BATON ROUGE, La. – Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) Secretary William D. Ankner announced today that LA Swift, the service that provides coach bus rides between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, will be extended through June 30, 2010. Service will continue to operate seven days a week, and fare will remain $5 per one-way trip.

The extension of service will be completely funded with Federal Transit Administration (FTA) funds in the amount of $2.3 million through the end of the 2010 fiscal year.

“The FTA partnership has made this extension possible for another year,” Ankner said. "Many people still rely on LA Swift to get to work and back, so I'm happy DOTD can help keep those jobs intact.”

The LA Swift Service began on Oct. 31, 2005, as a post-Katrina recovery effort, providing transportation for workers and citizens between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Over the past three-and-a-half years, the service has been very successful, providing more than 615,000 passenger trips. DOTD has received numerous awards for LA Swift, including:

2006 Outstanding Service Award – presented at the Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA) Conference – June 7, 2006 – for outstanding emergency service to Louisiana citizens after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

2007 Transportation Excellence Award - presented at the 2007 Louisiana Transportation Engineering Conference – February 14, 2007 – for Special Achievement in Customer Service.

2009 Connecting Communities Award – presented at the Community Transportation Association of America Conference – June 2, 2009 – in recognition of the LA Swift service connecting communities by moving people.

For more information visit the LA Swift Web site at www.laswift.com or call 1-877-94-SWIFT (1-877-947-9438).