Mayor LaToya Cantrell Appoints Two, New RTA Board Members

July 3, 2018
The New Orleans Regional Transit Authority has announced Mayor LaToya Cantrell has appointed Laura B. Bryan and Fred Alford Neal Jr., AICP to the RTA Board of Commissioners.

The New Orleans Regional Transit Authority has announced Mayor LaToya Cantrell has appointed Laura B. Bryan and Fred Alford Neal Jr., AICP to the RTA Board of Commissioners.

Bryan, recently, transitioned into the Mayor’s office to lead Cantrell’s newly minted Office of Transportation. In this role, Bryan will be responsible for spearheading the Mayor’s transportation initiatives, including improving the city’s shared roadway network to better serve all modes of transportation and providing equitable transit opportunities throughout the city.

Previously, Bryan worked in the New Orleans City Council Office as the Land Use advisor for then Councilmember LaToya Cantrell, during her tenure on the New Orleans City Council. In this role, she advised Cantrell on all land use policy decisions and related transportation issues.

Bryan attended the University of Georgia and received a Master’s in Urban Planning with a specialty in Transportation from the University of New Orleans. 

Neal is a senior planner with Villavaso and Associates, a firm specializing in urban planning, land use planning and growth management, and environmental policy and public policy development. He has worked with Villavaso and Associates since 2008, leading various public, private, and non-profit sector planning and development projects in New Orleans and across the State of Louisiana. Neal also serves as the Project Manager for the Louisiana Chapter of the American Planning Association’s Planners4Health Task Force. The Task Force supports statewide engagement and collaboration between planners and public health professionals. 

In addition, Neal is one of the founders and a board member of RIDE New Orleans — a non-profit organization and civic coalition, founded in 2009, that advocates for a world class, multi-modal transportation system that promotes a vibrant, healthy, and sustainable New Orleans region.

Neal is also a board member for Make Music NOLA, a non-profit organization that provides focused, tuition-free, in-school and after-school music training to students who are eligible for free or reduced lunch at various schools and community centers in New Orleans.