The East Baton Rouge Parish transit system faces a funding crisis, with a projected $2.1 million deficit in 2012 that could force it to shut down. A Blue Ribbon Commission proposed comprehensive transit reform to address this, including dedicated funding, improved service, and governance changes. If voters approve the tax on April 21, it would provide $18.4 million annually for expanded routes, decreased wait times, new transfer centers, and improved accessibility including for paratransit services. Baker and Zachary would see new express routes and connectivity if the reform passes.

1. Presentation on Comprehensive
Transit Reform
Civic Academy Series
February 2012

2. The East Baton Rouge Parish
transit system is in crisis
Chronic budget crises have created
system-wide uncertainty for the
last three years.
The transit system faces a $2.1
million deficit in 2012 and is set to
run out of funding and shut down
in July 2012.

3. Transit Reform Process & Dates
February 2011: Together Baton Rouge & Baton Rouge Area
Chamber formed Blue Ribbon Commission on Transit
June 2011: Blue Ribbon Commission submits final
recommendations for comprehensive transit reform. Mayor,
Metro Council & CATS endorse its findings.
January 2012: CATS calls for transit election and legislative
strategy to implement Blue Ribbon Commission proposal.
April 21st, 2012: Election Date for Transit Reform

4. The System Today
Traffic Congestion
Avg. delay per year
U. S. Avg for Mid-size Cities 22 hours
Baton Rouge 37 hours
Baton Rouge rank for congestion
among mid-size U.S. cities 33rd
(2010)?
# of mid-size cities studied? 33

5. Projected Traffic Congestion
FuturEBR projects traffic congestion will increase
to over 70 hours per year in 20 years
Traffic Delay per Capita
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

6. Projected Traffic Congestion
FuturEBR prediction
of congested routes
in 20 years

7. What does mass transit have to do
with traffic?

8. The System Today
Average wait time between 75 minutes
buses?
Average total trip time? 2 hours, 20 minutes
(Time it takes to drive to Biloxi, MS.)
Outdated “spoke” route Essen to Bluebonnet:
structure built for cities of 40 5 – 10 minutes by
years ago. car, over 2 hours by bus
High-demand areas not O’Neal Lane, Coursey
Blvd, Essen & Siegan
covered by transit system.
Lane

9. The System Today
Poor Signage and Stops
 Shelters are in poor condition or do not exist.
 Poor and uninformative signage at bus stops: no
route information; no time information.

10. How did it get this
bad?

11. Baton Rouge transit funding vs.
other southern cities
Per capita
Peer Cities (2009) funding
Atlanta $253
New Orleans $215
Austin $162
Houston $138
Charlotte $134
Knoxville $84 Includes local
Little Rock $84 taxes, fares and
Raleigh $70 federal funding
Memphis $59
Peer City Average $133
Baton Rouge (2009) $32
Baton Rouge (2012) $27
Source: National Transit Database, 2009

12. Is efficiency the problem?

13. Why not just raise revenue from the
riders?
Percent of
Peer Cities (2009) funding from fares
Peer City Average 14%
Baton Rouge (2011) 25%
B.R. already has a very high dependence on rider fares
for funding

14. Other cities with dedicated revenue for transit …
Akron, OH Bradenton, FL Commerce, CA Fond du
Alameda, CA Bremerton, WA Concord, CA Lac, WI
Albuquerque, N Brunswick, OH Corpus Fort Collins, CO
M Buffalo, NY Christi, TX Fort Myers, FL
Ames, IA Burlington, WA Corvallis, OR Fort Smith, AR
Ann Arbor, MI Canton, OH Culver City, CA Fort Wayne, IN
Antioch, CA Cedar Cumberland, M Fort Worth, TX
Arlington, VA Rapids, IA D Fredericksburg,
Asheville, NC Chapel Hill, NC Dallas, TX VA
Atlanta, GA Charleston, SC Davenport, IA Gardena, CA
Austin, TX Charleston, WV Davis, CA Gary, IN
Bakersfield, CA Charlotte, NC Dayton, OH Glendale, AZ
Batavia, OH Charlottesville, Denver, CO Grand
Bay City, MI VA Detroit, MI Forks, ND
Bellingham, WA Chicago, IL Duluth, MN Grand
Benton Cincinnati, OH El Paso, TX Rapids, MI
Harbor, MI Cleveland, OH Elk Grove, CA Grand
Billings, MT Colorado Everett, WA River, OH
Birmingham, AL Springs, CO Fairfield, CA Granite City, IL

