Ride New Orleans’ analysis in this report highlights several critical findings.

1. By the end of 2012, just 36% of the pre-Katrina transit service offered by the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (RTA) in 2005 had been restored – although 86% of New Orleans’ population had returned to the city.
2. Service reductions have been worst in areas where transit service is needed most: low-income neighborhoods, communities of color, and areas where people have less access to personal vehicles
3. The RTA’s  is operating at a significant deficit every year and will soon run out of cash reserve funds. Some of the basic causes of the deficit are clear: our transit system costs more to operate than comparable systems and it charges lower fares. Yet, to date, the conversation about correcting the deficit has centered only on a potential fare increase. The findings in this report indicate that any sustainable solution to the deficit will need to involve lowering the costs of service as well as increasing revenues of all types.