Transportation and Airport Committee.

The vehicles have to have recording devices and meet certain safety and failure requirements. And they have to have first responder plans and the state also maintains a public complaint portal. Texas cities, however, are preempted by state law from regulating autonomous vehicles so there's no city-specific laws in the state of Texas. This is also true in Tennessee where Waymo's operate in Nashville and in Florida where they operate in Orlando and Miami. The cities that have regulated Waymo so far and companies like Waymo have tend to prevent them from operating. New York City allowed these vehicles to operate under what was called a pilot testing permit. However, this permit expired in March of 2026 and was not renewed so these vehicles cannot currently operate in New York City. For them to be on the roads, a human operator must be seated behind the wheel capable of taking control of the vehicle at any time. And New York taxi requirements prohibit the for hire use of these vehicles at this time. Boston also has fought against laws that would allow Waymo and vehicles like it. In order for them to operate in Boston, Massachusetts state law would have to be changed to allow AVs and the Boston City Council has advocated against that. So Waymo is currently testing vehicles in New Orleans. I know many of you have received calls from constituents who've seen them on the roads. I've personally seen them on the roads. From what they've told us, they are testing around 12 vehicles here and these should have drivers in all vehicles. They're planning to transition to autonomous tests later in 2026, but any for hire service would not begin until the testing is fully completed. And we've been in contact with them to better understand their plans and the landscape from their perspective. So to the extent that we are looking at city legislation, our main goals would be to ensure that adequate safety controls exist to protect passengers and other citizens using the public right-of-way. This means both clear rules for the treatment of passengers to ensure their safety, but also guardrails regarding liability towards other cars, cyclists, and pedestrians who also use these same streets, and protocols for public safety interactions so that NOPD and our other first responders can interact with these vehicles in appropriate ways. We would also work towards parity in fees among all the different types of for hire vehicles to the extent that we can. This is a loose timeline. I will start by saying please don't hold us to it. It's just to give an idea of how this will likely work, but I think that there's certainly room for change here. So quarter one of this year involved conversations among city stakeholders. We've had conversations specifically with the Ground Transportation Bureau and some of the council offices regarding autonomous for hire vehicles. As we've moved into quarter two, we've started having conversations with industry stakeholders. We're also having this discussion here at Transportation Committee. Ordinance drafting would not likely occur until Q3, and introduction not until Q3. From what we've been told, we don't believe that Waymo will begin autonomous testing until late Q3 or early Q4, and assuming that the city has adopted the ordinance by that time, we would be also working with the mayor's administration to implement the ordinance to make sure that the Ground Transportation Bureau or whatever city agency is in charge of regulating these vehicles has what they need to implement the legislation. That also goes for NOPD and other first responders. And so as a result, we don't anticipate licensed for hire autonomous vehicle rides being available to citizens before 2027. There's just a lot of work that needs to be done on our end to create the infrastructure for these to operate safely within the city. And that is the end of my presentation, but I'm happy to take questions if the members have any. Thank you, Attorney Becknell. Councilmember Harrison. Yeah, thank you, Ashley, for this update. So I have some questions about preemption. Sure. Are the same state preemption issues that occur in, I think you said Texas, applicable here? Meaning do we need, would Waymo or these companies need state changes in law in order to operate in New Orleans? I don't believe they would. There's nothing that would prohibit them from operating from what we've been told by DOTD. They are obviously the arbiter of the interpretation of their own laws, and so they have passed specific laws to. both allow and regulate the commercial vehicles and in our conversations with DOTD on this issue they've said that they're interested to see where we go with this and paying a close eye but certainly not planning to stand in our way and available to help us however they can. Okay are these operating or testing in any other city in in Louisiana? Not to my knowledge. Okay have we looked at cities like Pittsburgh who I know Pittsburgh, Phoenix have WAMO? I've looked at Phoenix I have not looked at Pittsburgh. Phoenix does not have specific city law but the state of Arizona does have fairly permissive laws regarding AV operations and so my understanding is that's one of the more permissive environments where these operate. So we obviously have a lot of construction happening especially in District B. We were just at a site visit and had to traverse various road blockages. Do we know or have any indication from these companies how they are dealing with these road closures that often happen in the city? I don't have detailed information on that but that is a question that we've asked them and we anticipate getting more information. The main thing that they've told us so far is the purpose of these driver tests that they're currently doing is to gather data about the state of our roadways. I know one of the specific metrics they mentioned to us is that they're creating a detailed map of potholes that they will share with the city.

