The incoming CEO of the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority has put the agency’s staff on notice: step up or risk losing your job.

Justin Augustine, III, a New Orleans native and former RTA executive, promised to clean house at the RTA at a community forum Monday, a day before the RTA board selected him for the agency’s top job.

“Every employee better feel the way I feel and commit themselves to this organization to do the right thing. Because if you don’t, you’re not going to be there,” Augustine said.

“I want you to survive, but you have to want to survive. You have to deliver on your responsibilities. And if you’re in the wrong position, I may even put you in the right position, or I’m going to position you out. And that’s how we’re going to fix this system,” he added.

Augustine, who began his career at the RTA in 1983 and retired last year as a regional vice president at the private management firm Transdev, is expected to take over as CEO on Nov. 18, after the board votes on an employment agreement, Board Chair Ann Duplessis told Perdido Street.

The salary range for the role is between $250,000 and $325,000, according to the job posting.

Augustine will inherit an agency that is struggling to pick-up riders on-time across its fleet of buses, streetcars and paratransit shuttles. He said Monday he’ll develop a “short-term service plan” to define a path towards improved growth and efficiency. He also wants to introduce a new “easy bus” service that allows riders to schedule bus pick-ups.

With the agency facing a looming shortfall in funding, Augustine will have to identify new revenue streams to maintain existing level of service.

Augustine will also have to figure out a way to improve morale inside the RTA, as the agency grapples with a slew of lawsuits from current and former employees alleging retaliation, discrimination and wage theft. The RTA has a workforce of more than 800 employees and Augustine promised Monday to set up confidential channels to allow them to report any issues.

“Employees need confidence that concerns will be investigated fairly, that retaliation will not be tolerated, and that accountability will be required, regardless of someone’s title or position,” Augustine said.

Augustine also said the RTA also needs to do a better job communicating service disruptions to riders, echoing the rider advocacy group, Ride New Orleans, which has spent years pushing the RTA to improve communication.

“We have to ensure that we’re transparent, we’re honest, we’re very open with our communication,” Augustine said.

Augustine said he wants to send RTA staff into schools to “teach kids how to ride public transportation.”

And he said he wants to partner with officials in Jefferson Parish and St. Bernard Parish to expand regional connections, arguing that the RTA needs to be at the table in discussions about getting workers to the soon-to-break-ground Louisiana International Terminal in Violet and SpaceX facility in Vermillion Parish. (The RTA currently provides a bus service to Elmwood and Chalmette.)

The RTA’s search for a new leader kicked off in May, when former RTA CEO Lona Edwards Hankins resigned from the role and signaled plans to sue the agency.

The RTA’s board of commissioners — which includes four mayoral appointees, one City Council appointee and one appointee selected by state Rep. Delisha Boyd — hired the consulting firm KL2 Connects to conduct a national search and vet applications.

But the initial shortlist of CEO candidates KL2 Connects produced in August didn’t include Augustine or another local candidate, Mark Major.

That prompted Mayor Helena Moreno to intervene. She asked the firm to reconsider New Orleanians who had applied. The final shortlist, which was made public a week later, included both Augustine and Major, though an experienced candidate from Jefferson Parish was nixed from the list.

It was the first of two instances in which Moreno pushed the RTA to redo a part of their search. (She also asked the RTA board to reconsider Major and another contender after the board voted to narrow down the field to three finalists. Major was later added to the final three list after another candidate who initially made the cut dropped out.)

“From the beginning of this search, the board’s North Star has been to identity the best candidate to lead the RTA through a process that was fair, transparent, consistent and focused on the long term success of this organization and the community we serve,” Duplessis said ahead of the board’s vote Tuesday.

Augustine received four votes and Major received two.

In a statement, Moreno said she looks forward to working with Augustine to “make meaningful progress for the people who depend on public transit every day.”

“New Orleans needs strong leadership at RTA that understands the urgency of improving service, increasing reliability and delivering a better experience for our riders,” Morenos said.

Augustine was hired as the director of internal audit at the RTA in 1983. He worked at the agency for 12 years and was promoted to management roles in finance and accounting before becoming the agency’s general manager. He later led the transit agency in Austin, Texas, before taking a job in South Africa.

At Monday’s forum, Augustine highlighted his role in rebuilding the RTA following Hurricane Katrina, when the agency was placed under the management of Transdev, a private firm. In 2012, Augustine was honored at the White House by President Barrack Obama for his work on the Loyola Avenue streetcar expansion.

Augustine’s tenure at the RTA ended in 2019, and shortly thereafter, the RTA severed its ties with Transdev.

At Monday’s forum, Augustine argued that the RTA was “working perfectly” when he left the agency.

“The new group came in here and they’ve destroyed it,” he said.

Augustine hinted that’s he open to more private partnerships, especially as it pertains to providing transportation from New Orleans to SpaceX.

Still, Augustine said, “nothing can be improved if you don’t improve your workforce.”

He said he plans to reorganize the RTA to improve efficiency and ensure that managers are qualified for their roles.

“You gotta have trained, talented individuals, assigned to their respective areas, that are given responsibility and held accountable,” he said. “If you don’t understand the basic components of how to manage public transportation, you shouldn’t be in those positions.”