Navigating New Orleans can be a challenge for young people, especially when it comes to accessing jobs and schools. Recognizing this, local youth proposed a straightforward solution: free public transportation for young residents, which they said would make a big difference in the quality of their lives and their ability to travel to jobs, school and recreational activities.
Their advocacy and hard work paid off with the creation in 2024 of the “Opportunity Pass”, providing Orleans Parish residents age 16-24 with free access to all Regional Transit Authority (RTA) buses, streetcars, and ferries. More than 7,000 young people signed up for the pass in its first year.
Initially launched as a one-year pilot, the Opportunity Pass resulted from a collaborative effort led by RIDE New Orleans, a Hilton Foundation Opportunity Youth grantee partner, who collaborated with young adults to hold listening sessions and co-create transit system solutions. Youth “Transit Ambassadors” educated city councilmembers and other stakeholders to build support for the pilot program, which was funded by federal American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds allocated by the New Orleans City Council.
Youth ambassadors change New Orleans transit for the better
Youth transit ambassadors are the public face of the initiative, leading outreach efforts and creating educational materials that helped young people understand how to sign up and navigate the city using the free transit.
“I’m making a difference in New Orleans,” said Youth Transit Ambassador named Lola, who has created numerous videos for RIDE’s social media channels. “Being able to put all this information together and get it out to people has been something I’m really proud of doing.”
RIDE executive director Courtney Jackson described the ambassadors as “absolutely vital” in creating a successful program that was going to be accessible. During listening sessions, RIDE staff learned about young people’s barrier to using public transit, including that they were being told that they didn’t look young enough to use youth passes.
“That conversation would have never had happened if we didn’t have youth who were willing to sit at a decision-making table and let them know about their experience,” said Jackson. “Centering youth voice means that the programing is going to work for them. If it’s built by them, it’s going to work for them. Because they’re not afraid to say what they need, we have the ability to make it grow and change.”
In its second year, Jackson said, the program’s focus will be on creating new paper forms of the transit pass that will increase accessibility for youth who don’t have smart phones.
Opportunity Pass is more than a free ride for youth
The Opportunity Pass program’s goals include removing financial barriers to travel for young adults, growing ridership on the RTA, collecting data to help improve transit for young adults, and creating in the the participants the skills and confidence for lifelong public transit ridership.
Sam, an ambassador who has also served as a policy intern for RIDE New Orleans, said it was gratifying to review the data, which shows hundreds of young people downloading the passes to their phones daily.
“New Orleans has so many vigorous, talented young people who have so much to offer,” Sam explained. “These are formative years where people build the basis for their lives. A big part of being able to live life to the fullest is the ability to get around. It’s a simple concept but it means a lot.”
Asked if there was one thing she wished people knew about New Orleans youth, Lola responded, “We are some of the strongest people around. This city has been through ups and downs, and most of us have been here for it all, and we deserve to be able to get to our opportunities, go to school, go to work, find wonderful jobs and what we want to do. So it’s really important that our voices are heard.”