I'm sure that will be voluminous but they are working to gather that data but we need a lot more information about what that looks like how they implement that in practice because it's also as we all know something that changes frequently. You might an intersection might look one way one day and the next day have a completely different configuration due to construction due to a traffic light being out and those are some concerns that we are very much keeping front of mind as we move forward. I know you talked about protecting pedestrians, bicyclists, other automobiles. One of the big issues that happened in San Francisco was a Waymo accidentally hit a cat and killed it and there was a big outcry about these vehicles operating. So I would hope that any legislation or ordinance that we have also takes into consideration our four-legged friends. Absolutely as a cat owner myself I'm very very aware of that issue. I know there's also been issues with pedestrians being struck by these vehicles and so safety is the number one concern. Yeah I just again as we work with the new administration to get in better traffic light, better street signs, I just have a concern that we're not going to be up and ready as a city for autonomous vehicles in 2027 as far as our infrastructure. And I think that that may well be true which is why I wanted to be make it clear that this is a loose timeline. I don't think that there's any interest in releasing these until we're ready and we believe that they can be done safely. Certainly as a lawyer I'm not immune to the liability issues that are presented by these many of which are novel as I'm sure you're not as well. And I don't make policy obviously that's the the job of the council but my my guess is that that would be a very very significant policy priority for any of the members who would be reviewing draft legislation on this topic. All right thank you Ashley. You're welcome. Thank you Council Member Harris for those questions and sometimes the presentation and the questions that are asked put us in a position where I can say I don't have much more to offer. I do appreciate the presentation. I do want to tell the members of the public that you can find this presentation that you saw, those who are watching and those who are present, you can find them by simply doing a search of New Orleans City Council dash meetings, go to this transportation meeting and go to the particular link and it'll give you access to this. This presentation, Attorney Becknell, I'm greatly appreciative of. Thank you I'm happy to help. It helps answer a lot of questions and I think that it puts the public's mind at ease relative to the fact that there is testing going on. There is consideration of safety factors. We recognize the challenges in our city. We're looking to see what is happening in other cities before we move forward and we're not looking at something that's going to have a hundred way more vehicles or you know these type vehicles autonomous for hire vehicles on the streets within the next few months. We're talking a loose timeline of 2027. Maybe let's say at the earliest it could go a little bit later. Our primary concern is going to be public safety while we investigate and embrace technology as it can help all of our citizens. There are some benefits, for example, people who can't get out of their homes, you can you know vehicles delivering medicines and delivering groceries and products like that is something that can help our community but nothing will be undertaken without sufficient analysis as you've seen already. We're doing some of that work we're moving in the right direction in that respect and I greatly appreciate the presentation and thank you for your questions Councilmember Harris. I have no cards so at this time I thank you attorney. Thank you Councilmembers. I'm going to go a little bit out of order and go to item number five which is the discussion of the Regional Transit Authority structural changes and other general updates. It includes Ronald Baptiste who is the RTA's chief interim chief and interim chief executive officer. Andrew Plessis who is the permanent, there is a typo in our agenda, she is the board chair of the Regional Transit Authority and Eric Wright who is the Regional Transit Authority attorney. As Andrew Plessis sits in her seat I just want to tell the members of the public that I know Andrew Plessis but I want to say publicly we appreciate the fact that whenever the city or public entities call on you for assistance that you're there. You've taken on quite a challenge in terms of chairing this particular board but it's a challenge that you're used to as a state senator, as the vice president of the nation's largest black bank, as the someone who is integral in making the New Orleans East hospital happen and in other capacities you've served our city well. This is a challenge but you're up to the challenge. Thank you very much for your willingness to serve. I'll turn it over to you. Thank you Chairman Green and Council Lady Harris. You know this is an opportunity to create change. As you indicated I am Anne DePlessis, chair of the RTA Board of Commissioners. With me today I have Ronald Baptiste, our interim chief executive officer and Eric Wright, counsel to the board. The new board came into service in a very important moment for the RTA. There was clear need to strengthen governance, restore public confidence, stabilize leadership and refocus the agency on its core mission, providing safe, reliable, accessible and efficient public transportation for the people of New Orleans and the broader region. Shortly after the new board was seated, the board became aware of a serious governance issue involving an amendment or an extension to former CEO Lona Edwards-Hankins' employment contract.

