Understanding Health and Air Quality Within Transit Buses in New Orleans, Louisiana

Breve descripción

New Orleans runs on buses, operated by the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (RTA). For many residents, the RTA is how they get to work, school, the doctor’s office, and the grocery store. Riders and drivers have raised serious concerns about the air they’re breathing inside those buses — diesel fumes, poor ventilation, exhaust leaks, and engine cleaning cycles that run while passengers are still on board. Women of Action, ATU Women’s Caucus NOLA is aiming to measure what potential pollutants people are actually exposed to, and to build the case for healthier buses, stronger protections, and equitable transit conditions for everyone who depends on the system. To do so, they are partnering with the American Geophysical Union (AGU), Anthropocene Alliance (A2), New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (RTA), Louisiana State University, Deep South Environment Justice, ATU Black Caucus NOLA, NAACP, Climate Reality Project NOLA Chapter, and A2 Louisiana Grass Root Coalition. The project is looking for a scientist local to New Orleans to measure what riders and drivers are breathing inside RTA buses, interpret and communicate data, and help turn those findings into recommendations that can move policy and practice forward. The ideal scientist would be someone involved in air quality, public health, environmental health, or the natural sciences in general.

Descripción

About the Community  

This project is led by Women of Action, ATU Women’s Caucus NOLA, a New Orleans-based group of transit workers, riders, and community advocates who depend on public buses every day and are ready to do something about what we’ve been experiencing. New Orleans is where they live and work, and the bus is often the only option for getting to jobs, schools, medical appointments, grocery stores, and everything else that makes up daily life.

Lower-income residents, older adults, people with disabilities, students, and essential workers rely on buses as their primary form of transportation. Bus drivers spend full shifts inside these vehicles, breathing the same air as their passengers — repeatedly, every workday.

Riders and drivers have raised concerns about conditions on board. Drivers have reported feeling sick and lightheaded on the job. Bus maintenance has been inconsistent: filters go unchanged, which degrades the air quality that passengers and drivers breathe every day. Drivers also report rotten smells while the bus is running, a sign of problems that have not been addressed. New Orleans has started moving toward cleaner transit options, but most of the fleet is still diesel.

The community, alongside their partners, want independent, community-owned science to answer a direct question: what are riders and drivers being exposed to inside New Orleans buses, and what needs to change?

Calendario e hitos

May – September 2026: Finalize project scope with Women of Action Women’s Caucus NOLA and Thriving Earth Exchange.
September – December 2026: Recruit and onboard a volunteer scientist or expert with relevant air quality, transportation emissions, environmental health, or exposure assessment expertise.
December 2026 – January 2027: Refine the scientific questions, identify pollutants of interest, select monitoring equipment, and develop a community-centered sampling plan.
January – March 2027: Conduct pilot air quality monitoring on selected bus routes, trips, or conditions, including any targeted observations related to engine cleaning or regeneration cycles if feasible.
March 2027 – April 2027: Analyze collected air quality data and identify patterns, limitations, and key findings.
April – May 2027: Develop visualizations, plain-language materials, and draft recommendations for community review.
May 2027: Share findings with local government offices, transit workers, riders, and other community stakeholders.
June – July 2027: Finalize project deliverables, identify next-step advocacy or funding opportunities, share results with TEX’s blog, and wrap up the project.

Equipo del proyecto

Community Leads 

Women of Action, ATU Women’s Caucus NOLA is a women-led transit labor organization focused on leadership, safety, education, and justice in the workplace. The group works to inspire and educate women in labor while strengthening union participation and solidarity. Women of Action advocates for safe, respectful workplaces and strong labor protections for transit workers. They also support reliable public transportation, healthy communities, and environmental justice. 

Community Science Fellow 

Jasper Beardslee is a Community Science Fellow with AGU’s Thriving Earth Exchange. Jasper has worked on air quality and environmental justice projects using remote sensing, GIS, and public health data  and currently works for NASA.

Se busca científico

Función científica 

The project is looking for a scientist or student with interest or experience in air quality monitoring, transportation emissions, environmental health, or exposure assessment. This scientist  would be joining a team with community backing, political support from city leadership, and a clear goal: measure what riders and drivers are breathing inside New Orleans buses, analyze and interpret the data, and help turn those findings into recommendations that can move policy and practice forward.

