instead of a light rail, New Orleans has the «old school» streetcars, harkening to a «let the good times roll» atmosphere. There are three lines, with one of them being sort of convoluted. There is the Canal Street line (shown as red, and with red cars), the St. Charles line (shown as green, and with green cars), and the Riverfront line (shown as blue, but with red cars). The convoluted line is the Canal Street line because, going away from the riverfront, it heads to City Park, to the cemeteries, or to Loyola Ave. toward the train station.
Buses seem to go to most places. Thankfully, they skirt the outside perimeter of the French Quarter, and buses 5 and 55 travel Decatur Street while the 57, 88, and 91 run along its upper border, on Rampart, and over to Marigny and even to the Ninth Ward. I thought the other side of the river, such as Algiers, might be shunned by RTA. It is not. There is bus service that uses the big bridge over the Mississippi River.
Bus service seems to stop on a dime upon approaching Metairie because that’s in another parish, or county to those living in the other 49 states. So, because the airport is also in Jefferson Parish, that means RTA does not connect the city to the airport. However, Jefferson Parish’s transit system does.
Some people mentioned the creeps on board RTA vehicles. Creeps are everywhere, on every public transit system, and they can be on, or under, Park Avenue or any other hoyty-​toyty street. I was riding on Portland’s Tri Met system and, on a cold day, a ferret came popping out of someone’s over-​sized jacket, and within an arm’s length of me. Damn, those things are ugly. I stopped being civic minded for a while and used my car after that. So, I’ll take off a star to allow for the creeps aboard NOLA’s RTA and also because (a) the buses don’t run up the sides of City Park, but only to its southernmost entrance or along the top end of it and (b) because, at night, the Riverfront streetcar runs very infrequently. It is in sort of a lonely area to begin with, so it’s probably better to use the Decatur Street buses which are parallel to and slightly inboard from the river.
The best thing about RTA is the price. For $ 3 a day, you can get a day pass and ride the buses and streetcars all you want. Officially, it’s called «Jazzy Pass» but no one seems to call it that. It should be called a «Sassy Pass,» owing to some of the tourist weary /​no harm intended sassiness the drivers can dish out. For $ 3 a day, you can sass at me all you want, RTA drivers. However, some of them were actually laid back and helpful.

New Orleans may be known as the «City That Care Forgot» but I have to give props for the RTA with a special specific shout-​out of love to the #11 Magazine bus line. My friend (Soap Opera Dude) and I were larking about and he’s a big streetcar and train fan. After breakfast, we had walked from our Quarter hotel all the way up Esplanade Avenue to City Park (about 2.5 miles).
Then, using our all-​day $ 3 Jazzy Pass, we took the s-​l-​o-​w Canal Street streetcar back to the foot of Canal, followed by a quick roll through the Harrah’s Casino for a clean restroom stop. (You know they are going to keep those bathrooms clean! Pro-​tip: Don’t be ashamed to use them since they aren’t going to be ashamed to fleece you at the table games. Truth.)
Afterward, Soap Opera Dude wanted to go back up to catch the St. Charles Avenue trolley to head out to Rosa Park (a private neighborhood) then to Audubon Park. But, I was tired of the s-​l-​o-​w roll on yet another streetcar after a full afternoon of hoofing it for miles. An added negative: the St. Charles is not air-​conditioned so you’ll be hot in addition to being crammed with tons of tourists at a languorous pace. With our $ 3 all-​day Jazzy Pass, we could ride the freaking fully air-​conditioned bus instead — and a quick look on my phone turned up the magical #11 Magazine bus. (Yes, I called it «magical».)
Let me tell you that that bus HAULS down Magazine. You remember the bus from the movie «Speed»? Well, this bus could be its body double. While careening away from the Quarter, I spied someone at a bus stop waiting ahead — and our bus driver ignored her and kept going. I laughed inside my head: call it a touch of «schadenfreude» after a hot day of touring. Sure, I feel bad for that gal now since our bus line was the only one serving that stop but, as the saying goes: «Sucks to be her.»
We made great time to Audubon Park, ogled the hot shirtless joggers on our way up to Loyola University, walked over to Rosa Park, gawked at the private homes, then meandered back through the park to catch the return bus. Needless to say, I was mentally ready for that bus driver to ignore us and keep going but he did stop. Or, maybe he recognized us from our earlier trip and figured that we were on to his game. I guess seeing two of us was worth the stop to the driver.
The return to Canal Street was also lightening-​fast by New Orleanian standards. A bit of lagniappe: Magazine Street (near Josephine) offers a more local vibe of shops and restaurants as a contrast to the Quarter. If you get tired of the «laissez les bon temps rouler» attitude and want some quicker-​paced movement, the #11 bus would do you proud.