The board's understanding was that the extension had not been approved by the full prior board in the manner that such a significant executive contract action should have been approved. After review and consultation with counsel, the board took action to address that issue. The board authorized negotiations regarding a separation. The proposal presented by former CEO Hankins' counsel was not acceptable to the board and was not in the best interests of the RTA, its riders, employees or the public. Ultimately, Ms. Hankins submitted her resignation and the board accepted it. The board then moved immediately to ensure continuity of operations. Ronald Baptiste, a longtime RTA executive with deep institutional knowledge of the agency, was appointed to serve as interim CEO. His role is to help maintain stability, support employees, continue day-to-day operations and assist the board as we move through this transition. At the same time, the board began the process of identifying a national search firm to assist with the selection of the next permanent CEO. The board has identified KL2 Connects to handle the national search process. Our goal is to conduct a professional, transparent and thoughtful search for a leader who understands transit operations, financial accountability, workforce relations, customer service, infrastructure and the importance of regional partnerships. The board also engaged the Louisiana Legislative Auditor to conduct an extensive forensic review of the agency. That review is expected to include financial matters, operations, systems, internal controls and overall agency practices. I want to be clear, this is not about politics or personalities. It is about establishing facts, strengthening controls, protecting public resources and making sure the RTA is positioned to operate at the level. our citizens deserve. While these governance and leadership matters are important the board is also focused on the people who depend on RTA every day. We are actively engaging with the community, union representatives, employees, riders, and other stakeholders. The goal is to create a more efficient organization and to improve the rider experience, our workforce, and to make a better use of public dollars. And our larger vision is to help build a world-class transportation system that is truly regional. Public transit should connect people to jobs, education, health care, and opportunities and neighborhoods across this region. To get there we must rebuild trust and improve reliability, strengthen financial and operational discipline, work collaboratively with the city council, the mayor's administration, neighboring jurisdictions, employees, riders, and community partners. We are still early in this process but the board is moving with urgency and purpose. We are committed to transparency, accountability, stability, and service improvement. We look forward to keeping this committee informed as the audit process, leadership search, and operational review moves forward. So thank you Mr. Chairman and Council Lady and I appreciate this partnership and we if you have any questions I'd be happy to we would be happy to answer. Thank you very much for your presentation for being here today too. Council Member Harris. I don't know if you can publicly address what happened this past weekend with in my district with the incident involving the bicyclists and an RTA bus. It happened around midnight. Can you shed any insight into what happened? If I may, Council Lady, I'd like and we will get to that. I'd like for Ron to just introduce himself so he can give you just a little overview of you know how he's going to work with us and then we'll turn it over to our council and they can address that. Got it. Thank you. Thank you. Good morning Mr. Chair and Council Lady Harris. Ron Baptiste. I've been present in here many times over the years so it's good to be back. Since my appointment I've been working toward ensuring continuity in operations, maintaining organizational stability, and supporting the delivery of safe, reliable, accessible transit service. With full support of the new board, we have been looking inward at some of our processes in the short period of time, meeting with my executive peers, analyzing the day-to-day operation, and to the extent possible making improvements. So I will continue to do that during this period of transition and we will respond as expediently as possible to anything that we see needs to be modified. And thanks for having me here today. Thank you for being here. Good morning Chairman Green and Councilman Harris. Eric Wright, General Counsel for the RTA. And to start by addressing your question, Councilman Harris, we're fully cooperating with the NOPD who's conducting an investigation with respect to that fatality on Sunday. We're also, we also have launched an internal investigation within the RTA that's ongoing so we can't really comment any further but we can tell you that we are fully cooperating with NOPD and we are having an internal investigation. And once we have some results from that investigation, we will share with the committee. Thank you. So I'm here today just to discuss our litigation management since we took over litigation in 2025. So this report is for the year 2025 and 2025 has been a transformative year for the RTA's litigation management program. Upon appointment as General Counsel, we've undertaken an immediate and thorough assessment of RTA's litigation portfolio, engaging claims administrators, defense panel counsel, the excess carrier, and all key stakeholders to establish a clear baseline and institute meaningful reform as far as the litigation. What we inherited was a litigation philosophy built on delay. What we leave behind at the close of 2025 is a program defined by accountability, proactive case resolution, accurate reserving, and financial stewardship.

