New Orleans RTA adds 29 new buses, hopes to improve reliability
The New Orleans Regional Transit Authority is rolling out a new fleet of 29 buses in Orleans Parish.
"It's a combination of diesel-electric hybrids as well as diesel engines," said CEO Lona Edwards Hankins.
Hankins said right now, RTA has 21 buses, a mix of diesel and hybrid buses, with eight more expected to be secured and out on the street by the first quarter of 2025.
"The diesels cost about $600,000, and our diesel hybrids cost close to $1 million," Hankins said.
Hankins said she hopes this investment will help improve shortages and wait times across the city. Many of the vehicles in the fleet had surpassed their life expectancy, requiring more maintenance and contributing to many of the challenges that affected their riders.
"The life of a bus is only 12 years," she said. "Katrina set us back. We purchased the bulk of our fleet between 2008 and 2012."
After that, buses weren't purchased again until 2019, and with a large percentage of the fleet at the end of its useful life, maintenance costs were affecting their financial bottom line and rider performance.
"And so now we're playing catch-up and trying to normalize the spending curve, such that we can order 10-15 buses every year, every other year," she said. "So we're on the trajectory to do that."
Which Hankins says, will allow RTA to further its' commitment to improving reliability.
"As soon as possible, we will put these new vehicles on the road," she said. "Reliability is very important to us. Being able to have our riders predict and us to be able to tell them the bus will be there at 3 and it will actually be there at 3. That is a huge game-changer for our community. It gets us to school, to education, to health care, and to culture in a timely manner."
The new vehicles were funded by a portion of American Rescue Plan funds and Community Development Block Grants.
In addition to the 29 new buses already in the works, RTA was also awarded a $71 million grant last year to purchase 20 new electric buses and charging infrastructure.