To see a video on the LA Swift bus system, click here.
The Big Easy is only about 80 miles from Baton Rouge, but that doesn’t mean people have to suffer from high gas prices and traffic to get there. For $10 in cash, a person can get a bus ride from Baton Rouge to New Orleans and back using LA Swift, a bus service sponsored by the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development.LA Swift was created after Hurricane Katrina to help people who lost their cars and homes because of the storm commute between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Utilizing FEMA funds, rides on LA Swift buses were free until July 2007, but now has a $5 one-way fee.Currently, LA Swift is paid for by a combination of state funds and the passenger fee. Commuters riding the bus every day between the two cities can save more than $500 a month on gas, according to LA Swift’s Web site.Charles Teamer lives in New Orleans and commutes to Baton Rouge every morning for his job at the Baton Rouge Community and Technical College System office. He catches the 6:20 a.m. bus in New Orleans and arrives in Baton Rouge about an hour and a half later.”When you have a job it’s important for [the bus] to be on schedule,” Teamer said. “[LA Swift] does a pretty good job of keeping on schedule.”There are four boarding stops for LA Swift throughout Baton Rouge, including one at the Capital Area Transit System terminal at Florida Boulevard and 22nd Street. The buses make stops in Sorrento and LaPlace on the way to New Orleans. The bus drops passengers off at four different locations, all near the Louisiana Superdome.LA Swift buses run from about 5 a.m. to 8 p.m during the week. On the weekends, buses run from about 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.The charter buses, provided by Hotard Coaches, Inc., are equipped with flat-screen televisions and wireless Internet access for passengers. “It’s very comfortable, very smooth and quiet,” said Robert Pichon, a New Roads resident. “It’s very economical.”Pichon uses LA Swift every weekend, catching a bus from his home in New Roads to the CATS terminal downtown. From there, he boards the LA Swift bus to New    Orleans to visit family.Friday is the most popular night for LA Swift, said Mark Lambert, communications director of Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development.The LA Swift bus stop located at the Home Depot on Highland Road began offering a “park and ride” option in April. Passengers can leave their cars in a designated area of Home Depot’s parking lot free of charge while they travel to New Orleans. Tyranyka and Tyecha Matthews, sisters who attend Baker High School in Baton Rouge, use LA Swift on weekends to visit their extended family in New Orleans. “It is very comfortable and cheap,” Tyecha Williams said.The sisters have been using LA Swift since the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, when they helped their family in New Orleans recover from home damages.”When the program started it was a free service,” said Brendan Rush, public information officer for the LDOTD. “We needed to provide assistance in transportation to and from New Orleans. [LA Swift] has grown out of that to now another viable option for people that are traveling between the cities.”- – – – Contact Kyle Bove at [email protected]