Through strengthened oversight, enhanced communication protocols, and hands-on case management, we have achieved measurable improvements across every key performance indicator. Upon appointment, we immediately initiated outreach to gain a comprehensive understanding of the RTA's active litigation docket. Our approach was proactive. We sought out direct engagement with defense panel counsel, the claims administration team, excess carrier, and all parties integral to mounting an effective defense on behalf of the authority. The initial outreach was met with resistance. Our inquiries aimed at understanding case posture, reserves, billing, and strategy unsettled some individuals who had grown accustomed to minimal oversight. Despite this friction, we remain committed to building constructive working relationships and gaining full visibility into the portfolio. Some of the things we found that delay was being used as a strategy, kind of preventing litigation and just kind of waiting it out. We've been more aggressive with getting these cases moved. We've formulated a settlement authority process where cases are settled or we get approval on settlement prior to mediations and trials to be more efficient in that respect. We've gotten up on the billing backlogs and payment delays to counsel. The reserves that are reported on each case had not been updated, which basically caused higher insurance premiums. So we've gotten on top of that with basically updating all of those reserves. There was an influx of settled cases that had not been dismissed, which backlogged a lot of the court's docket. We've cleaned that up. We have some trial results. There were two trials last year. Trials had not been moving prior to 2025. We've got a couple of verdicts, one for $158,697 on a case where a lot more was asked by the plaintiff's counsel. Also, we got a case settled on the first date of trial for $1.4 billion that had a significant demand that was asked in that case, and we were able to clean that up. Overall, there were a total of 77 new suits that came in, and we settled over 77, over 100 percent of the amount of cases that came in, so the docket is currently moving. And just going into the year, the cases that resolved some of the key cases, there were over $32 million demanded between those key cases, and we resolved those cases for $8,887, which is basically $23 million below what was asked in these cases. So we've brought judicial efficiency to the legal litigation management, and we plan on doing so moving forward. Thank you all, and if you have any questions, I can address any further questions that you have. Thank you all three for your presentations. Council Member Harris, do you have any questions? I'm just impressed that there's a 30-year-old case that's still there. Well, I didn't mention that. There was a 30-year-old case that we found that was, the reserve on it was pretty significant. It was $5 million. That's one of the first cases we targeted, and we worked vigorously to get that case resolved for $84,000. That's amazing. You can't even find witnesses after 30 years. Yeah. There was a lot more legal fees that have been spent on that case than 30. And judicial interest and all the other things. Thank you. Thank you. And I just want to add that Eric was my new court coach. We knew she'd be a great trial lawyer. In the spirit of New Orleans, we're all connected some way or the other, so I appreciate it. I do have a card, but it's on the next matter, so we'll address that matter. But I just want to thank you. Your presentation, I think you made members of the public feel confident that the Regional Transit Authority, such an important agency, is right now in good hands in terms of the leadership, the board leadership, and the interim CEO. And thank you for your presentation, too. That was good information to share. I want to remind members of the public that the Regional Transit Authority is a public agency. It also has a board of directors that meets. It also can be contacted by simply researching and Googling, if you will, doing some research on Regional Transit Authority. Send your questions in. And I know right based on the three people who I see there, your question is going to be answered. You will get a response. So that's important. And as we move forward, it's important to recognize that the Regional Transit Authority plays a tremendous job in our city's social and economic well-being. It needs to be an agency that is operated with efficiency and also in a deliberate manner to deliver services to our citizens. Thank you for your commitment right now. And as a Transportation Chair, certainly call on me at any time. Let me know what I need to know. The Transportation Committee and the Council is ready to move forward in this important agency. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Council Member Harris, the third item on the agenda, which is item four, and we just went out of order. We're not going to be able to vote on, but I want to give some background information so that members of the public and the Council understand from whence this proposed ordinance comes. The ordinance, calendar number 35471, authorizes a temporary, and I want to emphasize the word temporary, $1 gas surcharge on completed taxicab and trips through December 31, 2027. The purpose of this measure is to help offset the continued increase in fuel costs that everyone has seen that our drivers and operators have experienced. This is not intended to be a permanent change. Rather, it is a temporary measure that will provide relief while allowing the City to monitor economic conditions and the impact of these increases on both drivers and passengers.

