The Louisiana Legislature may have given the state's residents the right to have "I'm a Cajun" placed on their driver's license during the recently ended session, but they also allowed a transportation bill to die on the Senate floor with the result that Louisianans could end up being required to have a passport in order to board any commercial flight. "That was a disappointment," says Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport spokesman Jim Caldwell, referring to the bill's defeat. "I really thought that this year it would go through." Amendments presented to the Senate Transportation Committee would have brought Louisiana into compliance with the Real ID Act of 2005—which state lawmakers have rejected as too intrusive since they passed a law in 2008 restricting the state from including a symbol on driver's licenses showing compliance. In January, an extension was given to Louisiana and other states that were not in compliance with the federal regulations. As of February, 19 states are...
Despite a steady ridership at around 10,500 passengers a month, the LA Swift bus service between Baton Rouge and New Orleans will stop running at the end of this month, with the DOTD announcing it would not renew the service's contract.
With the LA Swift Baton Rouge-New Orleans bus service en route to cease operations at the end of June, those who believe the government should continue subsidizing the service and those who see it as wasteful spending are making their respective cases. Nonprofit organization Bike Baton Rouge is supporting an online petition recently started by a group formed to save LA Swift in an attempt to get the state to continue funding the service. As of this morning it has about 550 signatures. "The elimination of the LA Swift will only serve to exacerbate highway congestion," says Beaux Jones, chairman of the Bike Baton Rouge board. "Meantime, as any urban planner will tell you, one of the paradoxes of highway expansion is that it inevitably induces more demand." However,...
Elite Airways, the charter-service airline that plans to begin regular scheduled service to and from Baton Rouge later this summer, appears to be running behind with its startup date. Originally the Maine-based airline, which has an operations center in Melbourne, Fla., was planning a mid-June announcement to unveil details of its new route service. However, local airport officials are not yet sure when the airline coming. "They are still hoping to announce something later this month," says Baton Rouge Metro Airport spokesman Jim Caldwell. "But they are working on their reservation system and taking their time making sure everything is in place so they can do it properly." Elite president John Pearsall says he will be in Baton Rouge next week for meetings to discuss the airline's plans and will have a better idea of when service will begin at that time. To read more about Elite Airlines' plans to service Baton Rouge, click
The LA Swift Baton Rouge-New Orleans bus service is scheduled to end at the end of June. There's still time to save it, but someone's going to have to come up with the money. DOTD says a $750,000 annual local match is needed to replace a reduction in available federal funds. No state money has been allocated for that purpose. "If a local entity would like to enter into a contract to continue services starting July 1, federal funds may be available to them," DOTD says. "Additionally, Greyhound provides a self-sustaining bus service between New Orleans and Baton Rouge." Callen Hotard, CEO of service provider Hotard Coaches, says adjustments to the contract could slash the local cost in half. So far, no funding source has been identified, but supporters of the service say they haven't given up. "A lot of people still see LA Swift as something that came after Katrina so people could commute into New Orleans," says BRAC spokesman Phillip LaFargue. "It's about connecting these two...
The end of the LA Swift bus service June 30 leaves thousands of Baton Rouge-New Orleans commuters without a viable transit option, supporters say. A survey of 300 riders developed by AARP Louisiana, the Center for Planning Excellence, RIDE New Orleans, and the Greater New Orleans Foundation has found: • 51% of riders use the service to get to work; • 14% use it to access health care services; • 32% do not have a car; • 53% are willing to pay a higher fare than the current $5.
Bob Mirabito grew up in the Northeast, riding trains and buses on a daily basis. “My high school in New Jersey was 30 miles from where we lived,” he recalls.
For two years, Gene Todaro ran Marcello's, a popular restaurant on Perkins Road in Southdowns. It regularly drew a steady crowd of patrons, who came both for the hearty Italian fare and the happening bar scene.
CATS board Chairman Isaiah Marshall says the four transportation firms that have submitted proposals to serve as CATS's program manager will make presentations to a board committee at a meeting tentatively scheduled for June 24. In May, the board issued an RFQ for a program manager to oversee system improvements that voters were promised would be implemented by 2014 if they approved a dedicated CATS tax, which was done last year in Baton Rouge and Baker. As reported previously in Daily Report, four firms responded to the RFQ: URS, SJB Group, MV Transportation, and Veolia Transportation. URS is the only one of the applicants that has previously done work for CATS. The San Francisco-based publicly traded company did a study for the agency on its corporate structure. Veolia also has experience in Louisiana. Its clients include the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority. Marshall says the program manager will be under contract for a minimum of 18 months, though likely much longer,...
Four transportation firms have submitted proposals to serve as CATS program manager, which will be selected later this summer to oversee long-promised service upgrades and improvements to the bus system. The firms include: URS, a publicly traded company based in San Francisco with more than 50,000 employees in 50 countries worldwide; SJB Group, a local company that does planning, engineering, environmental and site-development work; MV Transportation, a transit management company operating 200 transit systems in 28 states and two foreign countries; and Veolia Transportation, a transit management company with 160 clients worldwide, including New Orleans' Regional Transit Authority. Last month, CATS issued a RFQ for a program manager to help implement service upgrades that voters were promised when they approved a dedicated property tax for CATS. Chief among those improvements is the change from a hub-and-spoke to a grid system and the construction of several new bus shelters. The RFQs...
The CATS board of directors today hired Robert Mirabito, a retired technology executive, as its interim CEO for the next six to nine months while the search for a permanent replacement is under way. The board accepted the recommendation of its committee, which last week chose Mirabito over local pest control company owner John Conroy for the temporary position that was created when former CEO Brian Marshall resigned in April. For Mirabito, who grew up in the Northeast and regularly used rail lines and buses in New Jersey and New York, improving public transit in Baton Rouge has piqued his interest since he moved here four years ago to take a job as chief information officer at the Baton Rouge Radiology Group. When that position was eliminated earlier this year due to budget cuts, Mirabito says he began looking for his next opportunity and decided to throw his hat in the ring when the CATS position came open. Mirabito tells Daily Report his first priority as interim CEO will be...
Now that a CATS board committee has selected an interim CEO—Robert Mirabito, a former chief information officer for the Baton Rouge Radiology Group—the board can turn its attention to hiring a program manager. While Mirabito will run CATS on a day-to-day basis—provided his nomination is approved by the full CATS board—it will be the responsibility of the program manager to implement the system upgrades and improvements that voters were promised in 2012, when they approved a dedicated CATS property tax. So what's the difference between a program manager and the so-called contract management arrangement that the board earlier this year shot down when it was suggested in a consultant's report? Semantics, concedes board Chairman Isaiah Marshall. "When the consultants presented their report, they talked about contract management and private management; and as board members began asking questions, the answers started coming out wrong and there got to be some...
Of the 13,175 bridges throughout Louisiana, 1,783—or 13.5%—were deemed structurally deficient by the Federal Highway Administration last year, according to data compiled by Governing magazine in a new report. That makes Louisiana home to the 13th-highest percentage of structurally deficient bridges in the country. Pennsylvania has the highest percentage, 24.4%, while Nevada and Florida have the lowest, 2.2%. The term "structurally deficient" means a bridge has at least one major component showing deterioration. Bridges with the designation receive higher priority for funding, but it does not mean they are unsafe to travel on. Nearly 67,000 bridges nationwide are considered structurally deficient, or about 11% of all bridges recorded in federal data. You can read the full Governing story
Among the improvements to service under consideration by the board overseeing the Capital Area Transit System is the creation of so-called community circulars, which would offer limited service on popular thoroughfares either during certain days of the week or for special occasions. "This is an amenity we want to be able to offer the community," says CATS board Vice Chairman Dalton Honore. "We want to create a quick on-and-off ride." Three streets are under consideration for the service: Perkins Road, Government Street and South Sherwood Forest Boulevard. The idea would be to provide a mass transit alternative to patrons who want to, say, gallery hop through Mid City or dine out and not have to worry about driving home. Honore says CATS would use vans—not full-size buses—to provide service on community circular routes. CATS ordered 12 new buses and 15 vans in 2012 and is awaiting delivery of them. Since the April resignation of former CATS CEO Brian Marshall, board...
A CATS board committee today will interview two candidates vying for the position of interim CEO—John Conroy, a local pest control company owner, and Robert Mirabito, a former chief information officer. The board hopes to have the position filled by the beginning of June. Also today, the board will begin sorting through requests for qualifications that were submitted last week for a so-called program manager—an outside consultant—that will oversee the agency's transition from a hub-and-spoke route system to a grid system. It's a lot of change coming midway through what has been a tumultuous year for CATS, which saw its embattled CEO, Brian Marshall, resign in April amid public criticism over the slow pace of service upgrades and improvements. But CATS board Chairman Isaiah Marshall, no relation to Brian Marshall, and Vice Chairman Dalton Honore—who is overseeing administrative duties until the interim CEO is hired—say the agency is moving forward with...
So many of us avoid things we don't understand, don't have time for, or don't want to worry about. When it comes to insurance, many of us buy a cheap policy, pay our premiums on time, and forget the rest. The downside to this mindset can't be overstated: you could lose hundreds—if not thousands—of dollars a year overpaying for car insurance you don't need; or, you could end up with an insurer who, when an accident occurs, will end up costing you thousands you would otherwise receive from another provider.
While daily commuters to East Baton Rouge from outside the parish are often considered the cause of snarled traffic on the city’s roadways during rush hours, the parish ranks relatively low compared to other highly populated Louisiana parishes and U.S. counties when it comes to the percentage of commuters among its total workforce.
Baton Rouge Metro Airport scored a small but potentially significant win earlier this month, when it landed a deal with Elite Airways, a regional carrier that will begin offering nonstop service to several popular destinations in the South this summer.
Is Baton Rouge, dare I say it, embracing the smart growth mindset? More and more, I'm seeing stories and hearing about new projects that tend to point us in that direction.
