An affordable daily bus service running from Baton Rouge to New Orleans will no longer exist by the end of the month.
LA Swift’s service will be ending June 30 due to a lack of federal funding that will begin with the next fiscal year on July 1, said Jodi Conachen, communications director for the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development.
LA Swift originally started in October 2005 as a service to aid citizens displaced because of Hurricane Katrina, according to Conachen.
She said the $2.3 million program has been completely federally funded. For the program to continue running, it would require $750,000 in local funding.
“It’s purpose was to be a hurricane recovery service, and since it’s become more of a local transit service, it has ended that program’s 100 percent federal funding,” Conachen said. “There would be the ability to transition it, if a local entity were interested, into more of a local transit service; however, they have to be a local match.”
Conachen said there are about 200 people who rely on the LA Swift every day of the year, but during football seasons, Mardi Gras and other big events, the bus services up to 500 people.
Conachen said Greyhound Lines Inc. is an alternative for the daily riders of LA Swift. Greyhound will offer a bus service from Baton Rouge to New Orleans, which will cost $15 for a round trip. This is $5 more than the round-trip price of LA Swift’s service.
“At this time, with the Greyhound and the rates that they’re offering, they should be able to transition over to that service,” Conachen said. “I know that there are additional conversations at a local level to see if they would like to continue funding that.”
She said a few groups have put in inquiries about funding LA Swift, such as the Baton Rouge Area Chamber and Jefferson Transit, but no offers have been made yet.
Conachen also said that there will be no layoffs due to the closure because LA Swift’s contractor, Hotard Coaches Inc., had no full-time employees, and since it was a contracting service, the contract will simply expire.
