Provides 14,605 trips in first year of service
The new River Parishes transit system got off to a quick start in its first year, delivering 13,331 one way trips to residents in St. Charles, St. John and St. James parishes.
Three 12-passenger vehicles operate Mondays through Fridays from 5:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. The service is a “shared ride” and trips are scheduled in advance.
Drivers pick up and drop off riders at the curb. The service is provided throughout St. Charles and St. John the Baptist Parish. Connections can be made to the St. James Parish Public Transit service and other public services operating near Louis Armstrong Airport, including Jefferson Transit, Kenner Transit and the New Orleans RTA.
“We estimated that we could provide 15,000 one way trips per year with our three buses,” Brent Petit, chairman of the River Parishes Transit Authority Board, said. “When we look at the ridership over the first 12 months, we provided a total of 14, 605 trips. We feel we are going to exceed our estimate as the first two months of operation were much lower than the average number of trips we provide today.”
The average number of one-way trips for the first three months of 2010 was 1,322. The very first person to register for the system was a woman from Taft who is blind.
In order to accomplish the goal of implementing the transit service, RPTA contracted with Veolia Transportation Service, Inc. Veolia provides drivers, maintenance and scheduling services. The service employs 11 people including Aislinn Costello, Veolia’s Operations Manager, drivers and reservationists. Ms. Costello said riders call the day before to schedule a trip. The telephone number for scheduling a ride is 985-651-1141 or 977-651-1171. St. James residents who need to schedule a transfer between the parish and RPTA are asked to call 48 hours in advance to St. James Public Transit at 225-562-2352 and parish reservationists will assist in scheduling a transfer between the two services.
“There is great potential for us to grow this system and continue to improve opportunities for the region we all live in,” Petit said.
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