A search committee of Baton Rouge's public transit system, CATS, has set a special meeting at 11:30 a.m. Friday to discuss its process for finding an interim CEO and determine which of the 10 applicants should be interviewed for the job. The meeting, which is open to the public, will take place on the second floor of CATS headquarters, 2250 Florida Blvd. Former CEO Brian Marshall resigned in April after leading CATS since 2009. CATS Board President Isaiah Marshall, no relation to Brian Marshall, has said applicant interviews will also be open to the public and the full board will also be invited to ask questions. No additional candidates beyond the 10 the board already identified will be considered for the interim position, which Isaiah Marshall has also said will be filled on May 30.
All current employees of the city-parish who are authorized to drive municipal vehicles will have to take a four-hour driver safety course every two years, following Metro Council approval Wednesday of an ordinance by Councilman Buddy Amoroso. The ordinance will also apply to new hires authorized to drive municipal vehicles but does not apply to the city-parish's nearly 1,000 fire, police and EMS employees, who are already required to take driver safety courses. Roughly 700 employees are affected by the ordinance. Amoroso, who took the course himself earlier this month to ensure it would be worthwhile, says he drafted the ordinance in response to the high number of accidents city-parish employees are involved in. Claims settlements are also routinely before the council due to accidents in which employees are at fault. "What we're trying to do is change the culture of city-parish employees to make them more safety-minded," he says. The course is expected to cost about $4 per employee.
While daily commuters to East Baton Rouge from outside the parish are often considered the cause of snarled traffic on the city's roadways during rush hours, the parish ranks relatively low compared to other highly populated Louisiana parishes and U.S. counties when it comes to the percentage of commuters among its total workforce. According to a new report from Governing magazine, just 29% of the total workforce in East Baton Rouge—76,728 of the total 264,326 workers—is commuting into the parish. That's nowhere near the 45.1% in Orleans Parish, which leads the state for commuters among the workforce. Even Ascension Parish has a higher rate than East Baton Rouge, at 32.9. In neighboring Livingston Parish, about 6,000 of the total workforce of 27,900—or 21.5%—commutes from outside the parish each day. Arlington County, Va., has the highest percentage of commuters in the U.S., at 76.6%, while the District of Columbia has the second-highest percentage...
When the CATS board meets this afternoon, among the items on its agenda will be the renewal of a public relations and marketing contract with Clay Young Enterprises, a local PR firm that has been representing the transit agency on a temporary basis since December. Clay Young, the firm's owner, says he has a $19,000 contract with CATS that runs through the end of May. That contract has covered work his firm has done on the CATS logo, annual report, and radio and TV spots, Young says, though it has not covered the cost of placing the media buys for the commercials. Young says his firm has also "facilitated an extended dialogue with the media" in an effort to keep the public informed about the progress the beleaguered public transit agency has made toward implementing service upgrades and improvements that were promised in 2012 when voters in Baton Rouge and Baker approved a 10-year, 10.6-mill property tax to fund CATS. The CATS board is today considering a $12,000 contract extension...
After taking the four-hour course himself earlier this week, Metro Councilman Buddy Amoroso says he's moving forward with his push to require all city-parish employees who drive municipal vehicles—except those in the police and fire departments—to get the driver safety certification. "I thought it was an excellent class, and I think it would accomplish what I'm trying to do," Amoroso says. What he's trying to do, aside from improving safety, is reduce the number of insurance claims on which the city-parish is paying out due to accidents involving its employees where they're found to be at fault. The course is administered by the city-parish Human Resources Department and certified by the National Safety Council. When completed, the certification is good for two years. Amoroso says the ordinance he's introducing Wednesday would require 671 city-parish employees to take it. The 981 fire and police department employees would be exempt, he says, because they're already...
As CATS faces a firestorm of criticism over poor operations and services—despite benefiting from last year's dedicated tax approval in Baton Rouge and Baker—Business Report Publisher Rolfe McCollister says the public transit system is making a mistake by not hiring contract management as a consulting firm has recommended. "CATS has gone through several leadership changes, and its problem is more than just the top spot," writes McCollister in his latest column, noting the recent resignation of CEO Brian Marshall. "TMG Consulting issued a report to the board saying basically that CATS is understaffed, overspends, and ranks 15th out of 16 peer systems in service efficiency. To fix things, the report recommended replacing everyone in the CATS C-suite with better-qualified experts from a private company." Some members of the board, as well as BRAC and the Center for Planning Excellence, are in favor of contract management, McCollister notes. "The mayor, Metro Council...
In his 1997 book The Twenty-First Century City, former Indianapolis Mayor Stephen Goldsmith proposed what he called the “Yellow Pages test”: “If the phone book lists three companies that provide a certain service,” he wrote, “the city probably should not be in that business.” Makes sense to me.
Hampton Inn guests who park in the state-owned LaSalle Garage need not worry about getting towed. The downtown hotel is leasing 137 parking spaces in the facility, which provides unreserved parking spaces for state employees and YMCA patrons. "There is no public parking in this garage, so there is no anticipated need for towing," says Division of Administration spokesman Michael DiResto. Towing became an issue in another of the state-owned garages on Third Street when Republic Parking, which manages the state's five parking garages, hired Riverside Towing for enforcement. The company—known for its aggressive tactics—towed the vehicles of several patrons attending events downtown who had parked in spaces they assumed were reserved only during normal business hours. The state has since suspended the practice. The agreement between the Hampton Inn and the state is a 20-year base lease, with two 10-year renewal options. The hotel is paying $164,400 annually in the first five...
The announcement Monday that Southwest Airlines is adding new nonstop flights this fall between New Orleans and Austin, Texas, is good news for travelers not only in the Crescent City but also in Baton Rouge, which is just an hour's drive from Louis Armstrong International Airport. But it's not a cause for celebration at Baton Rouge Metro Airport, which struggles—like most smaller airports—to increase service and attract new carriers. "Anytime a competing airport gets something new like that, it doesn't help us," says Jim Caldwell, the airport's marketing director. That said, sources tell Daily Report BTR is in talks with a small, regional airline that is considering adding flights from Baton Rouge to other destinations in the South. Caldwell confirms negotiations are under way but will not disclose the name of the airline involved. He also says the airport continues to reach out to other airlines but concedes it's a hard sell because of market conditions...
In an effort to increase the safety of both city-parish employees and the public—as well as cut down on the number of insurance claims the city is paying out for auto accidents—Metro Councilman Buddy Amoroso is proposing that employees who drive municipal vehicles be required to take a driver safety course. "Every meeting, we're paying out on some pretty costly settlements for automobile accidents that city-parish drivers have gotten into and they're at fault," Amoroso says. "Tonight, actually, we have one that is for $450,000, and it's not the only one on the agenda." Amoroso is asking the council at today's meeting to set a public hearing on May 22 to discuss the issue. Amoroso says he intends on taking the course himself before the public hearing to ensure it's worth employees' time and the $2 per participant fee it would cost the city-parish. The police department, Amoroso says, would not be included in the requirement. Also at today's meeting, the council will take...
It is bus service as usual in the city of Zachary. Although the community isn't paying the additional property taxes to the Capital Area Transit System that Baton Rouge and Baker are, its routes have remained the same. Documents obtained by Business Report through a public records request indicate that buses still run through Zachary almost hourly 16 times a day, from 5:35 a.m. to 8:15 p.m., just as they did before the April 2012 election. "Here we have an example of Zachary voting not to pay the tax still getting the service," says Elizabeth Dent of Taxbusters.us, which opposed the 10.6-mill property tax. "What's wrong with that picture?" Zachary rejected the additional millage with a whopping 79% of the vote, while voters in Baton Rouge and Baker approved it. The election excluded Central and the unincorporated areas of East Baton Rouge Parish. CATS officials didn't respond to questions about why routes for Zachary have not changed since the tax election, or whether there...
Mark Martin is prepping for a full schedule of projects on the horizon—from securing a designation of Route 90 from DeRidder to Bogalusa as a US Bicycle Route, preparing for workshops later this month with several Baton Rouge organizations to brainstorm how to use federal funding to improve bike and pedestrian infrastructure, and consulting with the city on a new Dalrymple Drive bike path.
A section of U.S. 90 in Lafayette Parish may soon be upgraded as part of the Interstate 49 South project. The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development issued a notice of intent Wednesday seeking a company to design and build the section of U.S. 90 from just north of Ambassador Caffery Parkway South in Lafayette to Albertson Parkway in Broussard. DOTD says the project will consist of widening the highway to six lanes and potentially building several miles of frontage roads and several overpasses. It is expected to cost between $75 million and $85 million. DOTD expects to award the project to a firm no later than January 2014. Construction could be finished by early 2017. The construction of I-49 South from Lafayette to the West Bank of New Orleans has been in the department's plans for decades, but the multibillion-dollar price tag has stalled completion. State and local officials recently announced they're working to divide the project into smaller sections that can be...
As far back as late last year, rumors swirled that Brian Marshall—embattled CEO of the Capital Area Transit System—was on his way out. Marshall, a veteran of the Chicago transit system who was four years into his tenure at CATS, had increasingly come under fire for the performance of Baton Rouge's bus system.
What's next for CATS? That's the question swirling about the city's transit system in the wake of the resignation letter CEO Brian Marshall submitted late Monday to the board. Board Chairman Isaiah Marshall, who is not related to Brian Marshall, says the short-term plan is to hire an interim CEO, who will serve for several months while a national search for a permanent replacement is under way. While it's too early to say who might be offered the temporary job, sources say several names are already being bandied about, including those of local businesspeople. When asked whether the board might reconsider the suggestions of a transit consulting firm made earlier this year—namely, that the board hire outside administrators to run the agency on a temporary basis—Isaiah Marshall says no. "The decision has been made to go in the direction of a permanent CEO," he says. "That is the direction in which we are going to go." Sources tell Daily Report a majority of the board...
