Where ever our transfer hub ends up, it will serve as the main connection for 24 New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (RTA)  and 4 Jefferson Transit (JeT) bus and streetcar lines.

This a major thoroughfare for thousands of riders traveling throughout the New Orleans region, but despite this, the area doesn't work for most riders. 

There’s no shelter from sun and rain, the streets and sidewalks are often dirty and covered with trash, and there's no signage to help navigate riders to their next bus or best route. Many riders feel unsafe and disrespected on a daily basis. 

Transit riders deserve better and the RTA must do better for them. 

Therefore, RIDE along with our rider-led grassroots organizing arm, the Coalition for Quality Transit are campaigning for a Better Rider Experience Downtown (BRED)!

We're asking the RTA for three specific changes to the downtown transfer are:

• Shelters must be placed at all stops in the main transfer area. As of September 2019, there are only shelters at 4 stops, and one of those shelters was put up by a building owner, not the RTA or City of New Orleans.
• Install wayfinding signage to help riders navigate the downtown transfer center, as well as the system as a whole at both individual stops and at strategic locations in the transfer area. Currently, it’s a challenge for a rider at the transfer center who is not already extremely familiar with the RTA/JeT system to figure out where particular buses stop and how to get to different parts of the region. Installing high-quality way-finding signage that displays the location of different bus bays as well as regional transit system maps at RTA and JeT stops in the hubs will lower that barrier for new riders and create an easier experience for existing riders. 
• Ensure a more dignified transit rider experience with additional investments in cleaning the transfer area and direct communication with riders. Specifically,  ensure power-washing at least four to five times a week in the transfer area sidewalks and hire an additional RTA outreach position to directly communicate with riders about delays and answer general questions in person at the transfer hub and other key areas throughout the RTA system.

We respectfully ask the RTA to implement or begin the implementation of these items by the end of March 2020, in order to clearly demonstrate to riders that their experience in one of the most important sites in the regional transit system is one of the top priorities of the RTA. 

Join us in letting the RTA know that riders deserve a Better Rider Experience Downtown! Sign our petition and if you're on social media tweet #riderdignity #BRED or #hugthehub to @RTAforward