New Orleans Airport to the French Quarter: What Each Option Costs
The taxi is a flat 36 dollars for two, then 15 each at three or more. The bus is 1.25. The shared shuttle stopped taking individuals in 2023. Verified 2026 fares and routes.
Sammie O
A taxi from New Orleans airport to the French Quarter is a flat 36 dollars for one or two people. Add a third passenger and the pricing flips to 15 dollars each, so a party of four pays 60. The bus costs 1.25. This page sets out what every option costs, checked against Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, the RTA, Jefferson Transit and the City of New Orleans in September 2026.
What each option costs
| Option | Price | Time | Where it goes |
|---|---|---|---|
| RTA bus 202 | 1.25 dollars | 26 to 41 minutes | Canal Street and the CBD |
| Jefferson Transit E1 | 2.00 dollars | 25 to 35 minutes | Cemeteries, then change |
| Taxi, 1 or 2 people | 36 dollars flat | Traffic dependent | CBD and French Quarter |
| Taxi, 3 or more | 15 dollars each | Traffic dependent | CBD and French Quarter |
The shared shuttle no longer exists
Start here, because it is the single most common wasted plan.
Airport Shuttle New Orleans states on its own site that it no longer provides individual airport transportation and carries groups of ten or more only. The change dates from February 2023. The old fare of 30 dollars one way and 56 return per person is history, not a price you can book.
The airport’s own shuttle page now lists only courtesy shuttles for off airport parking and hotels, from the Ground Transportation Center outside Level 1 baggage claim doors 1 to 5, plus the rental car shuttle from door 9. There is no public shared van.
The taxi flat rate, and the number that flips
The flat rate is 36 dollars per trip, not per person, for up to two passengers, from the airport to the Central Business District or the French Quarter. The zone is defined as west of Elysian Fields Avenue.
At three passengers or more the structure changes entirely. It becomes 15 dollars per passenger. Three people pay 45. Four pay 60.
So the common mistake runs both ways. People assume the 36 is per head and overpay for a couple. Or they assume it covers everyone and are surprised at four.
Note the New Orleans tourism site says 14 dollars each for three or more. Both the airport and the city’s own ground transportation bureau say 15. Use 15.
Anywhere outside that zone, including Uptown, runs on the meter.
| Metered charge | Amount |
|---|---|
| Drop | 3.50 dollars |
| Each additional eighth of a mile | 30 cents |
| Each extra passenger | 1.00 dollar |
| Union Passenger Terminal | 12.00 dollars or the meter, whichever is greater |
| Major sporting event or concert | 7.00 dollars a person, or the meter |
Taxis are required to accept credit cards. The rank is on the arrivals curb at Level 1 baggage claim, door 7.
The bus, and the route numbers that changed
Three corrections here, because most guides get at least one wrong.
Jefferson Transit’s E2 no longer serves the airport. It is now E2 Airline Drive and the terminal does not appear anywhere on its timetable. Jefferson Transit’s airport route is E1 Veterans-Airport. And the 202 Airport Express is run by the RTA, not Jefferson Transit.
RTA 202. This is the one most visitors want. It costs 1.25 dollars with a two hour transfer included, and picks up on the ground level at zone B5, outside door 2 at Level 1 baggage claim.
It calls at Poydras at Freret, Canal Street by the ferry terminal, the Main Library hub, the Union Passenger Terminal and Loyola at Howard.
Scheduled running time from the airport to Canal Street is 26 minutes on the 4:50am trip, 41 minutes at 8:50am and 35 minutes at 5:10pm. That padding is the best published indicator of the peak penalty on this corridor.
First departure from the airport is 4:50am and the last is 10:10pm. Going the other way, the last bus towards the airport leaves Canal Street at 8:08pm. That asymmetry catches people out. An evening flight cannot be reached by bus.
There are about 20 trips each way a day, so roughly hourly.
Jefferson Transit E1. This runs from the airport along Veterans Boulevard and the Pontchartrain Expressway to the Canal Boulevard terminal at City Park Avenue, known locally as the Cemeteries. It used to continue to Loyola Avenue and no longer does, so it does not reach the CBD. From the Cemeteries you change to RTA Canal Street services.