CATS board members were preparing to meet later this week to discuss Brian Marshall's contract when the CEO abruptly submitted his letter of resignation late Monday.
CATS board members were preparing to meet later this week to discuss Brian Marshall's contract when the CEO abruptly submitted his letter of resignation late Monday. Sources tell Daily Report that Marhsall, who was operating under a month-to-month contract and has been increasingly under fire for his management of the public transit agency, was losing support from those board members who had previously been in his camp. The full board was planning to hold a special meeting to discuss whether to continue or terminate the contract, sources say. Board chairman Isaiah Marshall, who is not related to Brian Marshall, declined to discuss what precipitated the CEO's resignation, saying only, "We had a conversation (Monday) and I respect his decision." Other board members decline to comment, saying Isaiah Marshall speaks for the board. However, sources say it was increasingly clear that Brian Marshall no longer had the support to keep his job. You can read his complete resignation...
Metro Councilman Ryan Heck says he's pulled from Wednesday's agenda a discussion and update from CATS officials about the progress of the public transit system. Heck, who also sits on the CATS board of directors, had initially put the item on the council's April 10 agenda. It was deferred for two weeks by the council at that time. Heck wouldn't go into specifics this morning on why he's decided to pull the item, adding, "It's something that I will consider putting back on the agenda in the future if it's necessary." Heck had previously told Daily Report he wanted CATS officials to provide a report to the Metro Council so those who have been asking him about the progress of the public transit system could have their questions answered directly. "They want to see the money well spent," Heck says, referring to the dedicated property tax that voters in Baton Rouge and Baker approved for CATS last year. "Right now, I think everybody—the pro-tax payers, the anti-tax payers,...
One year ago this month, voters in Baton Rouge and Baker approved a 10-year, 10.6 mill dedicated property tax for CATS on a promise that the agency would build and operate a top-flight public transit system. But as Business Report Executive Editor JR Ball sees it, CATS "and its remarkably maladroit management team have wasted little time in making the case for why it's stupid to give unfettered tax-proposing authority to a government entity in which exactly zero folks running the agency ever—repeat, ever—have to stand before voters on election day and ask to keep their jobs." When asked to approve the tax, Ball notes, voters were promised the service would not only dramatically improve, but reform measures would improve management of the system. Instead, he says, voters have gotten "an embarrassing admission from CATS officials that the property tax, despite pre-election vows to the contrary, is not exempt from the homestead exemption," in addition to many more...
The Better Block BR event last weekend saw an impressive turnout, and despite rain shutting down the second day of the event, the sense of accomplishment was already there. Saturday saw between 1,500 and 2,000 attendees, according to organizers, and guest appearances from Mayor Kip Holden and his caravan of cyclists for the Mayor's Family Bike Day.
Baton Rouge-based CellControl, which specializes in technologies aimed at eliminating distracted driving, has signed an agreement with San Francisco-based Esurance to provide the insurance company's teenage customers with CellControl devices in their cars.
A proposed state law would make it illegal to post status updates or anything else to social media websites while driving. With an eye toward closing a loophole in the law that prohibits texting while driving, the Senate Transportation Committee today approved a measure that would add accessing, reading and posting to social media sites, such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, to the prohibited list while driving. The proposal by Sen. Dale Erdey, R-Livingston, was approved by the committee without objection. It moves to the full Senate for debate. Erdey says the impetus for the bill came from law enforcement officials in the city of Walker who reported stopping drivers who looked like they were texting. After being pulled over, the drivers said they were not texting—they were posting to Facebook or Instagram. "Under current law, nothing states or talks about social networking," Erdey says. "Texting, social networking—it's all about taking your eyes off the road."
Representatives from three transportation associations in the state say they're disappointed that Gov. Bobby Jindal "failed to address the state's transportation funding problems or offer any indication" that he considers it a priority during his opening remarks in the legislative session on Monday. The three associations are: Louisiana Good Roads and Transportation, the American Council of Engineering Companies in Louisiana, and the Louisiana chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers. "Unfortunately, it looks like transportation, as a public policy issue, is not on the governor's political radar," says ACEC of Louisiana Executive Director Daniel Mobley in a prepared statement issued by the three groups. Mobley says the state has a $12 billion backlog of transportation needs but no plan in place to address it. He acknowledges the state has used one-time money from past budget surpluses and federal stimulus programs to reduce the backlog from $14 billion in recent years, but...
This weekend marks the beginning of a transformation on Government Street with the Better Block BR project. Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on the two blocks between Bedford and Beverly drives, residents will get to see a model of what Government Street could look like if we push local and state officials to update the roadway to a safer, more “complete street” model.
Baton Rouge-based CellControl, which specializes in technologies aimed at eliminating distracted driving, has signed an agreement with San Francisco-based Esurance to provide the insurance company's teenage customers with CellControl devices in their cars. CellControl CEO and co-founder Rob Guba says the company is providing the technology—which consists of a smartphone app and small device that plugs into the vehicle's computer—to Esurance under the deal. In turn, Esurance is providing it to teenage drivers free of charge. The idea, Guba says, is that Esurance will reduce its exposure to accident claims among teenage drivers—whom statistics show are increasingly getting into accidents due to distracted driving—while CellControl will gain exposure and credibility in a new market segment. "The beauty of this is, Esurance sees incredible value in our solution to distracting driving, and they also see an opportunity to reduce their exposure," Guba says.
Together Baton Rouge will release tonight the results of a scorecard evaluating CATS's success in implementing five reforms that were supposed to be completed by the end of the first quarter of this year. It does not appear the results will reflect well on the beleaguered public transit agency. Of the reform measures that were suggested by a 2011 blue ribbon commission—reduced rush-hour wait times, GPS bus locator system, new buses for express routes, 10 new shelters and more transparent, clear information—only the GPS locator system has been implemented, and even that system is still riddled with kinks. "On some things it's obvious they have not delivered," says Edgar Cage, who heads the transportation committee for Together Baton Rouge. "But first quarter 2013 was the first quarter where we were expecting deliverables, so it is too early in the process to say my hopes are diminished." Together Baton Rouge was instrumental in helping get passed a 10-year, 10.6-mill...
CATS has issued a request for proposals for a so-called implementation plan program manager that will be hired to oversee the long-awaited transit reforms that voters in Baton Rouge and Baker were promised when they approved a 10-year, 10.8-mill property tax for the agency one year ago. The RFP, posted Wednesday on the CATS website, says the contract will be for about 18 months and will not be awarded to the lowest bidder, but rather to the firm that demonstrates "that combination of expertise, production and price which is the most advantageous to CATS and its passengers." The program manager will report directly to the public transit system's CEO, according to the RFP, and will be charged with overseeing all aspects of the CEO's recently released plan for improving the beleaguered agency's performance. Those reform measures include: establishing three new...
Safety concerns raised by the Capital Area Transit System's maintenance workers don't reflect immediate danger, but they are being addressed, says CATS CEO Brian Marshall. Last week, mechanic Fred Quiett and a colleague advised the transit agency's board of directors of what they described as hazardous conditions and worn-out equipment, including the lack of an eyewash station and the need for new lifts and jacks. "There is no imminent danger," Marshall says. "Before now, we did not have the capacity to replace equipment and tools. Many of the items on the list will be repaired or replaced within the next two months." He says the agency is determining the cost, with plans to pay the expenses from the capital and maintenance budgets. Marshall also is defending RouteMatch, CATS's new GPS software, which is intended to inform riders in real time when a bus will arrive at their stop. Since being launched in January, the system has gotten mixed reviews. But the CEO says it's common for...
Metro Councilwoman C. Denise Marcelle says when the council takes up filling the lone vacancy on the CATS board of directors at Wednesday's meeting, she'll nominate Errol Domingue, a pastor who has been active in transit and community building issues for years. Domingue is one of 14 applicants who will be considered by the council to fill the open seat of former CATS board President Tom Govan, who resigned Jan. 2. Marcelle is expecting council members to make a number of nominations for the spot. "I would hope they would unanimously select [Domingue], but I really doubt it," she says. Marcelle and Councilwoman Ronnie Edwards had floated the idea of forming a committee to vet the CATS board applicants and make a recommendation to the council, but Marcelle pulled an item from the last meeting's agenda. She says she did so in part because the council was confused and not in agreement...
Back in February, the Better Block BR public workshop gave residents the chance to say what they think makes for, well, a better block. A series of visual examples were scattered around the meeting room at Ingleside Methodist Church. Visitors were given red and green stickers and told to place them on the examples they liked and those they didn't.
CATS will issue a request for proposals for an outside program manager to implement the public transit agency's recently unveiled plan for improved service and efficiency. Board Chairman Isaiah Marshall tells Daily Report the board will "very soon" begin the search for a program manager who will assist staff management in "wrapping up and making sure we hit benchmarks for 2014" that were set after voters in Baton Rouge and Baker approved a 10.6-mill, 10-year dedicated property tax for CATS. Marshall declined to provide a specific timeframe for when the RFP will be issued. The decision to go with so-called staff augmentation is a somewhat tempered version of the contract management model that a consulting firm earlier this year recommended CATS adopt. That report suggested CATS should bring in a slate of...
So much is going on this week that I could easily devote several blog posts to, but I thought I'd try to keep it simple. Here's what you should know about that's happening in our smART city right now:
CATS CEO Brian Marshall presented his long-awaited business plan today for upgrading and improving services to the city's bus system. Among the highlights: establishing three new transfer centers; creating new express lines; bringing service to currently underserved areas; reducing wait times at bus stops; using GPS tracking to make routes and exact arrival times accessible via mobile devices; and increasing the number of bus stop shelters. The three-year plan makes use of the controversial 10-year, 10.6-mill property tax approved last spring by voters in Baton Rouge and Baker. A significant part of Marshall's plan is the hiring of an outside program manager to oversee the implementation of the upgrades and improvements. CATS board Chairman Isaiah Marshall, no relation to Brian Marshall, says that manager might be an individual or a firm. Isaiah Marshall says the board also plans to hire a chief operating officer and a human resources manager. Brian Marshall's plan also calls for...