As a tourist we found the RTA to be the only way to get around New Orleans. All the drivers we encountered were patient, friendly and helpful. They’re doing a great job! Can’t imagine all the questions and lost tourists they encounter every day. Read some huffy comments on this site and we’re in complete disagreement with the negatives. Living in the San Francisco Bay Area we only wish our transit system was this efficient. Besides the fares are so inexpensive why would you ever think of renting a car in New Orleans.

Wow, I’m surprised by the lack of love for NORTA! As a visitor, from a city with a pretty big transit system, I was impressed.
No transit system is perfect, but I thought NORTA was pretty rad. The buses are clean, the drivers are incredibly nice and patient (almost too patient, I was tempted to go up and lay on the horn a few times), and all of the buses I rode were equipped with handy transit maps. With the exception of one bus, every bus we rode was pretty dead on the forecasted schedule.
While in New Orleans, we took the 91 predominantly; very convenient from our place in Treme whether we headed to Parkway for po-​boys, Le Pavillion for a wedding, Half Moon to meet friends, and Lower Garden for a tour. We also took the streetcar with no complaints.
My only complaint about NORTA is with the text for bus system. I’m not sure how new this system is, but they need to update the transit signs stat. I saw one transit sign, which listed the number you text for updates and listed the appropriate format you text it in.* A few times I texted, the reply made no sense; it indicated the next bus was over an hour out, when Google Transit contradicted that. Oddly, follow up texts minutes later yielded different, accurate results. Lastly, the stop IDs should be listed on the website somewhere, so you can plan accordingly without being physically at the stop.
The fare system is easy; $ 1.25 per ride, $.25 per transfer and Jazzy passes –doesn’t that just make you want to flash some jazz hands — that can be purchased from bus and streetcar drivers; no hunting around for a store that sells them or a vending machine like in many cities. Had we been able to do it over, we would’ve invested in a 3-​day Jazzy pass instead of scrounging around for singles and quarters all the time.
I said it before and I’ll say it again, I was impressed with NORTA. It helped us get all over the city without shelling out a lot for cabs or renting a car.
* Text N+Stop Number to 27 299

Not a lot of love from locals for the RTA, but I recently used it many times over the course of five days and had zero problems. Before my trip, I checked the website to get a feel for what to expect regarding fares and schedules, but like most public transit systems, that’s silly because when it comes down to it, anything goes on the bus with the added tourist brain anyway.
That being said, there were a couple of things that blew my mind about the New Orleans bus experience:
–If you don’t have exact change, it spits out a little change receipt to use toward your next fare! Yes!
–It’s cheap as hell! $ 1.25 and another quarter for a transfer.
All of the operators I encountered were really nice and patient with confused or lost tourists. Buses were clean. The #11 flies over to Magazine Street/​Garden District with such a quickness, I felt like a real dolt having paid for a cab to that same area multiple times.
I will definitely utilize RTA more on my next trip.

Great way to get around the city. Buses are clean and drivers are helpful. Need exact change to ride.

When will New Orleans Regional Transit integrates their route and schedule with google map?
As a tourist, taking the bus here is definitely tricky. Ended up as usual I got lost and confused and ended up walking to most of the destinations!

On a hot and humid day in New Orleans the fam and I were wandering around the french quarter all all morning and had plans to go to the World War II museum to watch the 4D movie. We called the transit people and found what bus to take.
We hopped on and I was delightfully surprised at:
1) the bus fare to ride: $ 1.25 which is also the same for the famous street car.
2)Transfers are: 25 cents.
— — — — — -These two things are stellar in my eyes — — — — — — — — — -
*they don’t just give you a thin paper transfer they shoot out a stamped transfer card that you can use over and over again in a 2 hour period. I honestly don’t know how many times you’d use it, but a great feature in my eyes.
3) When you feed $ 5 into the bus paying machine— you get $ 5 worth of bus fare! No more losing all those dollars just to ride the bus one way or two if you get a transfer. The machine spit out a card that said I had three more bus rides on it! This was a great feature because the bus system back home has yet to advance to this level of service.
However, as we were riding the bus we passed the WWII museum a good ten minutes after the stop. This ended up being 2 miles. Perhaps my expectations of being on a bus that frequently made automatic announcements as to where we were, was too much. So my sister, niece, and I ended up walking two and a half miles to the WWII museum in the hot humid weather. We did stop for a rest and some sweets at Sucre, which was a great idea!
After we watched the amazing 4D WWII movie we caught the bus back to Canal street, and guess what? It had automatic announcements! I suppose the last bus we were on just decided to turn his announcements off. My niece was hot and tired, but she was a good sport through all the walking =)
Overall, I think this is a great means of transportation, they are more advanced than some other transit buses yet, like anything else, needs some improvements.
Unilocal 365 challenge– ³¹⁄₃₆₅