The work may involve riding buses during regular service, comparing air quality across different routes or vehicle types, or looking closely at whether specific bus operations are linked to changes in onboard air quality. 

Strong communication skills matter as much as technical expertise here. This project needs someone who can explain the science clearly, listen to what the community is experiencing, and help translate findings.

Competencias y cualificaciones deseadas: 

• Experience with air quality monitoring, exposure assessment, environmental health, transportation emissions, or diesel emissions
• Familiarity with measuring pollutants such as fine particulate matter, black carbon, nitrogen dioxide, carbon dioxide, or other transit-related air quality indicators
• Ability to help design a feasible monitoring plan using low-cost sensors, portable monitors, or other appropriate tools
• Experience analyzing and interpreting environmental monitoring data
• Familiarity with indoor air quality, occupational exposure, public transit, or environmental justice is a plus
• Gran capacidad de escucha y colaboración
• Ability to communicate scientific findings in plain language
• Experience or interest in community education, outreach, and engagement
• Willingness to connect science to local concerns and practical community action
• Ability to work respectfully with transit workers, riders, and community advocates

Thriving Earth Exchange asks all scientific partners to work with the community to help define a project with concrete local impact to which they can contribute as pro-bono volunteers and collaborators. This work can also position the scientists and communities to seek additional funding, together, for the next stage. Unsure if you’re the right fit for this project? Reach out to us via email at [email protected] to learn more.  

¿Le interesa trabajar como científico voluntario? ¡Inscríbete ya!

Collaborating Organizations

Women of Action, ATU Women’s Caucus NOLA and this project have the support of the individuals and groups listed below:

Vickie Boothe is an environmental engineer and epidemiologist with more than 33 years of public service at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Since relocating to New Orleans in 2019, she has provided scientific support to multiple Louisiana frontline communities disparately impacted by decades-long exposure to toxic petrochemical emissions.

Travis London is the Climate Justice Organizer for Step Up Louisiana with 20 years of community advocacy experience. London led an air monitoring project, which led him to win the Community Sentinel Award, a national environmental award. He also appeared on an ABC News’ segment, A Push For Clean Air in Louisiana’s Cancer Alley, which included his air monitoring project.  His involvement as an air monitoring scientist led him many victories in courts, public hearings, etc. involving issues ranging from students environmental justice issues to industrial workers rights. 

LaTricea Adams, a native of Memphis, Tennessee, is the Founder and CEO of Young, Gifted & Green, a national organization focused on environmental justice and civil rights. Ms. Adams is a proud HBCU graduate from Tennessee State University and a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.. She was the youngest African American woman and only K-12 educator appointed to the White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council, where she was a champion for children’s and maternal health. LaTricea is a proud, lifelong Urban Leaguer for nearly two decades, serving as both a former Young Professionals President in Washington, DC and Memphis, TN. She also served as a former member of the American Bar Association’s Environmental Justice Task Force. Throughout her career, she has held various leadership roles in local & state government, community, K-12 education, environment, policy and public health. LaTricea has received numerous accolades for her activism and environmental justice work.

Eugene J. Green, Jr. , serving in his second term as the New Orleans City Councilmember for District D, has for many years worked in areas in which he has had an opportunity to build his own business, and to create employment and wealth generating opportunities for our citizens. He earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree, after four years of intense study, in Economics from Harvard University in 1980. He earned an MBA from Tulane University. He served as the former Vice Chairman and present Commissioner of the Lakefront Management Authority (nolalakefront.org) and as the former Chairman of the Authority’s Commercial Real Estate Committee. He has contributed greatly to the New Orleans community as the Founder and President of Nationwide Real Estate Corporation (nationwiderealestatecorp.com), a nearly 35-year-old property management and real estate brokerage firm. He has an award named for him, the Eugene J. Green Jr. Beloved Community Service Award, created by Bethany United Methodist Church. 

New Orleans City Council

• Aimee McCarron — District A
• Eugene J. Green Jr. — District D
• Freddie King III — District C
• Lesli D. Harris — District B
• Matthew Willard — Councilmember At-Large / Vice President

Louisiana State University School of Public Health

• Adrienne Katner, D.Env., M.S.
• Daniel J. Harrington, ScD, CIH

Anthropocene Alliance (A2)

Young Gifted and Green

• LaTricea D. Adams, MAT, EdS

Step Up Louisiana

• Maria E. Harmon, MPA