CATS CEO Brian Marshall will publicly unveil his long-awaited plan for upgrading and improving services to the city's public transit system Wednesday morning at a CATS board committee meeting. Though CATS board Chairman Isaiah Marshall, who is not related to Brian Marshall, has seen the business plan, he won't discuss details of it until after "everyone has had a chance to get their questions answered tomorrow." Brian Marshall was originally scheduled to present the plan—which promises to explain how CATS will implement upgrades to the system funded by the 10-year, 10.6-mill property tax voters in Baton Rouge and Baker approved last spring—at a Feb. 22 meeting that was hastily canceled. Isaiah Marshall says all or most of the CATS board is expected to attend tomorrow's meeting, though no board action is expected. Also on the agenda for the meeting is management response to "staff augmentation suggestion," which refers to a board consultant's recommendation that the CATS...
CATS Chairman Isaiah Marshall today informed the public transit system’s board of two new committees that will help select a ninth and final board member in March and oversee new developments regarding the overhaul of the bus transportation system. The Management Committee is comprised of Marshall, as chair, Deborah Roe and Dalton Honore. The Board Development Committee is comprised of Donna Collins-Lewis, Ryan Heck and Roe. Marshall says the committees were designed this month and will have no participation in helping CEO Brian Marshall—who is not related to Isaiah Marshall—develop a business plan for CATS, whose budget has changed dramatically since Baton Rouge and Baker voters last year approved a 10-year, 10.6-mill property tax dedicated to the bus system. "The plan is already being put together by the administration," Isaiah Marshall says, "so that’s not the purpose of this committee." Collins-Lewis says her understanding is that the new committees will...
If you were one of the many at the Better Block BR public workshop last week, you know there are quite a few folks in town who have a passionate interest in smart growth in Baton Rouge. Next week, you'll get another chance to share your thoughts on smart growth and alternative transportation pathways as Downtown Development District hosts three days of public workshops and discussions on the proposed Downtown Greenway.
Now that CATS has money to grow—thanks to the 10-year, 10.6-mill dedicated property tax approved by voters in Baton Rouge and Baker last year—a priority for the public transit agency is to build new bus shelters along revamped routes. However, $237,124 in federal grant money for shelters, which has been sitting safely in the bank, may be lost in the coming weeks if CATS doesn't soon put out a request for proposals to manufacturers, says CATS General Manager Carol Cranshaw. When CATS board member Jared Loftus noted during a regular meeting on Tuesday that the grant money could soon expire, Cranshaw said the Federal Transit Administration is waiting for at least an update on RFPs. On Wednesday, Cranshaw said the FTA wants to see the RFPs go out before the end of March, or it will take back the grant funds. "Then Congress wants them redistributed," Cranshaw says. In the meantime, a plan for the bus shelters won't be discussed publicly anytime soon, since a committee meeting...
A consultant's report that identifies serious shortcomings in the management of CATS and recommends replacing the public transit agency's management team with outside experts is full of "errors, misrepresentations and omissions," and is, essentially, "useless."
A consultant's report that identifies serious shortcomings in the management of CATS and recommends replacing the public transit agency's management team with outside experts is full of "errors, misrepresentations and omissions," and is, essentially, "useless." So says the beleaguered management team in a written response to the report, which TMG Consulting delivered to the CATS board in January. Daily Report obtained a copy of the management response in a public records request. The response makes for interesting reading, not least because of its defensive, albeit curiously worded, language. "Clearly, TMG are no Green Bay Packers but by all evidence provided CATS with a less than sandlot report," the response says, apparently trying to suggest the TMG report is unprofessional and amateurish. For example, the CATS response faults TMG for criticizing the system's aging and unreliable fleet, "but does not indicate that new vehicles were ordered, which will decrease the...
In preparation for the Better Block BR event in April—where two blocks of Government Street will be converted to a “complete street” model for a weekend—organizers are hosting a workshop tonight to hear what types of infrastructure, businesses and activities you want to see along the route.
When the CATS board of directors holds it regular monthly meeting later today, among the items on the agenda will be the election of officers and the contract of embattled CEO Brian Marshall. As reported by Daily ReportMonday, board Chairman Jared Loftus is likely to be replaced by Isaiah Marshall, who says he believes he has the support of a majority of the board to be elected chairman. Brian Marshall's month-to-month contract could also come up today, though Isaiah Marshall—who is no relation to the CEO—says he will push to defer the measure. Among the reasons: Brian Marshall is scheduled later this week to present to a CATS committee his long-awaited plan detailing how the agency will implement the expanded and improved bus service that was promised to voters last spring, when they approved a new 10-year, 10.6-mill property tax...
A change in the executive leadership of the CATS board is likely Tuesday when the transit system's board of directors elects new officers at its regular monthly meeting. Sources tell Daily Report that Chairman Jared Loftus does not have the support of a majority of the board to be re-elected to his current position and that Isaiah Marshall will be selected by the board's nominating committee for the position. Marshall confirms he expects the nomination and says he believes he has the votes. Loftus declined to comment. A change in leadership could have implications for how the CATS board proceeds with the findings of a consultant that last month recommended the agency replace its top management with outside experts. A review of the contract of CATS CEO Brian Marshall—who is not related to Isaiah Marshall—which is currently month-to-month, is also on the agenda. A CATS committee today recommended that the board not take up the contract issue, Isaiah Marshall says,...
More than a year after it was first scheduled to be complete, the widened stretch of Interstate 10 between the I-10/Interstate 12 split and Siegen Lane officially opened today, says the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. The $86.2 million project, which began in 2009, expands the freeway from four to six lanes in both directions. In 2011, DOTD replaced the lead contractor on the project, from Austin Bridge & Road Inc. to Boh Bros. Construction of New Orleans. The project is part of the $315 million Geaux Wider program, an ongoing development that will revamp I-10 and I-12 in East Baton Rouge and Livingston parishes. DOTD says drivers can expect I-10 work to continue between Siegen Lane and Highland Road, where additional widening to six lanes is expected to be complete this spring. That project has a $60 million price tag. The widening is expected to ease traffic along a four-mile stretch of roadway that is used by an estimated 73,000 motorists every day. Last...
The airline industry took a decisive step toward greater concentration Thursday with the announcement that American Airlines and US Airways have agreed to merge, forming the nation's biggest airline, The New York Timesreports. The merged airline, to be called American, leaves just three major carriers, including Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, able to offer extensive domestic and international service. But while airline executives argue that mergers are good for passengers because they bring more service to more destinations, some economists and consumer advocates warn that consolidation comes at a price for travelers. With fewer carriers, passengers have fewer options, and fares and fees are now more likely to go up, particularly for flights between midsize cities. And more cities, especially smaller ones, can expect to see further...
Public meetings will be held in Ascension and Livingston parishes next week to discuss the feasibility of building a new four-lane parkway and bridge across the Amite River, connecting the two parishes. The project would link access to three major roadways: U.S. 190, Interstate 10 and Interstate 12. Livingston Parish will host its public meeting Tuesday, from 6 to 8 p.m., at the Livingston Parish Health Unit, 29261 South Frost Road, in Livingston. Ascension Parish's meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 20, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Lakeside Primary School, 16500 State Route 431, in Prairieville. The open house meetings will provide an overview of the proposed project, with parish officials and engineers on hand to answer questions. A toll road connecting the two parishes has previously been discussed by officials, who have said a preliminary study shows a $2-per-vehicle toll road could generate more than $5 million annually.
Federal-aid highways in Louisiana that were damaged by Hurricane Isaac will be repaired with the help of more than $24 million in federal grant funds. The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development is receiving $24,124,570 in funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation. "This grant will begin the process to rebuild or repair that infrastructure," reads a statement from Sen. David Vitter, who announced the grant award today. The grant is funded through the Federal Highway Administration Emergency Relief program and will be used to pay for emergency repair work.
Louisiana school buses operated by municipal and parish boards would be exempt from paying fuel taxes if legislation introduced Friday passes during the upcoming legislative session, which begins April 8, The Times-Picayune reports. The fuel tax goes into a state fund dedicated to road construction and repair. No estimate is yet available regarding how much revenue that fund would lose as a result of the exemption. House Bill 24, sponsored by state Rep. Sherman Mack, R-Livingston, would exempt "from state fuel taxes fuel sold to or consumed by school buses owned and operated by a parish or municipal school board." Legislative Fiscal Office economist Greg Albrecht says the exemption would reduce the amount of money going to the state's Transportation Trust Fund, which is financed by a state gas tax of 20 cents per gallon. Albrecht adds that the office has not estimated how...
Shortly after receiving a performance evaluation in executive session this morning, CATS CEO Brian Marshall was mum on the reviews he received from the public transit's board of directors, though he confirmed he will remain the top leader at CATS. Marshall gave no indication about which way the board is leaning as it considers hiring an outside firm to temporarily assist the agency in its growth. On Thursday, CATS board member and Metro Councilman Ryan Heck criticized the board and CATS management for a perceived lack of a plan for reaching expansion goals outlined in a 2012 tax election. Marshall says he is in the process of improving a CATS business plan to quell criticism. "I think what you're going to see very soon is the documents in compilation form, and that will kill all of that," he says. Deborah Roe, a board member and chair of the evaluation committee, says the board today discussed only Marshall's job performance and would not go into detail about those conversations.
