Welcome to the Big Easy. It's best to start drinkin' right away.
Greater New Orleans is split between Orleans and Jefferson parish.
Public transit in New Orleans is run by the parish. So that, yes, there are two independent public transit authorities in New Orleans. Their passes and tokens do not interchange, nor do their transfers.
So, should you live in one parish, but work in the other (very easy to do), you must then pay twice, every day, to commute by public transit. But, on the up side... nope, there's no upside. Just astounding stupidity, bureaucratic bullheadedness and an institutionalized goal of fucking over anyone too poor to have a car. And, according to the most recent government estimates, that's 10% of the households in NOLA.
Yessir, 1 out of 10 households in NOLA are dependent on public transport, but you can't get a transfer from a bus line in parish to a bus line in the other parish. On the up side (I was wrong, there is an upside), this means that folks from Orleans parish (60% black; poverty rate of 24%) can't go shopping at the malls in Jefferson parish (60% white; poverty rate of 14%).
As some added hilarity: if you buy tokens for the buses and street cars, you save 0% on your fare. A token cost $1.25; a fare costs $1.25. A transfer is an extra $0.25, whether you use a token or not. And you can't use the tokens for anything else, or get a refund!
However, if you buy a monthly pass for $55 (and heavens knows that po'folks always have $55 laying around at the end of the month) you can save... wait for it... $1.25 in fares that month. Assuming that you work every work day in the month. If you get a holiday off, or miss a day of work, you lose money with a monthly pass.
But, at least the street cars run 24 hours a day. Of course, after 10:30 p.m. the average wait time between cars on the Canal Street line is 90 minutes. (Though, I fudge the numbers a little. They run a car up one side of Canal at 11:30. After that it's 90 minutes on both sides.) But, come on, who would mind waiting an extra hour and a half for a ride home? It's the Big Easy, cher'. Just wait at the bar. Maybe the bartender will take tokens in trade for a col'drank.
As far as I can tell, Chicago's RTA (comprising CTA, Metra, and Pace) operates in 8 counties and two states. And a weekly pass for CTA (which covers all the L trains, and the intra-Chicago buses) costs $23, while a New Orleans RTA 5-day pass, which, as I've ranted only covers half of the city, is $20.
Public transit in New Orleans is run by the parish. So that, yes, there are two independent public transit authorities in New Orleans. Their passes and tokens do not interchange, nor do their transfers.
So, should you live in one parish, but work in the other (very easy to do), you must then pay twice, every day, to commute by public transit. But, on the up side... nope, there's no upside. Just astounding stupidity, bureaucratic bullheadedness and an institutionalized goal of fucking over anyone too poor to have a car. And, according to the most recent government estimates, that's 10% of the households in NOLA.
Yessir, 1 out of 10 households in NOLA are dependent on public transport, but you can't get a transfer from a bus line in parish to a bus line in the other parish. On the up side (I was wrong, there is an upside), this means that folks from Orleans parish (60% black; poverty rate of 24%) can't go shopping at the malls in Jefferson parish (60% white; poverty rate of 14%).
As some added hilarity: if you buy tokens for the buses and street cars, you save 0% on your fare. A token cost $1.25; a fare costs $1.25. A transfer is an extra $0.25, whether you use a token or not. And you can't use the tokens for anything else, or get a refund!
However, if you buy a monthly pass for $55 (and heavens knows that po'folks always have $55 laying around at the end of the month) you can save... wait for it... $1.25 in fares that month. Assuming that you work every work day in the month. If you get a holiday off, or miss a day of work, you lose money with a monthly pass.
But, at least the street cars run 24 hours a day. Of course, after 10:30 p.m. the average wait time between cars on the Canal Street line is 90 minutes. (Though, I fudge the numbers a little. They run a car up one side of Canal at 11:30. After that it's 90 minutes on both sides.) But, come on, who would mind waiting an extra hour and a half for a ride home? It's the Big Easy, cher'. Just wait at the bar. Maybe the bartender will take tokens in trade for a col'drank.
As far as I can tell, Chicago's RTA (comprising CTA, Metra, and Pace) operates in 8 counties and two states. And a weekly pass for CTA (which covers all the L trains, and the intra-Chicago buses) costs $23, while a New Orleans RTA 5-day pass, which, as I've ranted only covers half of the city, is $20.