The New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (RTA) announced the approval of the resolution by the New Orleans City Council regarding RTA’s Bus Rapid Transit East-West Bank Corridor project from the New Orleans City Council, according to NORTA's news release.

Bus Rapid Transit is a high-capacity rapid transit system that uses buses to offer a service that operates much like a rail system. 

“We appreciate the New Orleans City Council’s deliberative and thoughtful consideration as well as their willingness to be a partner in our mission to more efficiently get our people to where they need to go,” said Lona Edwards Hankins, CEO of New Orleans Regional Transit Authority. “I especially wish to thank District D City Councilmember Eugene J. Green, Transportation Committee Chair, for his leadership on this collaboration. We are proud of the extensive outreach and engagement we conducted with our riders, our community partners, and our elected officials to create a plan of which everyone can be proud. We remain committed to continuing the dialogue with all of our stakeholders, listening to their needs and concerns so that we always center the community in our process going forward.”

The RTA participated in over 67 meetings to get input on the initial design of the BRT route. Plus, RTA generated nearly 1,000 survey responses.

“This will help us work toward fulfilling our commitment to fast, reliable, world-class transit service for the Greater New Orleans Region,” Hankins continued. “We know that RTA is one of seven of the 50 largest U.S. cities without rapid transit. Embracing this approach is a major step toward incorporating some of the nation’s best practices into our transit system in a way that serves all our residents’ needs.”

With this project, RTA seeks to:

• Improve equity in transportation.

• Provide relief from traffic congestion and parking.

• Enhance and grow neighborhoods.

• Grow the economy.

With its approval from the New Orleans City Council, the RTA will be able to apply for federal funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill, for 50% of the estimated $250-$350 million cost of the project. RTA said it will hire an engineering team immediately to begin developing design in collaboration with the community.