New Orleans - DOT gives $15.7M for Pub. Trans.

The DOT waived funding matching requirements for the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority today. The DOT, which has been very kind to Louisiana since hurricane Katrina, is changing requirements and population records for more funding and support for the whole state, specifically the Baton Rogue/New Orleans region.

The RTA, which employed 1,357 people before the storm, has already shed more than 750 workers who have been laid off, relocated because their homes were flooded or left the agency voluntarily through resignations or retirements. The agency's current payroll stands at 599. This move should temporarily save 50 employees from being laid off. Said Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters,

“this investment is as much about bringing energy and vitality back to the streets of New Orleans as it is about keeping bus and trolley service running. Nobody should be left without a way to get to work because of a set of rules that don’t take into account all this incredible city has been through."

Source:
DOT Office of Public Affairs, The Times-Picayune