Beginning on Sept. 22, the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority will no longer provide bus service in the city of Kenner. In a special full board meeting Thursday, RTA commissioners unanimously approved a change to a longstanding agreement between the agency and Kenner that will allow the Jefferson Parish city to withdraw from the transit agency on an expedited timetable.
Previously, the contract required Kenner to provide six months’ notice if it wanted to exit the RTA. The adjustment approved this week shortens that period to 45 days. The city of Kenner has already provided notice to the RTA that it intends to exit the agency.
Although most of the RTA’s bus lines operate exclusively in New Orleans, it also operates routes that run from the city to Jefferson Parish and provides bus service in Kenner. The RTA will cease providing service in Kenner through Sept. 21. Jefferson Transit, which provides bus service to most of the parish, will take them over the following day.
Kenner’s move to pull out of its agreement with the RTA came shortly after the Jefferson Parish Council approved a resolution to officially withdraw the parish from the agency.
City of Kenner officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In an interview Friday (Aug. 9), RTA board Chairman Mark Raymond, Jr. said the board respects Jefferson Parish leadership’s decision.
“It is RTA’s intention to continue to collaborate with our partners across the region including St Bernard and Jefferson Parish to provide a reliable transportation system for everyone in the region,” Raymond said.
Jefferson Parish began making moves to withdraw from the agency after revelations in February that a top RTA official signed off on more than $1 million in payments to contractor BRC Construction Group without board approval. All three of the board commissioners representing Jefferson Parish resigned following the news – leaving the board without a legal quorum to conduct business for nearly two months.
Hankins and Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng have said that service will not be impacted by the changes. The RTA will continue to operate bus lines that travel to Elmwood and the Louis Armstrong International Airport in Kenner under a new agreement with the parish.
Raymond said the board is anticipating being presented with a cooperative endeavor agreement between Jefferson Parish and the RTA in the next full RTA board meeting on Aug. 27.
“We thoroughly enjoyed having the voice of Jefferson Parish on the board, and we hope that in the future they will return,” Raymond said. “In the meantime, we will continue to collaborate and function in a new capacity.”
Kenner’s withdrawal will allow RTA to add two buses and two operators to its New Orleans fleet, as the agency works to improve service reliability in the city.