The committee that will select a new director for the Capital Region Planning Commission met for the first time today, with hopes of finding a proactive leader who will be successful in drawing down federal dollars for planning and transportation projects. "Right now, this [metropolitan planning organization] is doing just the bare minimum," says Mary Stringfellow of the Federal Highway Administration. The MPO primarily serves the core areas around Baton Rouge, and is run by the same staff as the CRPC, which serves 11 parishes. Walter Brooks, head of the New Orleans MPO, says technical expertise may be less important than management and communications skills. Current and former employees often criticized the management style of the former director, Huey Dugas,
Coastal Bridge Co., a 57-year-old heavy construction company, is under new ownership. Longtime employee Kelly Sills, who has been with the company more than 20 years and owns several other business ventures, acquired Coastal Bridge in late December from Robert Overall Jr. and Ed Milner Jr., who have owned it since the 1970s. "They wanted to sell; I was able to get the deal done," says Sills, whose other ventures include local homebuilder Level Construction. "Nothing really changes. It's kind of like no one even knows." Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Sills says he has no changes planned for the company or for its approximately 250 employees. But then, business is good these days. The company just finished its best year ever in 2012, with revenues of more than $70 million, and currently has a backlog of some $45 million in mostly road construction projects for the state Department of Transportation and Development. In Business Report's 2012 listing of the Top...
A CATS committee meeting held today to begin reviewing recommendations recently made by an independent consulting firm ended without any action being taken. Isaiah Marshall, who sits on the CATS board of directors and the F&E Committee that met today, characterized it as "an overview meeting," adding, "There was really no meat that was discussed in detail." The recommendations from TMG Consulting grabbed a lot of headlines, primarily those regarding potential changes to management of the public transit system. But CATS CEO Brian Marshall says most local media reports following the release of the recommendations were not entirely on target, which left the committee meeting today with a lot of questions as they began digging into the report for themselves. "There were some real question marks as far as what the consultant was really saying," says the CEO, who is not related to Isaiah Marshall. The committee today discussed "a lot of the media speculation going on," says Isaiah...
The CATS board of directors will begin discussing Thursday recommendations on system operations and management spelled out in a report authored by TMG Consulting, delivered to the board about two weeks ago. "Tomorrow we take the first step on that path of deciding what is going to be done" to improve CATS, says board Chairman Jared Loftus, who also chairs the CATS F&E Committee that will meet tomorrow at 11 a.m. at CATS headquarters, 2250 Florida Blvd. "By no means are we deciding one way or the other on anything tomorrow," Loftus says. "But there are big decisions to be made, there are a lot of questions out there, and tomorrow we begin to discuss them." Among the recommendations made, TMG Consulting says CATS management and certain key staff positions should be turned over to a private company. TMG Consulting says contracted management is not the same...
While the abrupt resignation of Capital Region Planning Commission Executive Director Huey Dugas was a surprise, says Mayor Kip Holden, the officials who oversee the CRPC have long been concerned about his leadership. "We want our [metropolitan planning organization] to be one of the best in the nation," Holden says. "In order to achieve that, we needed to seek a new direction." The CRPC serves an 11-parish region, while the MPO, operated by the same staff, primarily serves the core urban areas of East Baton Rouge, West Baton Rouge, Ascension and Livingston parishes; Holden is part of the executive committee that oversees the agency. Holden would not comment on any discussions committee members have had about the internal management of the office. But he says "there was some question of confidence" in Dugas, and says the local MPO has not been as successful as its New Orleans neighbor at drawing federal funds for transportation projects. The executive committee met today, accepted...
Huey Dugas, executive director of the Capital Region Planning Commission, has resigned, sources tell Daily Report. The resignation has not been publicly announced. A CRPC staffer would not confirm or deny the resignation and referred questions to West Baton Rouge Parish President Riley "Pee Wee" Berthelot, vice chairman of the executive committee that oversees the CRPC. Berthelot did not respond to a call for comment in time for publication. Dugas has directed the CRPC staff since 2010. During that time, the commission has corrected some of the issues that nearly caused its Metropolitan Planning Organization to lose federal accreditation. But many former employees and outside parties who deal with the commission say Dugas mismanages the office and maintains a hostile work environment. More than a dozen employees have resigned or been fired since he took over, including Ray Miller Jr., a former transportation director,
Baton Rouge's public transit system is featured on a CBS This Morning segment that aired today, focusing on the national debate about privacy concerns in light of increasing public surveillance. The segment zeroes in on CATS because it installed recording cameras and microphones on all of its 63 buses in 2011 with hopes of improving rider safety and behavior. CATS CEO Brian Marshall tells CBS the cameras have worked. The report says only one fight has broken out on a CATS bus over the past two years, while workers' compensation claims have fallen 65% and passenger complaints have fallen 80%. "It's wonderful to be able to have that audio and video component," Marshall says. As for privacy concerns, Marshall says no one is sitting around monitoring the surveillance videos, let alone private conversations. "We don't have that kind of time, or interest, to monitor those private kinds of conversations." The report says CATS "seldom" looks at its recordings and keeps them for two...
In its report to the CATS board, TMG Consulting recommends the transit agency replace its top administrators with outside experts. Among the possibilities are three large transit companies that have similar arrangements in cities around the country. The TMG report does not suggest contracting with any particular company because public bid laws require that should CATS decide to contract out its management, it would have to issue an RFP. However, TMG consultants did name the following companies as possible options.
You could forgive CATS staffers for giving themselves a moment in the sun. Even as officials took to the microphone at the Jan. 15 board meeting to extol the accomplishments of 2012 and the improvements in the city's mass transit system, everyone at the standing-room-only meeting knew the agency was about to get hammered.
As the CATS board ponders a consultant's recommendation that it contract out its executive staff positions in order to increase efficiency and improve service, it will be looking in part to New Orleans for advice. The Crescent City's Regional Transit Authority moved to a so-called delegated management model in 2009, when it hired Veolia Transportation to manage, operate and maintain its system. While that arrangement is far more extensive than that recommended by the consultants for Baton Rouge's public transit system, Veolia will likely be among the companies from which CATS will solicit bids for a management contract, should the board move in that direction. So what has been the experience in New Orleans? According to statistics, the costs of operating buses in New Orleans in 2011 was actually more than in 2009, when Veolia took over the RTA—$14.28 per vehicle revenue mile as compared to about $12 per vehicle revenue mile—but still less than in 2008, when it topped $17...
When TMG Consulting presented its findings on CATS to the transit agency's board last night, it didn't blame any particular CATS executive for the shortcomings highlighted in the report. But it made clear that the best way to achieve the agency's goal of service expansion is to replace key C-level positions, specifically the CEO, COO and CIO. "The existing conditions cannot continue," consultant Dwight Norton told the board, noting that CATS ranks 15th out of 16 peer systems in service efficiency, lacks industry-standard software for scheduling routes, and has no capital program or budget prepared for the next several years. Now, CATS CEO Brian Marshall is engaging in what could be seen as damage control. In a written statement issued this afternoon, Marshall says: "Over the past couple of years, [CATS] has seen an improvement in our on-time performance, our training and overall fiscal efficiency. … The report submitted by TMG is another part of that process. TMG is not in an...
When CATS board members received a report last night on how the system can best meet its promised service expansion goals, it came as no surprise that the consulting firm recommended contracting out top management positions within the transit agency. What did catch some board members off guard were several findings in the report, including the fact that CATS uses Excel spreadsheets to schedule bus routes, rather than an industry-standard software tool known as Trapeze. "I'm still not sure what that's about," says board Chairman Jared Loftus. Loftus was also taken aback when transit consultant Dwight Norton told the board the CATS staff has still not come up with a documented capital plan for the expansion and improvement of service, which the agency promised to deliver when voters approved a 10.6-mill property tax last spring. "[The board] has tasked the administration with putting together this plan," says Loftus. "That is their responsibility. Now we are finding out that it still...
Management and certain key positions on the CATS staff should be turned over to a private company. That's the much anticipated recommendation from a consulting firm hired by the CATS board to advise it on restructuring the public transit system. TMG Consulting says contracted management is not the same thing as privatization, nor is it as extensive as the delegated management model in place at the public transit system in New Orleans, where a private company is in charge of all operations and maintenance. Contracted management could be put in place in CATS within three months, consultants say, and would increase the system's efficiency.—Stephanie Riegel
In anticipation of greater-than-usual interest in today's CATS board meeting, the transit agency has moved the meeting location to a space that can accommodate more people. The issue that's generating a lot of buzz is the much-anticipated report from a New Orleans-based consulting firm that will recommend a handful of restructuring options for CATS, including farming out management of the agency to a private company. But CATS board Chairman Jared Loftus says "privatization" is too strong a term to describe what will likely be in the report, which has been kept under tight wraps, adding that no vote on any sort of restructuring option will be taken this afternoon. "Privatization will not be on the table," he says, "but I imagine that making people understand what 'privatization' means will be part of the conversation." Loftus says "privatization" means turning over all the assets and liabilities of the agency to a private company, something CATS will not be considering today. Some...
Last month, there was public discussion about the need to shake up the nine-member CATS board and possibly replace some of the four members whose terms were up for reappointment. Then, after 12 newcomers threw their hats into the ring, there was a push to defer the Metro Council vote on reappointments so that the candidates could be thoroughly vetted. But at Wednesday's Metro Council meeting, after several council members previously said they favored deferring the matter, the group reappointed three of the four CATS board members facing the end of their terms. "We were disappointed," says Edgar Cage, who works with Together Baton Rouge. "I can't say whether the best candidates were chosen or not because there was no vetting process." So what happened? Sources tell Daily Report at least some council members were lobbied hard by various groups and power brokers to get the board appointments settled in advance of the upcoming CATS board meeting on Tuesday. That's when TMG...
When the new Metro Council holds its first meeting this afternoon, it is likely to defer what was expected to be one of the most controversial issues on the agenda: appointments to the CATS board. The terms of four of the nine board members are up, and 16 candidates, including the existing board members, have submitted their names for consideration. But several Metro Council members say they are getting requests to put off the vote for two more weeks and are inclined to do so. "I'd like to see it deferred, and I think the votes are there for deferral," says Mayor Pro Tem Chandler Loupe. Among those pushing for deferral is Together Baton Rouge, the community organization that campaigned last year for the 10.6-mill property tax benefiting CATS. "We have made a firm commitment to do everything in...