15. MORE cities with dedicated revenue for transit …
Great Falls, MT Kent, OH Medford, OR Oxnard, CA
Greensboro, N La Mirada, CA Miami, FL Peoria, IL
C LaCrosse, WI Minneapolis, M Petaluma, CA
Gretna, LA Lafayette, IN N Phoenix, AZ
Hanford, CA Lakeland, FL Missoula, MT Pinole, CA
Hesperia, CA Lancaster, CA Moline, IL Pittsburgh, PA
Highland Lansing, MI Montebello, CA Pompano
Falls, NY Laredo, TX Monterey, CA Beach, FL
Holland, MI Largo, MD Murfreesboro, T Port Huron, MI
Houston, TX Las Cruces, NM N Port
Huntington, WV Lawrence, KS Napa, CA Washington, WI
Indianapolis, IN Lewisville, TX New Porterville, CA
Iowa City, IA Lexington, KY Orleans, LA Portland, OR
Jackson, MI Livermore, CA New York, NY Providence, RI
Jacksonville, FL Logan, UT Norwalk, CA Redondo
Jefferson Lompoc, CA Oakland, CA Beach, CA
City, MO Long Oceanside, CA Richland, WA
Kalamazoo, MI Beach, CA Olympia, WA Riverside, CA
Kansas Los Omaha, NE Rockville, MD

16. STILL MORE cities with dedicated revenue for transit …
Sacramento, CA Santa Monica, CA Tempe, AZ Wenatchee, WA
Saginaw, MI Santa Rosa, CA Thousand West Covina, CA
Salem, OR Savannah, GA Oaks, CA West Palm
San Antonio, TX Scottsdale, AZ Thousand Beach, FL
San Seattle, WA Palms, CA Wheeling, WV
Bernardino, CA Sioux City, IA Toledo, OH Winston-
San Carlos, CA South Bend, IN Topeka, KS Salem, NC
San Diego, CA Spokane, WA Tucson, AZ Woodland, CA
San Francisco, CA Springfield, IL Union City, CA Yakima, WA
San Jose, CA St. Cloud, MN Urbana, IL Youngstown, OH
San Juan, PR St. Johns, MI Vallejo, CA
Santa St. Joseph, MO Valparaiso, IN No dedicated
Barbara, CA St. Paul, MN Vancouver, WA
funding means
Santa Clarita, CA St. Petersburg, FL Ventura, CA
Santa Cruz, CA Stockton, CA Visalia, CA losing millions in
Santa Fe, NM Sugar Land, TX Washington, DC
federal match-
Santa Maria, CA Tampa, FL Waterloo, IA
funding & grants.

17. How does LSU Tiger Trails do it?
 When LSU left the CATS system, it created a
dedicated revenue source through a fee on student
tuitions.
 Funding for LSU tiger trails = $132 per capita for its
service area.
(compared to Southern Metro average of $133 and
CATS funding of $32)

18. Election to create dedicated revenue
source for transit
Election Date: April 21st, 2012
Municipalities included: Baton Rouge, Baker and Zachary
 Only voters in city limits are eligible to vote on or pay the proposed
tax.
 Each election is held separately. Success or failure in any
municipality does not affect other elections.
Cost depends upon
home value
Rates, Revenue and Cost per Household Value of Cost per
Dedicated Property Avg cost per Home month
Average house
Revenue Tax rate household per $50,000 $4.42
value by area
Amount (mills) month
$75,000 $6.63
Baton Rouge $16,663,200 10.6 $14 $157,100
$100,000 $8.83
Baker $636,000 10.6 $10 $110,074
$125,000 $11.04
Zachary $1,144,800 10.6 $16 $180,518
$150,000 $13.25
TOTAL $18,444,000
$200,000 $17.67
$300,000 $26.50

