NORTA - RTA Review Visiting New Orleans for the first time. Decided to use both the street car - the St. Charles Avenue line as well as the bus. Took the street car from the CBD to the Garden District, the bus from the Garden District back to the CBD. The Le Pass App Download and set-up was easy and straightforward Fare purchase was also straightforward Purchased a day pass for $3; price was more than reasonable The real-time tracking and trip planning features were helpful and useful The Street Car The fleet is incredibly old I get wanting to preserve some of the city's history and charm; however, this comes at the cost of comfort, efficiency and accessibility In short, the street car experience was horrible It was standing room only Grab bars are only available at the very front and back of the car For those people in between, there's nothing to hold on to For standing passengers, the window shades prevent you from seeing outside so you don't even know where along your route you are There's hardly space to use your phone and the Le Pass App tracking feature while also maintaining your balance so that you don't topple over the people in front, behind or to either side of you There appeared to be information screens on the car but they were black - either simply turned off or malfunctioning The cars are incredibly slow Finally, even though it's January, it was quite warm, likely because the car was packed with so many people Based on my reading, I understand that New Orleans can get quite hot in the summer, oppressively so I can't imagine using one of those street cars in the middle of summer without any AC We exited the car before our planned stop because we wanted the uncomfortable experience to end Stops were clearly identified in the street The Bus It arrived on time The information screens were functioning The hard plastic seats weren't comfortable, however, they were on par with most city bus services All in all, the bus was a much more pleasant experience than the street car Stops were clearly identified on the streets Summary Used the transit system for one day and only across a small part of the city I realize based on reading other reviews that the system is experienced differently from user to user based on distance travelled, how frequently one needs to use it, what the person is using the system for - commuting, leisure, etc. I'm only basing the preceding on one day of use from the experience of someone visiting the city It would probably suffice for those visiting the city on a short-term basis wishing to cover the main sites and attractions

If you are from out of town.... ☆☆☆☆☆☆WARNING☆☆☆☆☆☆ YOU ARE TAKING YOUR SAFETY IN YOUR OWN HANDS. RTA DOESN'T CARE ABOUT YOU AND FORGET HELP FROM POLICE. You can be dropped off at ANY time at ANY place WITHOUT warning. We were riding the St. Charles Streetcar line from Napoleon to Canal St, at 11:30 pm, and we were told WE HAVE TO GET OFF Streetcar at the corner of Howard & Carondelet, and a bus will pick us up to take us to Canal St. NO BUS STOP THERE. Waited 15 minutes, fearing for our lives, 3 blocks from MLK Blvd and 2 blocks from "Tent City", where Mayor LaToya Cantrell allows the homeless to live, IN THE MURDER CAPITAL OF THE USA. Finally, I had to call for a Lyft to get to safety. LONGEST 8 MINUTES of our lives, waiting for that Lyft. 23 minutes of hell because RTA couldn't have a bus WAITING if you were terminating the Streetcar. Complained to RTA, but they just called back to read from a script about what is being done about it. Won't even reimburse for our $20 Lyft..."policy" the person reading the script told me...SORRY FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE he repeated...almost mocking me. I have visited New Orleans 7 times since 2014... loved riding the Streetcar lines and always felt safe, but NO MORE. When we visited in 2020 and now in March 2023, we encountered problems. In 2020, I had to pull out my stun gun to protect my family from a group of teenagers, and now this. It's sad to see the city decline into a toxic Democrat CESSPOOL with little Police patrol (Mayor's fault). Homeless people are sleeping on Canal St. right outside posh hotels...and it's the norm. I WILL NEVER COME BACK, AND I WILL SPEND MY MONEY IN CITIES THAT WANT MY TOURISM DOLLARS. I have over 82 million views of my pictures, and I hope everyone sees this review. ☆☆ Welcome to New Orleans ☆☆

This young arrogant female bus driver upset me something terrible yesterday. It was one of the top worst people experiences I've had. I called yesterday to report it and ended up having to hang up the phone as the man I spoke to was not helpful. It all started when the person I was with complained about the changing of the route. As soon as we noticed her turn we pulled the ringer but the next stop was very far down the road. This caused us to get off way past where we needed and have to walk a long ways back. The bus driver was smarting off at the person I was with so I asked her why she was being so nasty. The bus driver kept mouthing off at us. The incident kept escalating to an upsetting point. I mentioned to the bus driver that I was sick and she turns that back on me and she comically says for me to go get help. I told her she needs to be kind to people and she smart ellically says yeah for me to be kind to people. I am an elder woman and a couple other elderly women on the bus joined in with the bus driver to gang up on me telling me off. I am an unwell person with daily dizziness & fatigue and walking is difficult. My son wouldn't let me report the incident today as he feared I would be the one to get into trouble. This world is full of unkind people and unpleasant incidences don't make it any better.