Baton Rouge's transit system won't be getting more buses or adding new routes anytime soon. But beginning this month, CATS riders will be better able to estimate their notoriously long waits, thanks to an app that will enable passengers to hone in—in real time—on the exact location of their bus and determine when it will arrive at the stop. The new system, which is technically up and running but will not be officially rolled out until later this month, is made possible by GPS devices that were recently installed in all 57 CATS buses. Riders will be able to download an app to their mobile devices that will show them where their buses are and how long until they pass. "It isn't a silver bullet," says CATS board Chairman Jared Loftus. "But it will make the system more efficient. It opens up a lot of possibilities for us." Loftus says the GPS system will be as useful for CATS management as it is for riders. Previously, there was no precise way to measure the locations and...
The new year will potentially bring several new faces to the board overseeing CATS. Because of their staggered terms, four of the nine CATS board members are up for reappointment by the Metro Council, including chairman Jared Loftus, Dalton Honore, Deborah Roe and Marla Williams. As of Thursday's noon deadline, 16 hopefuls had submitted their names for consideration, including all four who currently fill the slots and are eligible for reappointment. It's likely to be a contentious issue when the council takes it up at its first meeting next week. Community leaders have made plain their displeasure with the existing board—save for Loftus, who appears to have broad support—and have said they want fresh blood on the board. "We definitely want to see good board members appointed," says BRAC CEO Adam Knapp. "We have been looking for folks to serve and making calls...
Newly re-branded as Bike Baton Rouge, the nonprofit formerly known as Baton Rouge Advocates for Safe Streets hopes to make 2013 a turning point for cycling in the capital city. Part of that effort, says board member Beaux Jones, is a program that recognizes and promotes bike-friendly businesses and business districts. "When people can walk and bike in between the stores, rather than get on the interstate and drive, it's good for business," he says. It's a way to thank businesses that encourage biking for their customers and workers in various ways, from putting out bike racks to providing showers for employees. "We want to encourage businesses and merchant associations to get together and say, 'As a group, we want to support cycling and alternative means of transportation,'" Jones says. Promising areas could be LSU's North Gates, the Perkins Road overpass area, Mid City and Capital Heights. The national bicycle commuting rate is a bit less than 1%; and Baton Rouge's rate is roughly...
North Carolina's Research Triangle region is a magnet for young professionals, says Mitchell Silver, planning director for Raleigh, N.C. Baton Rouge, on the other hand, seems to be repelling many of its educated young people, some of whom, Silver reckons, are headed his way.
By mid-January, Louisiana residents could need a passport to fly within the United States. There are a lot of unknowns regarding Louisiana's non-compliance with the federal REAL ID Act of 2005, but some of them could be cleared up later this week. Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Stephen Campbell says the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has promised him that the Transportation Security Administration will announce its decision this week on whether or not state-issued driver's licenses will continue to be valid identification cards for flying domestically and entering federal buildings. Campbell spent all of last week in Washington, D.C., attending a conference and seeking answers pertaining to what could happen if Louisiana doesn't get an extension to comply with the REAL ID Act, which is poised to take effect Jan. 14. "We're still hopeful that there will be an extension or some other compromise," says Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport spokesman Jim Caldwell.
With the completion of a 7.4-mile pathway loop for walking and biking in Baton Rouge, the city could take a step toward one of the visions laid out at the recent 2012 Smart Growth Summit and another step away from the fossilized, car-centric mindset it has clung to for decades. This morning BREC unveiled the first 2.2-mile section of the loop—called the Capital Area Pathways Project—behind the Mall of Louisiana, which will break ground in January and could be completed as early as next summer. It begins at Siegen Lane, near St. George Catholic Church and School, and passes near Richard Carmouche's urban mixed-use development, The Grove, as it ties in with Wards Creek and runs to Bluebonnet Boulevard. "Exactly how it will grow, I don't know," says Ted Jack, an assistant superintendent at BREC. It won't be until 2014 that BREC will consider allocating some of its strategic funding for another leg—or legs—of the pathway. "We'll keep partnering with people to get...
The fourth and final phase of work on O'Neal Lane and South Harrell's Ferry Road will begin on Saturday, Dec. 15, city-parish officials announced this morning. Once it does, the majority of through traffic and turn-lane restrictions that have been in place on the roadways during earlier and current phases of construction will be lifted. The final phase of the project, which had been slated to begin Saturday but was delayed due to weather, is expected to be complete in three to four months. Work on the intersection at O'Neal and South Harrell's Ferry began on July 16 as part of the Southeast Area Group project in the Green Light Plan. The Southeast Area Group project, which includes three separate projects on the two roadways, commenced in September 2009 and is among the largest infrastructure projects in the history of the city-parish, officials say. You can get complete details and updates on all Green Light Plan projects online
Gov. Bobby Jindal joined other state and local officials in Greenwell Springs today to mark the completion of the new La. 64 Magnolia River Bridge connecting East Baton Rouge and Livingston parishes. The four-lane bridge spanning the Amite River cost $19.9 million to build and replaces a former two-lane bridge crossed by an estimated 26,000 drivers each day. Jindal says completion of the project, which also includes the widening of La. 64 from Greenwell Springs Road to La. 1019, "will improve safety for drivers, speed up commutes and make the Capital Region more accessible to the rest of the state and the country." The new bridge has two 12-foot travel lanes in each direction and outside shoulders measuring 10 feet wide. The governor has more details about today's ribbon cutting at his website here.
Three weeks ago Together Baton Rouge gave CATS a "C-" overall grade for implementing plans since voters in April approved a 10.6-mill property tax dedicated to the cash-strapped public transit system. CATS received an "F" grade from Together Baton Rouge for poor communication with the public. Today, BRAC is expressing frustration that CATS is not meeting the expectations of improved service that were laid out during the tax campaign. Earlier this month, CATS officials revealed the transit system will not be able to implement one of the eight new express routes—one along Gardere Lane—that it planned to have in operation by January 2014. "The focus of CATS management should not be on what it is unable to provide, but on when and where we will begin to see improvements in our transit system," says Adam Knapp, president and CEO of BRAC, in a prepared statement released this morning. "The implementation by management has been very poor." To reach expected levels of operation,...
I'm not one to casually throw out motivational quotes. But at the Smart Growth Summit in downtown Baton Rouge Wednesday, Scott Bernstein of the Center for Neighborhood Technology said something I thought applied well to the many movers and shakers in the room (not to mention, y'know, to life in general). To paraphrase, “Great ideas, unlike fine wine, don't get better with age sitting up on a shelf.”
Transportation is often the second-largest expense for families, next to housing. Yet many homebuyers only consider finding a very affordable mortgage when purchasing a new home. That type of search often places families 10 to 15 miles away from the downtown of the city where they likely work. Scott Bernstein, president and co-founder of Center for Neighborhood Technology, calls this phenomenon of suburban living "drive till you qualify." CNT estimates Baton Rouge homeowners spend 22% of their income on housing. CNT also says housing is considered affordable if it costs less than 30% of a household budget: meaning, for example, the savings of living in Livingston Parish or Ascension Parish doesn't outweigh the cost of having to commute to Baton Rouge. "The housing looks affordable, but not when you throw in costs for transportation," says Bernstein, a guest speaker this morning at a 2012 Louisiana Smart Growth Summit seminar in Baton Rouge. CNT studies show foreclosure rates tend to...
Those parking in the Third Street garage after hours and on weekends won't have to worry about getting towed anymore. The state of Louisiana is suspending the controversial practice, opting instead for a more amicable solution.
Back in early September, John Schmidt pulled into the State Parking Garage on Third Street a little after 8 p.m. on a Saturday and parked his vehicle. When he returned, he discovered it had been hauled away by Riverside Towing. He made his way to the company's towing yard—a dark, isolated lot surrounded by chain-link fence under the downtown bridge near the levee. Transactions here are strictly cash. It was 8:45 p.m., but the lot didn't open until midnight. That meant he would be charged for an extra day of storage, not to mention a $45 "gate fee." Total cost of parking that night in downtown Baton Rouge: more than $200. There's a war going on in certain flourishing areas of Baton Rouge, and it's driven by simple supply and demand: too many vehicles, not enough parking. Game day at Tiger Stadium. Saturday night in the Perkins Road overpass district. Major events in downtown Baton Rouge. LSU area apartment complexes on the weekends. They are all battlegrounds. Merchants...
The lawsuit against CATS, calling the bus transportation system's new tax unconstitutional, will be defeated in court because CATS receives taxes other than just property tax, speculates Jared Loftus, the transit system's board president. Brought about by Milton Graugnard, a Cajun Industries executive, the lawsuit says the tax is unfairly levied against property owners within the city limits of Baker and Baton Rouge, while bus riders living outside city limits benefit from the bus service. "Around 85% of this [bus] system is inside city limits," Loftus says, noting that hotel occupancy taxes and monies from the city-parish transportation fund also support CATS. City-parish Assistant Finance Director Linda Hunt says until the new budget was hammered out, about $1.2 million from the transportation fund had gone to CATS for years. But this year—and for the unforeseeable future—about $550,000 is going to CATS. "Now we want to take that money and put it into our...
A new board tasked with increasing international commerce at Louisiana's 32 ports will benefit Baton Rouge, as well as towns and metro areas statewide, The Times-Picayune reports. The board, which is nearly completely formed, will draft a master plan with the goal of bringing jobs, manufacturing and infrastructure improvements to the state. Formally called the Louisiana Board of International Commerce, the board will include a mix of state officials and business leaders nominated and then appointed by the governor, as well as representatives from industry groups, state ports and airports. "The most important role of the board, from my perspective, will be shepherding and improving the state's Master Plan for international commerce," LED Secretary Stephen Moret says. "This is a significant opportunity to really expand what we're doing in the international commerce space, and it'll be a major focus for us during [Gov. Bobby Jindal's] second term." The board, whose creation was...
