(C) Verite News New Orleans
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Canal Street Ferry extends night hours in RTA pilot program [1]
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Date: 2025-07-17
Musician James Evans commutes five or six times a week from his home in Algiers Point to Frenchmen Street, where he plays the saxophone, clarinet and trombone at a number of different music clubs.
Evans used to take his bike on the ferry to get to gigs, but by the time he got off work, it would be too late to take it back home. Instead, he would take an Uber home, with his bike folded up in the trunk alongside his instruments. In total, he was paying about $125 to $150 a week on transportation home, which he says added up fast, especially during the summer months when less tourism means lower-paying jobs.
Then, on June 15, the Regional Transit Authority began its summer hours pilot program — extending the Canal Street Ferry’s operating hours to 12:15 a.m. every night of the week. Previously, it stopped at 8:45 p.m. on weeknights and 10:45 p.m. on weekends, and the last time it ran until past midnight was before Hurricane Katrina.
So, at least for the next couple of months, when Evans finishes performing, he can take the ferry back to Algiers instead of calling an Uber.
“It’s been an incredible help,” said Evans. Originally from Wales, he moved to New Orleans to work as a musician twelve years ago and has played in venues throughout the city.
He added that a lot of musicians he knows live on the West Bank but worked later hours than the ferry ran.
“The only thing that stopped them from taking the ferry was that it stopped so early,” Evans said.
After working on Frenchmen Street until nearly midnight, musician James Evans commutes home on the Canal Street Ferry while carrying instruments on his bike, Sunday, July 13, 2025. Credit: Christiana Botic / Verite News
RTA plans to run the program until Sept. 27. After that, the agency will evaluate ridership data, operational costs and public feedback to determine future hours.
Courtney Jackson, executive director of transit advocacy nonprofit RIDE New Orleans, said that the group has heard from many service workers about the benefits of later hours.
“A majority of folks that we’ve heard from have been specifically service industry workers who use the ferry service and feel that it is an absolute necessity,” Jackson said.
Getting the word out
According to a spokesperson from the RTA, the pilot program was established with service and hospitality workers in mind, as well as generally improving mobility between the East and West Banks. Some ferry users who spoke with Verite appreciated that the later hours let them explore the city for a lower price.
Adam and Molly Delaune took the ferry back to Algiers Point on Sunday after spending the evening showing out-of-town guests the sights at Preservation Hall.
But the Delaunes don’t live in Algiers Point — they live in Metairie, in the opposite direction. They have adopted the habit of driving to the West Bank, parking by the ferry, and taking it into a French Quarter to enjoy a day out without having to pay for parking in the French Quarter.
This method of transportation has saved them significant money, they say, and it’s only become easier to stay out at night since the ferry added later hours.
“This is the primary way we get to the city,” Molly Delaune said.
She added that people aren’t always aware that the ferry can provide a cost-saving alternative to parking, recalling one time when her father paid $120 for six hours of parking during a special event in the Quarter.
A one-way ride on a ferry costs $2 per adult, and a $3 pass allows unlimited rides within 24 hours.
“I tell people about [the ferry] any chance I get,” Molly Delaune said. “I will go to a birthday party and talk about it.”
The Delaunes (front) ride the Canal Street Ferry after 10 p.m. on Sunday, July 13, 2025. Credit: Christiana Botic / Verite News
Tanner Knight, who works on the ferry as a lead deckhand, said that he has mostly noticed locals using the extended hours. The program is advertised on posters surrounding the ferry station and on RTA’s Instagram.
RIDE New Orleans and other transit groups such as Critical Mass, a cycling group, and Friends of the Ferry, which advocates for expanded access of the Canal Street Ferry, have also posted online encouraging people to ride the ferry during the pilot program.
Will it continue?
Evans, the musician, had some concerns about whether the ridership information the RTA collects during the pilot program — during the city’s summer slowdown — will accurately represent how people use the ferry throughout the year.
“[The city] started a trial during the quietest period of the year,” Evans said. “It feels a little like it is being set up to fail.”
An RTA spokesperson wrote in a statement to Verite News that the program was established during down-time from tourists in order to get a good read on whether locals would use it.
“This allows RTA to more clearly identify usage trends among cultural and hospitality workers, who are the primary focus of the pilot,” they wrote.
Fay Faron — declared a “ferry godmother” by the New Orleans City Council more than a decade ago — founded Friends of the Ferry in May 2006, after the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development shortened the ferry’s hours. The group has advocated for the ferry to have longer hours, and has even made “Frequent Floater” shirts available for purchase.
“We had stopped pushing for the midnight ferry a long time ago. It was pushing a boulder uphill and we weren’t getting anywhere,” Faron said. “When this started, I was pretty much the driving force, and now it’s got a momentum of its own.”
Faron said she is “mildly optimistic” about the midnight ferry continuing at the end of September.
“I don’t think it’s a sure thing but I think there’s a pretty good chance,” Faron said. “If it isn’t, it’s because the people really didn’t need it.”
While riders who spoke to Verite largely appreciated the access granted by extended hours, some staff working on the ferry have concerns about time management and safety.
Good for riders, challenging for workers
Knight, the ferry deckhand, said that he is personally not a fan of the pilot program. He has worked the 4 p.m. to 4 a.m. shift for a year and eight months, manning the boat as riders shuffle on and off until services end for the night and the crew preps for the next day.
Before the hours were extended, Knight and other workers on his shift had about five and a half hours after crossings ended to complete maintenance tasks and refuel the boat before their shift ended. Now, they have two hours less to do the same tasks.
“We have to cram everything in such short hours,” Knight said, adding that the crew always gets their tasks done but it requires them to work much faster. Knight also said that he feels like RTA has been supportive during the transition.
According to an RTA spokesperson, the agency has not received any formal complaints about time management or safety.
Deck hand Braydan LeBlanc, of Belle Chasse, oversees the deck of the Canal Street Ferry during extended summer hours, Sunday, July 13, 2025. Credit: Christiana Botic / Verite News
Briana Bryan works the same shift as Knight — and she is also not a fan of the later hours because it means that she interacts with people later at night, bringing up safety concerns.
“I don’t prefer working with customers later at night,” Bryan said.
With just a couple of months left in the pilot program, the RTA is looking at a number of factors to determine long-term viability. The most important aspect, the RTA spokesperson told Verite, is keeping the program cost neutral.
“While we are also tracking ridership trends, community response, and operational performance, none of those factors alone can override the need for financial sustainability,” they wrote.
Many residents certainly hope that it sticks around for good.
“It’s a lifeline to the city,” said Mark White, who lives with his wife Supriya Donthamsetty in Algiers Point. The two took the ferry to the French Quarter to watch a movie for a standing Sunday date night.
Donthamsetty said the two simply would not have made the trip over if the ferry shuttered its services earlier in the night.
“It affects everything from property value to quality of life,” White said.
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