Regional Transit Authority

Regional Transit Authority, a U.S. government entity and Louisiana state transit authority headquartered in New Orleans, receives federal grant funding from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to operate and maintain bus, streetcar, and ferry services serving the New Orleans metropolitan area. RTA operates as a prime grant recipient (98% of awards) with minimal subcontractor role; the entity does not hold federal contracts or seat on federal contract vehicles.

RTA's federal footprint concentrates almost entirely on FTA formula and project grants under CFDA 20.507 (Federal Transit Formula Grants). The Department of Transportation Federal Transit Administration accounts for 120 awards of 131 total federal awards tracked in the source data. Recent representative grants include a $37.6 million formula grant awarded May 2026 for bus and ferry preventive maintenance, engine repowering, and partial 40-foot bus replacement through March 2030; an $18.1 million formula grant from April 2025 supporting emergency generator and diesel trailer purchase, Union Passenger Terminal second-floor renovation engineering and construction, and preventive maintenance through February 2028; a $59.5 million project grant from May 2023 funding purchase of 21 hybrid diesel buses, bus rapid transit infrastructure development, and organizational software modernization through December 2026; and a $5.7 million discretionary ferry grant from September 2022 for Algiers Point landing barge replacement through September 2025. RTA also receives smaller federal emergency management grants; the Federal Emergency Management Agency holds 2 awards worth $67.3 million combined potential value, primarily for disaster-related operating costs and repairs following Hurricanes Ida and Zeta. Three sub-grants from the Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management carry management-cost funding routed through RTA to support emergency operations.

Award velocity has remained modest but consistent — four awards annually in 2022 and 2023, nine in 2024, three in 2025, and one in early 2026 — with 23 awards reaching ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months. Combined potential value across all awards stands at $69 million, though combined dollars obligated ($787.1 million) reflects significant prior-year execution. RTA's federal funding supports capital asset acquisition (buses, ferries, facility renovations, equipment), infrastructure modernization (fare technology systems, charging infrastructure for electric buses, rail systems), preventive maintenance across mixed-mode transit assets, and operating-cost recovery for emergency operations. The grant work carries no set-aside designation; RTA receives funding as the designated urbanized-area transit provider under formula-grant apportionment rather than competitive procurement.