New Orleans has a new transit boss. The Regional Transit Authority's Board of Commissioners has selected Justin Augustine III to become the agency's next chief executive officer, capping a search that dragged on for five months and followed the abrupt departure of his predecessor earlier this year.
The board's pick comes after the RTA named three finalists — Augustine, Mark A. Major and Reginald A. “Reggie” Mason — according to the RTA. The three contenders pitched their visions directly to riders at a public forum before the board's final vote, as nola.com reported. Augustine is a former Transdev regional vice president who, according to the same report, managed 24 transit operations — including systems in San Diego and Seattle — while overseeing the nation's largest private multitransit operator.
A Board Still Negotiating the Fine Print
Exactly when Augustine starts and how much he'll earn remain open questions. WDSU reported it is unclear when his first day in the role will be, while Vérité News reported that RTA Board Chair Ann Duplessis has been placed in charge of hammering out that start date and salary. The job itself was advertised with a pay range of $250,000 to $325,000 annually, per the same Vérité News account.
Augustine steps into the role following the resignation of Hankins in May 2026, as WWL-TV reported. Mayor Helena Moreno welcomed Augustine's selection and said she looks forward to working with him to make meaningful progress for riders, according to the station's report. “New Orleans needs strong leadership at RTA that understands the urgency of improving service, increasing reliability and delivering a better experience for our riders,” Moreno said, per WWL-TV. The mayor also thanked the board of commissioners for its work during the selection process and praised riders' advocacy for public input throughout the search, the station reported.
An Aging Fleet and a Rising Ridership Problem
Whoever took the job was always going to inherit a familiar set of headaches. The agency has struggled to pick riders up on time even as demand for public transit continues to rise across the city, nola.com reported, and it has battled funding shortfalls that have at times threatened ferry operations. The new CEO will be tasked with revitalizing RTA's relationships with its regional partners, improving service for disabled riders, and improving organizational culture, among other needs, according to a separate nola.com report on the finalists.
The RTA has said it is working toward a 140-bus active fleet by 2028, with vehicle funding already secured, according to the agency's 2025 annual report.
Ridership trends, at least, offer the incoming CEO something to build on. The RTA reported a preliminary 15% increase in bus ridership in 2025 compared with the prior year, according to Metro Magazine. The agency had also recovered 95% of its 2019 bus ridership by 2024, well ahead of the 86% average recovery seen across U.S. transit systems nationally, per the same outlet. RTA recorded about 13.5 million boardings in 2025 and has planned to roll out its Algiers Service Improvement Plan sometime in 2026.
A System Still Finding Its Footing Since 2019
The agency has struggled to increase ridership and improve service reliability — the backdrop against which Augustine now takes charge. The RTA operates buses, streetcars, paratransit shuttles and ferry services.
For riders who've watched the CEO's office sit in flux since Hankins' spring resignation, the hope is that a permanent hire finally brings stability to decisions about scheduling, maintenance and disability access. With Duplessis still negotiating the terms of Augustine's contract, the formal handoff — and the clock on his tenure — has yet to officially begin.
