New Links | New Orleans Regional Planning Commission

New Links is a planning project to re-imagine how public transit connects Orleans, Jefferson, and St. Bernard parishes. The goal of New Links is to propose a redesigned bus and streetcar network that makes public transportation work better for riders and the community.

In 2019, the New Links team studied each bus, streetcar and ferry line in the New Orleans region, while speaking to thousands of riders and non-riders to better understand what the New Orleans region needs from public transportation. Both riders and non-riders said they want buses and streetcars to be more on-time, more frequent, and to connect to more places around the region.

To help riders and residents see what changes could mean on a daily basis, the New Links team created three different transit service concepts to show how bus and streetcar service could be redesigned using existing resources.

These are concepts, not proposals. The concepts represent a range of ideas for how bus and streetcar service could be redesigned. They are meant to be tools to help show what it would look like in practice if the bus and streetcar was designed around different sets of goals. Our goal is to take the priorities that riders and stakeholders have asked for (more frequency, faster service, better regional connections, etc.) and show everyone how those sorts of changes might actually look in practice.

Feedback on these concepts will help the New Links team, RTA, and JeT understand your priorities as we create a plan to redesign the bus and streetcar system. We will be taking these concepts out to the public in February and March 2020, and will conclude the planning process in Summer 2020 with a workable plan for a better transit system.

The New Links team wants to hear from you. Review the three concepts and then provide your comments in our survey. If you have additional feedback, please use our comment form in the link below. Send us your feedback or sign-up to receive project updates using the button below.

Take Our Survey

Comments, Questions, Mailing List

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Thank You For The Feedback

Thank you for everyone who participated and provided feedback this spring. We are reviewing your input.

RIDE Talks About Service Concepts

RIDE breaks down each of the potential service concepts and what they can mean for you in a series of short videos; these videos are available online to listen and learn more!

In-Person Events Suspended

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, the Regional Planning Commission has suspended in-person events for New Links until further notice.

NEW LINKS TRANSIT SERVICE CONCEPTS

The New Links team developed three service concepts based on your feedback in Summer 2019. Your feedback on the three concepts will help us make a plan that the RTA and JeT can put into action.

Please keep in mind: these are concepts, not proposals. The concepts are ideas for how service could change, not scenarios for how service will change. The concepts represent a range of ideas for how bus and streetcar service could be redesigned. They are meant to be tools to help show what it would look like in practice if the bus and streetcar was designed around different sets of goals. Our goal is to take the feedback we’ve received from the public and stakeholders (more frequency, faster service, better regional connections, etc.) and show everyone how those sorts of changes might actually look in practice.

Financial resources are limited, which requires making trade-offs between different values in order to make the regional public transit network better. The three service concepts differ by the five values, as shown in a comparison chart.

Concept A looks a lot like the bus and streetcar system right now, but with some changes:

Some bus routes change to bring more people to jobs and other destinations.
Buses and streetcars come at the same times every hour, so timetables are easier to remember.
Some JeT buses run later at night, like RTA buses do now.
More buses will be on time, but some bus routes come less often.

View full-size Concept A map

Example Commutes

Rita lives near Read Boulevard and Morrison Road in New Orleans East. She rides the bus to her job waitressing at a CBD restaurant on weekday afternoons.

In this service concept, Rita’s typical commute would involve walking to the 62 bus. It’s a short walk, but if she misses her bus, it could be over 30 minutes until the next bus arrives. The bus takes Rita to Elks Place, from where she walks to her job.

Antonio lives off General de Gaulle and Holiday Drive in Algiers. He rides transit to his apprenticeship at a manufacturing center in Elmwood late weekday mornings.

In this service concept, Antonio takes a short walk to the 114/115, which arrives every 20 minutes, and transfers at Elks Place in the CBD to the 39, which also runs every 20 minutes. He has a short walk in Elmwood to his destination.