The fare is a 2 dollar special airport fare rather than Jefferson Transit’s ordinary 1.25. It runs seven days, roughly 5:30am to 9:30pm, about every 25 to 30 minutes at peak, with a run of 25 to 35 minutes.
The luggage rule matters. Jefferson Transit states a two bag limit and no luggage compartment. You board, pay, and put the bag under the seat or under your legs.
Only one pass covers both systems. The Regional Ride day pass at 6 dollars is valid on Jefferson Transit and the RTA for 24 hours. No other Jefferson Transit pass transfers.
The RTA has not published a luggage policy for the 202. Its own code of conduct page says the policy is still under development.
Uber and Lyft
The two apps use different doors but the same curb.
- Uber, exit doors 9 to 11, cross the walkway to the middle curb and join the queue.
- Lyft, exit doors 7 to 9, same middle curb.
That is not the arrivals curb, which is where the taxis are.
The airport does not publish a rideshare fee. Its own rules and regulations contain a heading for transportation network companies with no rate underneath. Third party compilers give 4 dollars for pickup and 4 for drop off, and flag it themselves as not published by the airport.
Neither app publishes a fare to the French Quarter, but both publish a floor and the two sources disagree. Lyft states a 33 dollar minimum for airport trips starting or ending in Orleans Parish. The New Orleans tourism site says 36. Either way the practical point holds: rideshare rarely undercuts the 36 dollar taxi flat rate for one or two people, and cannot go below the minimum at all.
The 2019 terminal move, and what it still affects
The airport opened a new terminal on 6 November 2019, on the opposite side of the airfield. The address is now 1 Terminal Drive, Kenner, not the old 900 Airline Drive.
For a while afterwards all traffic funnelled onto Loyola Drive, a two lane commuter road. That was fixed with a 125.6 million dollar interchange, two elevated flyover ramps plus Louisiana’s first diverging diamond interchange at ground level, open to traffic in autumn 2023. The current official instruction is to take I-10 west and use exit 221A.
One consequence of the move is still with you. The rental cars did not move. They remain at 600 Rental Boulevard on the old side of the airfield, which is now a 15 to 20 minute shuttle ride each way.
Anyone following pre 2019 directions, or the stale mirror of the airport site that still describes an Airline Drive terminal and a third floor bus stop, will end up in the wrong place.
Rental cars
Ten brands operate from 600 Rental Boulevard in Kenner. It is not in the terminal garage.
Exit baggage claim on Level 1, walk toward the long term parking garage, and the rental car shuttle leaves from the far curb outside door 9. It runs 24 hours, departs about every five minutes, and takes 15 to 20 minutes to reach the facility.
Budget 30 to 40 minutes on top of your drive, in both directions.
The airport publishes no facility charge or concession fee amounts, so we will not print one.
What we could not confirm
The rideshare airport fee. The airport publishes nothing and the 4 dollar figure is third party only.
A typical Uber or Lyft fare to the French Quarter. Both are dynamic and only conflicting minimums are published.
Rental car fees on the bill.
The road distance from the airport to the French Quarter. Neither the airport nor any city or state page we could reach publishes a mileage figure, and we are not going to reproduce third party numbers we could not check.
Car journey times, normal or at rush hour. The 202’s own schedule padding, from 26 minutes at 4:50am to 41 at 8:50am, is the only verifiable indicator on that corridor, and it includes intermediate stops.
The RTA’s luggage policy on route 202.
Sources
- Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, taxis
- Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, public transportation
- Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, ride apps
- Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, car rentals
- New Orleans RTA, fares
- Jefferson Transit, route E1 Veterans-Airport
- City of New Orleans, taxicab rates
- Airport Shuttle New Orleans, current service
Sammie O publishes Germ Trips, a travel guide covering hotels, restaurants, airport transfers and chauffeur services. The guides aim for practical detail and a clear recommendation rather than an undifferentiated list. Where a town has no good option, the guides say so and point to the nearest one that does. Guides are AI drafted. A small number have been checked against official listings, and those say so on the page.
View All Articles