This is not a actual business. This is a money, laundering front for the city of New Orleans, as well as a systematic attempt at keeping impoverished people of New Orleans down. I find it very convenient that on my way home from work tonight I can totally get a bus to uptown or Tulane or the garden district. But I have four separate options of buses to take myself back to the eighth ward and every single one of them is either not running or is running so late it’s faster for me to walk home. Which is what the purpose is. Make sure that the impoverished people of New Orleans always stay tired and too busy to improve themselves. It’s very obvious what this you are doing. I have reached out to the RTA at least 700 times this year alone it would be in the thousands if I were to list every single time I have attempted to contact you and nothing has changed. In fact, I’ve never even received a response. Not even when I reported your driver referring to your customers with racial slurs. So from now on, I will no longer be reporting these issues to you since you clearly do not care. All of my incident reports will be going to the governors office to the office of my state, representative and my state senator. You’re clearly not using my tax money to do your jobs, so you’re not gonna get it anymore.

Some of the drivers are so rude. Like unnecessarily rude to people who aren’t doing or saying anything wrong, besides apparently trying to get from one place to another. This driver just stopped the streetcar and started yelling at me. I didn’t even know she was addressing me but since I was the only passenger, I walked up to her and asked what she said bc even though she was yelling, I still couldn’t understand what she was saying. She rudely told me to get off bc she was done. No explanation, nothing, there had been no warning when I first got on. Just rudely dumped me on the neutral ground to have to wait for another streetcar, after I’d already waited too long for this one. Why can’t the drivers just be nice? This is the second bad experience I’ve had in the past few weeks, with drivers, out of 4 rides. This happened at almost 8pm on Saturday 4/20 on the Carrollton line. To the drivers: a lot of us riders aren’t tourists. We live here and a lot of people are using public transit bc they have to, not for recreation. My car is broken down. I’m your fellow citizen. Be nice.

It provided a great opportunity to save money when visiting NOLA but we came on the day the gomobile app was being changed to Le Pass and the bus operators were all mean and surly. The next day, we rode the streetcars and the operator for 49 was horrible. He was pulling off as I was showing him my pass (he wasn't paying attention when we got on) and strangers kept me from falling. A few stops later, he assisted two elderly women in wheelchairs. When they arrived at their stops, one was able to walk assisted off the streetcar while the other awaited for him to help her on the lift... this man pulled off! The lady was stuck for two more stops before they got his attention. He was still driving when we left the French Market and shut the door in my face as I was about to get on board and offered no apology as I entered. Several stops later, he almost shut another elderly lady in the door as he began to pull off. His behavior was utterly reckless and dangerous. In the end, we spent $16 for two 3 day passes and saved well over $300 in rideshare and rental fees.

One can appreciate the option and value of having city buses, streetcars, and ferries. They can work for individuals who wish to save money opposed to driving, those who are environmentally conscious, those who don’t drive or can’t, the youth who can go to public school in a variety of areas, etc. Some of the drivers are extremely kind and patient with those who need it. Some of the drivers are rude and dismissive of those who require the service such as the elderly and disabled. What is disrespectful, disruptive, and disgusting is the lack of cleanliness on the buses to where I see too many of them with roaches. So now, when I utilize the bus, I look around for where to sit, keep my feet up, or get off the bus as soon as the next spot. You can’t tell me that these buses are being, at the least, washed internally daily. They absolutely can be. And should be treated by pest control weekly. Shameful.

Zero stars from my family we rode car 49 both downtown and back the, we had the same driver both ways. She was extremely rude on our first trip when we stand to get off we followed the sign that says riders exit thru back, she says to us that if we had used common sense we would just exit the front door. On our return trip we wait for riders to exit the front doors before asking if she was ready for us to board to this the driver responds well you were going to anyway a arent you Barbie.. she is extremely reckless with her driving not waiting until a cripple lady was seated before abruptly taking off and almost knocking her to the floor. This was car number 49 on july 14 2022. Please be aware of this. Cant post unless I star but I really wish I could do negative 5 stars.

People in my community have literally lost their jobs, missed out on life-saving, medical care, and gotten heat stroke because this ‘company’ will not do their jobs. People are literally DYING because of the RTA, whether that be due to homelessness, lack of medical attention and heat exposure, and they do not care. I have posted videos of people passing out at stops to Twitter and tagged the RTA and they refused to respond. This is a predatory company that not only does not care about the community claims to serve but actually WANTS to cause harm to residents. It only cares about taking as much money from the local government and from the locals as it possibly can. At this point, the FBI and IRS needs to open an investigation.

Extremely frustrating. You can't rely on the system. The timetables are always way off... some times the streetcars go right past a stop with out stopping. Ended up almost running to the riverfront to catch a tour group because the system was no where NEAR on schedule. Today we wanted to sightsee by taking the streetcar to car to St. Charles. All of a sudden, with no explanation, the driver kicked everyone off the car and kept going! We eventually got to the end of the line and planned to take a bus to the next destination. The app said our route would be there in 5 min. The bus never came. Then the app said the next bus would be over an hour. At that point we called an Uber.