Concept B has fewer routes than the system right now, but they have more service:

Many bus routes change in this concept, and some routes with few riders are merged with other routes.
More bus routes come at least every 15 minutes all day. These bus routes also run late-night and on weekends.
More major bus routes go between New Orleans and Jefferson Parish.
There are changes to local bus service in New Orleans East and on the West Bank

View full-size Concept B map

Rita lives near Read Boulevard and Morrison Road in New Orleans East. She rides the bus to her job waitressing at a CBD restaurant on weekday afternoons.

Like in Concept A, Rita’s typical commute again starts with a short walk to the 62 bus. However, in this concept, the 62 arrives at least every 15 minutes, so if Rita misses her bus, the next one is close behind. The bus takes Rita to Elks Place, from where she walks to her job.

Because Rita’s bus (the 62) runs more often late in the evening and on weekends, it makes it easier for her to pick up extra shifts at night, on Saturdays and on Sundays.

Antonio lives off General de Gaulle and Holiday Drive in Algiers. He rides transit to his apprenticeship at a manufacturing center in Elmwood on weekday mornings.

In this service concept, Antonio takes a short walk to the 114/115, which comes at least every 15 minutes, and transfer at Elks Place in the CBD to the 38, which also comes at least every 15 minutes. He has a short walk in Elmwood to his destination.

On average, Antonio’s trip is 5-10 minutes quicker, because he spends less time waiting for his first bus, and less time waiting to transfer.

Concept C is very different, to make longer trips faster:

New express bus routes run during the day. They make only a few stops and travel fast, to get people across town quickly.
Some bus routes stop every 4-6 blocks, instead of 1-3 blocks. They will travel faster, but some people will have to walk farther to get to the bus.
Many local bus routes connect riders to “hubs” where they can transfer to express routes for the rest of their trip. Hubs are in downtown, New Orleans East, Algiers, Metairie, the Lower 9th Ward, Gretna, Kenner, Elmwood, and other places.

View full-size Concept C map

Rita lives near Read Boulevard and Morrison Road in New Orleans East. She rides the bus to her job waitressing at a CBD restaurant on weekday afternoons.

Like in the other concepts, Rita’s typical commute starts with a short walk to the 62 bus. However, in this concept, the 62 arrives every 20 minutes. The bus takes Rita to Elks Place, from where she walks to her job.

Antonio lives off General de Gaulle and Holiday Drive in Algiers. He rides transit to his apprenticeship at a manufacturing center in Elmwood on weekday mornings.

In this concept, Antonio has choices: he can take the 114 (every 15 minutes or less) to the CBD and transfer to the 38 (every 15 minutes or less) to Elmwood. Or, if traffic is bad on the Crescent City Connection bridge, he can instead take the 114 to Wilty Terminal and transfer to the 310 express route to Elmwood via the Huey P. Long Bridge. This route is fast and runs every 30 minutes. Once he arrives in Elmwood, he can either walk or take a shuttle bus to his destination.

RTA carried over 19.6 million passenger trips on its fixed route buses, streetcars, and ferries in 2017. JeT carried nearly 1.95 million passenger trips on its fixed route buses in 2017.

View full-size Existing Network map

Now that you have read about the concepts, please provide your feedback in our survey.

Process	December	January	February	March	April	May	June
Data Collection and Analysis	Active	Not active	Not active	Not active	Not active	Not active	Not active
Concept Development	Active	Active	Active	Active	Not active	Not active	Not active
Final Design	Not Active	Not Active	Not Active	Active	Active	Active	Active

PROJECT DOCUMENTS

New Links Service Concepts (03/2020)

Informational Handout

New Links Phase I Outreach Summary Report

Frequently asked questions

04.09.2019 Public Meeting Presentation

LINKS TO STRATEGIC PLANS

New Links is the next step in implementing the RTA’s Strategic Mobility Plan (completed December 2017) and JeT’s Strategic Plan (to be completed Spring 2019). These plans provide recommendations, goals, and a vision for improving public transportation in the New Orleans area over the next 20 years. Visit the links below to view the RTA Strategic Mobility Plan or the JeT Strategic Plan.

New Orleans RTA Strategic Mobility Plan

Jefferson Transit Strategic Plan