19. How does the proposed rate for transit
compare to other dedicated revenue
sources in our City-Parish?
Other EBR-area millage rates
Proposed rate for Parish Library 11.1 mills
transit: 10.6 mills BREC 14.46 mills
Average for fire districts 18.65 mills
Downtown Dev District 10 mills
Baker Schools 43.2 mills
EBR Schools 43.45 mills
Zachary Schools 79.2 mills

20. 3 Components of
Comprehensive Transit Reform
1) Service Improvements
2) Governance Reform
3) Accountability

21. I. Service Improvements
 Decrease wait times between buses from the current average of 75 minutes to 15
minutes (at peak hours)
 Build 3 new transfer centers to replace “spoke” system with “grid” system , to
allow easy transfers systemwide.
 Overhaul bus stops, with new shelters and benches
 Overhaul all signage for transit stops, providing detailed route and time
information
 Add GPS tracking to fleet, with exact arrival times accessible on cell phones
 Increase service from 19 to 37 routes, including high-demand areas that currently
are not served (eg. O’Neal Lane, Coursey Blvd., Essen and Siegen Lane)
 Increase peak-hour buses from 32 to 57.
 Create eight new express and limited stop lines:
Express Routes
Serving Southern University, Airport, O’Neal Lane, Mall of Louisiana,
Highland / I-110 and Downtown
Limited Stop Routes
Baker/Zachary through Southern University, Florida Blvd, LSU to Downtown
 Lay foundation for Bus Rapid Transit system

22. New route map
&
city boundaries

23. II. Governance Reform
 Overhaul selection process for CATS board members
(following recommendations of Blue Ribbon Commission)
 Remove Metro Council from operational decisions such as
routes and fares, in line with best practices nationally.
 Legislation has been introduced for 2012 legislative
session.

24. III. Accountability
 CATS will adhere to and publicize concrete benchmarks and timeline
of deliverables for service improvement.
 Together Baton Rouge will meet EVERY THREE MONTHS to hold
CATS accountable for delivery according to timeline.
2012
July – September: First wave of new bus purchases (10 – 15 buses).
GPS system is installed and functional.
October – December: Expand bus shelters by at least 25.
Install new bus signs with route info.
2013
January – March: Expand CATS bus pass sales locations.
April – June: Continue expansion of bus shelters.
July – September: Second wave of new bus purchases (15 – 20 buses)
October – December: Community-wide meetings on new routes and
services.
2014
January – March: Implement expanded routes and decreased wait times.

25. How will transit reform affect Baker
and Zachary?
In addition to general system changes
 Better connectivity to jobs and medical facilities in
Baton Rouge and between Baker and Zachar.
 Decrease wait times from 90 minutes to 30-40
minutes during peak hours.
 New Express Service from Baker and Zachary to
CATS central terminal, via I-110.
 New service to the Metro Airport.
 New circulator service within Baker and Zachary.
 Expanded paratransit service for elderly and
disabled (very large demand for this service in
Baker).

26. Proposed Baker and Zachary
Routes routes and express line to Baton
New circulator
Rouge.

27. The paratransit system
serves people with
disabilities

28. How will transit reform
affect paratransit services?
Paratransit coverage Currently, paratransit
depends on the fixed route service is available in
system: service is provided 60% of EBR Parish.
within 3/4 of a mile from all
fixed routes.
If transit reform
If the election
passes on April
fails, ALL paratransit
21st, paratransit
service will come to an
service will expand to
end since there will be
70% of EBR Parish
no more fixed route
and 90% of Baton
system.
Rouge, Baker and
Zachary.

29. The choice is
ours.
VOTE ON APRIL
21 st!