Louisianans may need passport for all flights
The Louisiana Legislature may have given the state's residents the right to have "I'm a Cajun" placed on their driver's license during the recently ended session, but they also allowed a transportation bill to die on the Senate floor with the result that Louisianans could end up being required to have a passport in order to board any commercial flight. "That was a disappointment," says Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport spokesman Jim Caldwell, referring to the bill's defeat. "I really thought that this year it would go through." Amendments presented to the Senate Transportation Committee would have brought Louisiana into compliance with the Real ID Act of 2005—which state lawmakers have rejected as too intrusive since they passed a law in 2008 restricting the state from including a symbol on driver's licenses showing compliance. In January, an extension was given to Louisiana and other states that were not in compliance with the federal regulations. As of February, 19 states are...
Swift exit
Despite a steady ridership at around 10,500 passengers a month, the LA Swift bus service between Baton Rouge and New Orleans will stop running at the end of this month, with the DOTD announcing it would not renew the service's contract.
LA Swift proponents, opponents debate letting the service die
With the LA Swift Baton Rouge-New Orleans bus service en route to cease operations at the end of June, those who believe the government should continue subsidizing the service and those who see it as wasteful spending are making their respective cases. Nonprofit organization Bike Baton Rouge is supporting an online petition recently started by a group formed to save LA Swift in an attempt to get the state to continue funding the service. As of this morning it has about 550 signatures. "The elimination of the LA Swift will only serve to exacerbate highway congestion," says Beaux Jones, chairman of the Bike Baton Rouge board. "Meantime, as any urban planner will tell you, one of the paradoxes of highway expansion is that it inevitably induces more demand." However,...
Launch date for new airline at BTR remains uncertain
Elite Airways, the charter-service airline that plans to begin regular scheduled service to and from Baton Rouge later this summer, appears to be running behind with its startup date. Originally the Maine-based airline, which has an operations center in Melbourne, Fla., was planning a mid-June announcement to unveil details of its new route service. However, local airport officials are not yet sure when the airline coming. "They are still hoping to announce something later this month," says Baton Rouge Metro Airport spokesman Jim Caldwell. "But they are working on their reservation system and taking their time making sure everything is in place so they can do it properly." Elite president John Pearsall says he will be in Baton Rouge next week for meetings to discuss the airline's plans and will have a better idea of when service will begin at that time. To read more about Elite Airlines' plans to service Baton Rouge, click
Will anyone save LA Swift?
The LA Swift Baton Rouge-New Orleans bus service is scheduled to end at the end of June. There's still time to save it, but someone's going to have to come up with the money. DOTD says a $750,000 annual local match is needed to replace a reduction in available federal funds. No state money has been allocated for that purpose. "If a local entity would like to enter into a contract to continue services starting July 1, federal funds may be available to them," DOTD says. "Additionally, Greyhound provides a self-sustaining bus service between New Orleans and Baton Rouge." Callen Hotard, CEO of service provider Hotard Coaches, says adjustments to the contract could slash the local cost in half. So far, no funding source has been identified, but supporters of the service say they haven't given up. "A lot of people still see LA Swift as something that came after Katrina so people could commute into New Orleans," says BRAC spokesman Phillip LaFargue. "It's about connecting these two...
AARP, CPEX lament end of LA Swift bus
The end of the LA Swift bus service June 30 leaves thousands of Baton Rouge-New Orleans commuters without a viable transit option, supporters say. A survey of 300 riders developed by AARP Louisiana, the Center for Planning Excellence, RIDE New Orleans, and the Greater New Orleans Foundation has found:
• 51% of riders use the service to get to work;
• 14% use it to access health care services;
• 32% do not have a car;
• 53% are willing to pay a higher fare than the current $5.
Tech transfer
Bob Mirabito grew up in the Northeast, riding trains and buses on a daily basis. “My high school in New Jersey was 30 miles from where we lived,” he recalls.
Business balance
For two years, Gene Todaro ran Marcello's, a popular restaurant on Perkins Road in Southdowns. It regularly drew a steady crowd of patrons, who came both for the hearty Italian fare and the happening bar scene.
CATS to vet potential program managers later this month
CATS board Chairman Isaiah Marshall says the four transportation firms that have submitted proposals to serve as CATS's program manager will make presentations to a board committee at a meeting tentatively scheduled for June 24. In May, the board issued an RFQ for a program manager to oversee system improvements that voters were promised would be implemented by 2014 if they approved a dedicated CATS tax, which was done last year in Baton Rouge and Baker. As reported previously in Daily Report, four firms responded to the RFQ: URS, SJB Group, MV Transportation, and Veolia Transportation. URS is the only one of the applicants that has previously done work for CATS. The San Francisco-based publicly traded company did a study for the agency on its corporate structure. Veolia also has experience in Louisiana. Its clients include the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority. Marshall says the program manager will be under contract for a minimum of 18 months, though likely much longer,...
Four firms apply to be CATS program manager
Four transportation firms have submitted proposals to serve as CATS program manager, which will be selected later this summer to oversee long-promised service upgrades and improvements to the bus system. The firms include: URS, a publicly traded company based in San Francisco with more than 50,000 employees in 50 countries worldwide; SJB Group, a local company that does planning, engineering, environmental and site-development work; MV Transportation, a transit management company operating 200 transit systems in 28 states and two foreign countries; and Veolia Transportation, a transit management company with 160 clients worldwide, including New Orleans' Regional Transit Authority. Last month, CATS issued a RFQ for a program manager to help implement service upgrades that voters were promised when they approved a dedicated property tax for CATS. Chief among those improvements is the change from a hub-and-spoke to a grid system and the construction of several new bus shelters. The RFQs...
CATS hires former tech exec as interim CEO
The CATS board of directors today hired Robert Mirabito, a retired technology executive, as its interim CEO for the next six to nine months while the search for a permanent replacement is under way. The board accepted the recommendation of its committee, which last week chose Mirabito over local pest control company owner John Conroy for the temporary position that was created when former CEO Brian Marshall resigned in April. For Mirabito, who grew up in the Northeast and regularly used rail lines and buses in New Jersey and New York, improving public transit in Baton Rouge has piqued his interest since he moved here four years ago to take a job as chief information officer at the Baton Rouge Radiology Group. When that position was eliminated earlier this year due to budget cuts, Mirabito says he began looking for his next opportunity and decided to throw his hat in the ring when the CATS position came open. Mirabito tells Daily Report his first priority as interim CEO will be...
CATS board turns to taking up contract management
Now that a CATS board committee has selected an interim CEO—Robert Mirabito, a former chief information officer for the Baton Rouge Radiology Group—the board can turn its attention to hiring a program manager. While Mirabito will run CATS on a day-to-day basis—provided his nomination is approved by the full CATS board—it will be the responsibility of the program manager to implement the system upgrades and improvements that voters were promised in 2012, when they approved a dedicated CATS property tax. So what's the difference between a program manager and the so-called contract management arrangement that the board earlier this year shot down when it was suggested in a consultant's report? Semantics, concedes board Chairman Isaiah Marshall. "When the consultants presented their report, they talked about contract management and private management; and as board members began asking questions, the answers started coming out wrong and there got to be some...
La. is No. 13 in U.S. for percentage of structurally deficient bridges
Of the 13,175 bridges throughout Louisiana, 1,783—or 13.5%—were deemed structurally deficient by the Federal Highway Administration last year, according to data compiled by Governing magazine in a new report. That makes Louisiana home to the 13th-highest percentage of structurally deficient bridges in the country. Pennsylvania has the highest percentage, 24.4%, while Nevada and Florida have the lowest, 2.2%. The term "structurally deficient" means a bridge has at least one major component showing deterioration. Bridges with the designation receive higher priority for funding, but it does not mean they are unsafe to travel on. Nearly 67,000 bridges nationwide are considered structurally deficient, or about 11% of all bridges recorded in federal data. You can read the full Governing story
CATS looking to create community routes on popular thoroughfares
Among the improvements to service under consideration by the board overseeing the Capital Area Transit System is the creation of so-called community circulars, which would offer limited service on popular thoroughfares either during certain days of the week or for special occasions. "This is an amenity we want to be able to offer the community," says CATS board Vice Chairman Dalton Honore. "We want to create a quick on-and-off ride." Three streets are under consideration for the service: Perkins Road, Government Street and South Sherwood Forest Boulevard. The idea would be to provide a mass transit alternative to patrons who want to, say, gallery hop through Mid City or dine out and not have to worry about driving home. Honore says CATS would use vans—not full-size buses—to provide service on community circular routes. CATS ordered 12 new buses and 15 vans in 2012 and is awaiting delivery of them. Since the April resignation of former CATS CEO Brian Marshall, board...
CATS board zeroing in on interim CEO, program manager
A CATS board committee today will interview two candidates vying for the position of interim CEO—John Conroy, a local pest control company owner, and Robert Mirabito, a former chief information officer. The board hopes to have the position filled by the beginning of June. Also today, the board will begin sorting through requests for qualifications that were submitted last week for a so-called program manager—an outside consultant—that will oversee the agency's transition from a hub-and-spoke route system to a grid system. It's a lot of change coming midway through what has been a tumultuous year for CATS, which saw its embattled CEO, Brian Marshall, resign in April amid public criticism over the slow pace of service upgrades and improvements. But CATS board Chairman Isaiah Marshall, no relation to Brian Marshall, and Vice Chairman Dalton Honore—who is overseeing administrative duties until the interim CEO is hired—say the agency is moving forward with...
Do you understand car insurance?
So many of us avoid things we don't understand, don't have time for, or don't want to worry about. When it comes to insurance, many of us buy a cheap policy, pay our premiums on time, and forget the rest. The downside to this mindset can't be overstated: you could lose hundreds—if not thousands—of dollars a year overpaying for car insurance you don't need; or, you could end up with an insurer who, when an accident occurs, will end up costing you thousands you would otherwise receive from another provider.