As a tourist, I would give 4 stars, but adding one more for encouragement for the future. I think RTA is great for visitors, especially for street cars and ferry. I do agree with the locals that there are much to be desired when it comes to the RTA app and some unfriendly customer service, but the drivers and operators work so hard, and are having to deal with so many clueless tourists like me every single day. The cost for the riders is so reasonable and I think the organization is doing what it can to preserve the history while trying to cater to the local commuters as well as the tourists. I really appreciated the service overall.

Bus number 328 on friday october 27 around 7:45-7:55pm. Bus was speeding coming from jackson avenue and made a violent turn on russeu st onto oncoming traffic. There were cars parked on both sides of the street but the bus driver didnt care and aggresevely and recklessly pushed ahead not only forcing oncoming vehicles to drastically stop but also made them pull back in reverse out of the way. The bus driver should have waited for his chance to make the turn . He could obviously see the oncoming cars but didnt care. Very irresponsable. I m looking to report this at state abs federal level

Mid summer the A/C is amazing, I like the visual and audio of annocements for each upcoming stop. Most drivers have been kind and helpful over the past 10 years. I gave a 2 star, because today I had to get ice water for an elderly lady whom was faint. While waiting for one bus for an hr in 98° weather and continued to wait another hour for a bus going another direction. This is unacceptable, she could have easily had fainted or got heat stroke from this excessive waiting. Is there some kind of driver shortages

Although there are many great and nice worker that work at rta, the transportation service is absolute garbage the buss are rarely on time, there aren't enough bus on the line after center hours and the driver will still inconvenience your travel by talking or take long breaks when already late. There's no reason to be waiting a hour or not knowing if the bus is coming when rta is supposed to be here to help get people to and from work school or the store. The service is getting worse and worse everyday.

My car in the shop and I work overnight shift. I been waiting on 114A/114B for an hour outside and it’s hot! I been relying on the rta buses to get me to work but the buses are never on time. Im continuously being late to work every night. The 114A/114B is never on time after 4pm. Bus 11 magazine after 6pm some buses decide to go to the station for no reason from canal street. The RTA app sucks and is straight trash. I just hope I get my car back soon because I’ll never ride the RTA again!

Very rude, Not helpful. Take your money on app and not provide services. The helpline says it takes three day for someone to call to fix something. By then our trip is over. The guy who drive street car 953 Sunday Morning, March 13 the should be fired. If tourist are paying your paycheck, do your job, don't roll your eyes and yell the same thing. Have some patients and maners and compassion.

I love the street cars so much. That's the coolest thing. It is so affordable and such a great way to get around town. If you're a tourist this is a feature you absolutely cannot miss, the lowest priced, highest value way to see so much of what makes New Orleans great. The operators are the coolest people who have the coolest jobs ever. I wish my hometown had such a world-class treasure.

I was very impressed with how kind all the drivers were until I got on the green line trolly #12 at 10:15 this morning. The driver was yelling at us and basically told us to go back to wherever we came from. I could not believe how she was treating customers or tourists. She should not be in customer service or work with the public.

Riding the rta as a first timer in NOLA has been a pleasure. I am so glad that the streetcars are around. The app was a bit difficult to navigate, but the live tracker and end-to-end directions are a great option. Very affordable compared to share rides, but you will need to share space with intoxicated, obnoxious riders.

The #9 articulated bus at 9am speed past the bus stop without stopping. The bus driver just pointed at the bus behind him which was a completely different bus going a different route. There should be no reason for a bus that big to not stop at a bus stop. I was late to work because of this stupidity.

It was my first time in New Orleans and riding the streetcar. I loved it, and it was a bucket list check off for me. The operator we got is a total asset to his company and community. The gentleman in the photo is who I am talking about. He made my streetcar experience memorable.

Bought a day pass (which is hard enough for a tourist) waited for the 49 tram at Bienville St. It finally arrived, got up to board, and the tram literally opened and closed the door and then kept going without letting me on. Driver saw me and then looked away as he closed doors.

I find public transport in New Orleans to be very good and inexpensive. I could go anywhere and didn't need a car. My daily trips to the library by bus also worked well and quickly. Even at off-peak times, the service is surprisingly good.

So the bus schedule before 5am is just a suggestion. 9 times out of 10 they won't show up, and when they dude, their drivers are rude or accept a Jazzy Pass that clearly stated that it was legit for 24hrs. Sad.

The buses are ALWAYS late! Workers are rude as hell. If this city would stop catering to tourists and actually prioritize its citizens before they have none lots of things could get done! The RTA is a joke

She so rude and disrespectful, talk to customers like a dog and we her pet. Treat the old people like puppies she need to be a shame of herself. Bus 20182, June 19.

I hate New Orleans, but the street cars where the only part I did not hate when I was there the last time, but they are full of drunks and homeless people

They were quick and efficient, fixed my issue, and made sure I had everything I needed! Everyone was wearing masks and respectful of social distancing.

The public transportation here is really easy to use and the drivers are all friendly … glad we didn’t rent a car while we were here

Great Transit Agency. Most Employees Really Care About Helping the Public.