NEW ORLEANS - The New Orleans Regional Transit Authority announced a pilot, in partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Youth and Families, YouthForce NOLA, and RIDE New Orleans, for students from The Living School to use public transit as their primary mode of transportation to and from school. The goal of the pilot is to help younger people learn transit with close to 75% of the school’s students participating, many of whom will be using RTA as first-time riders.  

“The RTA Board of Commissioners is proud of our pilot program with the Mayor’s Office of Youth and Families, YouthForce NOLA, RIDE New Orleans and The Living School,” said Mark Raymond Jr., RTA Board Chair. “By creating partnerships that positively impact our riders, we are teaching the next generation the importance of transit and the power of equity in mobility.”  

“The City of New Orleans is excited to partner with Living School, RTA and others to launch this innovative pilot program and increase transit access for Living School students,” said Mayor LaToya Cantrell. “This initiative aligns with the call to action in the citywide Youth Master Plan published by my Office of Youth and Families last year, in partnership with the Children and Youth Planning Board. The plan focuses on expanding affordable transit access for young people so that they can get connected to school, work and recreational opportunities. My administration remains committed to improving our public transit system, and we hope this pilot program can serve as a first step and model for others to partner and expand transit access for our students.” 

Each student participating was provided with a 31-day youth pass. Students participating in the pilot will have unlimited access to all RTA buses, streetcars, and ferries for the 2022 – 2023 school year assisting them in getting to school and extracurricular activities. Beginning October 1, students participating in the pilot will be able to use their student IDs to ride the system.  

“RTA’s commitment to equity and providing safe reliable transit services shines through in partnerships such as this,” said Alex Z. Wiggins, RTA CEO. “We are committed to continuing programs that afford students the ability to learn and ride transit, presenting them opportunities to further their interests and options for internships, jobs, and other extracurricular activities.”  

The RTA introduced youth fares in July 2021. In addition, the agency also introduced senior fares and reduced the cost of the monthly pass from $55 to $45. 

“The Office of Youth and Families (OYF) is excited to partner with Living School, RTA, and others to launch this innovative pilot program and increase transit access for Living School students. This initiative aligns with the call to action in the citywide Youth Master Plan that OYF published last year in partnership with the Children and Youth Planning Board. The plan focuses on expanding affordable transit access for young people so that they can get connected to school, work, and recreational opportunities throughout the city. We hope this pilot program can serve as a first step and model for others to partner and expand transit access for our students.” said Emily Wolff, Director of the Mayor's Office of Youth and Families. 

“This school transit pilot is the next step in YouthForce NOLA's work to make career-connected learning and internships more accessible for young people. We partnered with the Regional Planning Commission and Ride New Orleans to take the needs of young people into account in the New Links transit system redesign,” said Cate Swinburn, Co-Founder and President of YouthForce NOLA. “This pilot with Living School will allow students to use transit for skills training and internships. It also will provide young people with the opportunity to acquire valuable soft skills as they learn to use the transit system.” 

“The goal of this partnership is to lay a foundation of trust between our school community and the public transit system. As a project-based learning school, we educate our students to learn by doing. For many of our students, this is their first time using public transit, so we had to ensure each student was given extra support in navigating their RTA route. As we prepared for this school year and launching this transportation shift to our students and families, we met bi-weekly with the partnership organizations and was able to create systems and considerations that not only serve us but also can be a blueprint for RTA partnering with other schools to provide safe, effective transportation to the youth of the city. As we close out our first week of school, there were not many issues with students taking the RTA, so we look forward to continuing to improve our public transit system for access and ease of transport to and from school, employment, and other enriching activities for the youth of New Orleans.” said Delise Hampton, School Co-Director and Director of Communications and Operations at Living School.  

“Ride New Orleans is committed to ensuring that transit provides access to a variety of opportunities including education! That's why when YouthForce NOLA, The Office of Youth and Families and the Regional Transit Authority began discussing a pilot program to get students on transit it was a no brainer for us! With the implementation of New Links right around the corner, meaning faster, more reliable service, re-introducing transit back into the school system benefits not only schools but students, who will ultimately have the freedom of access to opportunity at their fingertips for little to no cost! We're excited to partner with Living School and can't wait to get feedback from both the school and students as to how we can make transit a welcome and easy option!" said Courtney Jackson, Executive Director, RIDE New Orleans.