The District D Office and IAS Chair of the Transportation Committee have received feedback from taxicab operators who believe the surcharge is necessary to help sustain their operations, and we have also received support from the Department of Public Works, very important, the Department of Public Works, and the Ground Transportation Bureau. At the expiration of the surcharge, I wish to emphasize that there will be an expiration of this surcharge December 31, 2027, the City Council will have the opportunity to re-evaluate conditions and determine whether any further action, including consideration of a permanent fare adjustment, is warranted. So what will happen, members of the public, is that it will not be voted out of committee, but there will appear on the City Council's agenda for next week an item number 35471. You can comment on that item, your comments will be welcome, you can attend the meeting and comment up to two minutes for anyone who wishes to make a comment, but I just want to emphasize again, the temporary nature, the support of the Department of Public Works, and the Ground Transportation Bureau. We do have one comment card from Mr. Shahzad Ahmad, who is in support, do you wish to comment? Come forward. You have two minutes at the microphone. Thank you for the opportunity, sir. As you said, it's impacting our industry, the fuel cost, pretty much, you know, since the fuel went up since March. But one more thing I want to see, you said this temporary surcharge, but if there is a possibility we can do something like put a cap on our gas price, like, you know, maybe like above $3 somewhere, whenever the gas goes there, does this charge automatically get implemented, you know, instead of we have waited like three and a half or four months to get over here today? And that's the old four months, you know, it's like our drivers are suffering from this. That would be it, sir. Oh, well, your general question, I'd have to speak to you specifically. I can't imagine how the city would be able to say anything above a certain price, because gas prices are so volatile. For example, we're having strikes going on right now in the Strait of Hormuz, which are raising prices on gas. I don't know if it's $5 a gallon now, it could be $7 a gallon. Those conditional and transitory changes are hard for the city council to be able to say that we would regulate that. But I need to be careful with my wording. I'm willing to consider anything that is presented. This council deliberates, and we have persons who take into account public matters. But I want you to think through what you asked and know how difficult it would be for me to say that anything above a certain price per gallon for gas is something that the city council can cover. Definitely. I agree with you. And we will make a written plan and submit it to you guys to look at, you know, what I'm talking about. Give us a general question, you know, that I asked you, you know, some sort of that kind of stuff, you know. I want to be open-minded. As I said, I want you to put it in writing, recognizing that we are open to all considerations. And I can't comment except to tell you the difficulty based on what you suggested just now. All right? That's your two minutes, however I was talking. So if you wouldn't mind turning the mic back on for one more minute. Yeah. Go ahead. I think, as you know, the cab industry haven't gotten any raise in their fares since, like, 2012. I think that I believe I might be a year or two off, but I think from then, we haven't gotten any increase on that. We will put a plan together and put it in front of you guys also for that one, so you can look at that. I appreciate it. We're open to any considerations. You know that. Thank you, sir. We'll be paid attention to. Thank you. Thank you, sir. All righty. All right. Thanks. I'd like to take a 30-second break before we adjourn. Thank you. Members of the public who are watching and who are present, if you will bear with us for five more minutes, I would like to vote on the matter, calendar 35471, and also vote on the minutes so our meeting can be complete. And if we receive a unanimous vote, then the 35471 would be on the city council's consent agenda, still subject to whatever public comment you may have. Please bear with us for five more minutes. Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Willard. How are you doing? Yes. Okay. Roll call. Now that we've cleared up the quorum, Council Member Greene. Council Member Willard. Council Member Harris. Council Member King. Council Member Hughes. We have three members. We have a quorum. Thank you very much. May I entertain a motion to approve the minutes from the April 2nd meeting? Moved. Second. Council Member Willard moves and seconded by Council Member Harris. All in favor? Aye. Aye. So the minutes have been approved from the April 2nd meeting. Council Member Willard, I just want to reemphasize a couple of points relative to ordinance calendar number 35471. The ordinance authorizes a temporary, I emphasize temporary, $1 gasoline surcharge on completed taxi cab and trips through December 31st, 2027. The purpose of this measure is to help offset the continued increase in fuel costs that drivers and operators have experienced. It's not intended to be a permanent change. It's a temporary measure that will provide relief while allowing the city to monitor economic conditions and the impact on both drivers and passengers. And our office has received feedback from taxi cab operators. We also have received support, very important, from the Department of Public Works and the Ground Transportation Bureau. And at the expiration of the surcharge, the city council would have the opportunity to reevaluate conditions and determine whether any further action, including consideration of a permanent fare adjustment, was warranted. So at this time, if there are no questions from council members, I move for approval of calendar number 35471. Second.

Seconded by Council Member Willard. Members, please just say aye. Aye. I see yes on here. And thank you very much. I want to emphasize, I would like to request that it be on the consent agenda, as we've received a unanimous support. And I'd like to emphasize to the public that if you wish to comment on matters involving the city council, you can do research into New Orleans City Council-meetings. You'll find this agenda, you'll find this item, and you can comment. Thank you. If there's no matters to be brought before the body, I'll entertain a motion to adjourn. All right, it's properly moved and seconded. There being no objections, this meeting is adjourned. Again, thank you, presenters, for being present, and thank you, council members, for joining us today. I'll take the comment card. Thanks. Thank you.