What’s the rush?
While daily commuters to East Baton Rouge from outside the parish are often considered the cause of snarled traffic on the city’s roadways during rush hours, the parish ranks relatively low compared to other highly populated Louisiana parishes and U.S. counties when it comes to the percentage of commuters among its total workforce.
Elite flights
Baton Rouge Metro Airport scored a small but potentially significant win earlier this month, when it landed a deal with Elite Airways, a regional carrier that will begin offering nonstop service to several popular destinations in the South this summer.
Baton Rouge getting smarter?
Is Baton Rouge, dare I say it, embracing the smart growth mindset? More and more, I'm seeing stories and hearing about new projects that tend to point us in that direction.
CATS to decide on interim CEO interviews Friday
A search committee of Baton Rouge's public transit system, CATS, has set a special meeting at 11:30 a.m. Friday to discuss its process for finding an interim CEO and determine which of the 10 applicants should be interviewed for the job. The meeting, which is open to the public, will take place on the second floor of CATS headquarters, 2250 Florida Blvd. Former CEO Brian Marshall resigned in April after leading CATS since 2009. CATS Board President Isaiah Marshall, no relation to Brian Marshall, has said applicant interviews will also be open to the public and the full board will also be invited to ask questions. No additional candidates beyond the 10 the board already identified will be considered for the interim position, which Isaiah Marshall has also said will be filled on May 30.
Council approves driver safety course for city-parish employees
All current employees of the city-parish who are authorized to drive municipal vehicles will have to take a four-hour driver safety course every two years, following Metro Council approval Wednesday of an ordinance by Councilman Buddy Amoroso. The ordinance will also apply to new hires authorized to drive municipal vehicles but does not apply to the city-parish's nearly 1,000 fire, police and EMS employees, who are already required to take driver safety courses. Roughly 700 employees are affected by the ordinance. Amoroso, who took the course himself earlier this month to ensure it would be worthwhile, says he drafted the ordinance in response to the high number of accidents city-parish employees are involved in. Claims settlements are also routinely before the council due to accidents in which employees are at fault. "What we're trying to do is change the culture of city-parish employees to make them more safety-minded," he says. The course is expected to cost about $4 per employee.
EBR has relatively low percentage of daily commuters, report says
While daily commuters to East Baton Rouge from outside the parish are often considered the cause of snarled traffic on the city's roadways during rush hours, the parish ranks relatively low compared to other highly populated Louisiana parishes and U.S. counties when it comes to the percentage of commuters among its total workforce. According to a new report from Governing magazine, just 29% of the total workforce in East Baton Rouge—76,728 of the total 264,326 workers—is commuting into the parish. That's nowhere near the 45.1% in Orleans Parish, which leads the state for commuters among the workforce. Even Ascension Parish has a higher rate than East Baton Rouge, at 32.9. In neighboring Livingston Parish, about 6,000 of the total workforce of 27,900—or 21.5%—commutes from outside the parish each day. Arlington County, Va., has the highest percentage of commuters in the U.S., at 76.6%, while the District of Columbia has the second-highest percentage...
CATS board considers marketing, public relations contract today
When the CATS board meets this afternoon, among the items on its agenda will be the renewal of a public relations and marketing contract with Clay Young Enterprises, a local PR firm that has been representing the transit agency on a temporary basis since December. Clay Young, the firm's owner, says he has a $19,000 contract with CATS that runs through the end of May. That contract has covered work his firm has done on the CATS logo, annual report, and radio and TV spots, Young says, though it has not covered the cost of placing the media buys for the commercials. Young says his firm has also "facilitated an extended dialogue with the media" in an effort to keep the public informed about the progress the beleaguered public transit agency has made toward implementing service upgrades and improvements that were promised in 2012 when voters in Baton Rouge and Baker approved a 10-year, 10.6-mill property tax to fund CATS. The CATS board is today considering a $12,000 contract extension...
Nearly 700 city-parish employees could be made to take driver safety course
After taking the four-hour course himself earlier this week, Metro Councilman Buddy Amoroso says he's moving forward with his push to require all city-parish employees who drive municipal vehicles—except those in the police and fire departments—to get the driver safety certification. "I thought it was an excellent class, and I think it would accomplish what I'm trying to do," Amoroso says. What he's trying to do, aside from improving safety, is reduce the number of insurance claims on which the city-parish is paying out due to accidents involving its employees where they're found to be at fault. The course is administered by the city-parish Human Resources Department and certified by the National Safety Council. When completed, the certification is good for two years. Amoroso says the ordinance he's introducing Wednesday would require 671 city-parish employees to take it. The 981 fire and police department employees would be exempt, he says, because they're already...
Publisher: CATS needs to outsource management
As CATS faces a firestorm of criticism over poor operations and services—despite benefiting from last year's dedicated tax approval in Baton Rouge and Baker—Business Report Publisher Rolfe McCollister says the public transit system is making a mistake by not hiring contract management as a consulting firm has recommended. "CATS has gone through several leadership changes, and its problem is more than just the top spot," writes McCollister in his latest column, noting the recent resignation of CEO Brian Marshall. "TMG Consulting issued a report to the board saying basically that CATS is understaffed, overspends, and ranks 15th out of 16 peer systems in service efficiency. To fix things, the report recommended replacing everyone in the CATS C-suite with better-qualified experts from a private company." Some members of the board, as well as BRAC and the Center for Planning Excellence, are in favor of contract management, McCollister notes. "The mayor, Metro Council...
Let’s use Yellow Pages test
In his 1997 book The Twenty-First Century City, former Indianapolis Mayor Stephen Goldsmith proposed what he called the “Yellow Pages test”: “If the phone book lists three companies that provide a certain service,” he wrote, “the city probably should not be in that business.” Makes sense to me.
Hampton Inn leasing state garage spaces for guests
Hampton Inn guests who park in the state-owned LaSalle Garage need not worry about getting towed. The downtown hotel is leasing 137 parking spaces in the facility, which provides unreserved parking spaces for state employees and YMCA patrons. "There is no public parking in this garage, so there is no anticipated need for towing," says Division of Administration spokesman Michael DiResto. Towing became an issue in another of the state-owned garages on Third Street when Republic Parking, which manages the state's five parking garages, hired Riverside Towing for enforcement. The company—known for its aggressive tactics—towed the vehicles of several patrons attending events downtown who had parked in spaces they assumed were reserved only during normal business hours. The state has since suspended the practice. The agreement between the Hampton Inn and the state is a 20-year base lease, with two 10-year renewal options. The hotel is paying $164,400 annually in the first five...
New airline eyeing Baton Rouge
The announcement Monday that Southwest Airlines is adding new nonstop flights this fall between New Orleans and Austin, Texas, is good news for travelers not only in the Crescent City but also in Baton Rouge, which is just an hour's drive from Louis Armstrong International Airport. But it's not a cause for celebration at Baton Rouge Metro Airport, which struggles—like most smaller airports—to increase service and attract new carriers. "Anytime a competing airport gets something new like that, it doesn't help us," says Jim Caldwell, the airport's marketing director. That said, sources tell Daily Report BTR is in talks with a small, regional airline that is considering adding flights from Baton Rouge to other destinations in the South. Caldwell confirms negotiations are under way but will not disclose the name of the airline involved. He also says the airport continues to reach out to other airlines but concedes it's a hard sell because of market conditions...
Amoroso wants city-parish drivers to take safety course
In an effort to increase the safety of both city-parish employees and the public—as well as cut down on the number of insurance claims the city is paying out for auto accidents—Metro Councilman Buddy Amoroso is proposing that employees who drive municipal vehicles be required to take a driver safety course. "Every meeting, we're paying out on some pretty costly settlements for automobile accidents that city-parish drivers have gotten into and they're at fault," Amoroso says. "Tonight, actually, we have one that is for $450,000, and it's not the only one on the agenda." Amoroso is asking the council at today's meeting to set a public hearing on May 22 to discuss the issue. Amoroso says he intends on taking the course himself before the public hearing to ensure it's worth employees' time and the $2 per participant fee it would cost the city-parish. The police department, Amoroso says, would not be included in the requirement. Also at today's meeting, the council will take...
'Business Report': Despite rejecting CATS tax, Zachary retains service
It is bus service as usual in the city of Zachary. Although the community isn't paying the additional property taxes to the Capital Area Transit System that Baton Rouge and Baker are, its routes have remained the same. Documents obtained by Business Report through a public records request indicate that buses still run through Zachary almost hourly 16 times a day, from 5:35 a.m. to 8:15 p.m., just as they did before the April 2012 election. "Here we have an example of Zachary voting not to pay the tax still getting the service," says Elizabeth Dent of Taxbusters.us, which opposed the 10.6-mill property tax. "What's wrong with that picture?" Zachary rejected the additional millage with a whopping 79% of the vote, while voters in Baton Rouge and Baker approved it. The election excluded Central and the unincorporated areas of East Baton Rouge Parish. CATS officials didn't respond to questions about why routes for Zachary have not changed since the tax election, or whether there...
Changing gears
Mark Martin is prepping for a full schedule of projects on the horizon—from securing a designation of Route 90 from DeRidder to Bogalusa as a US Bicycle Route, preparing for workshops later this month with several Baton Rouge organizations to brainstorm how to use federal funding to improve bike and pedestrian infrastructure, and consulting with the city on a new Dalrymple Drive bike path.
DOTD to upgrade portion of U.S. 90
A section of U.S. 90 in Lafayette Parish may soon be upgraded as part of the Interstate 49 South project. The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development issued a notice of intent Wednesday seeking a company to design and build the section of U.S. 90 from just north of Ambassador Caffery Parkway South in Lafayette to Albertson Parkway in Broussard. DOTD says the project will consist of widening the highway to six lanes and potentially building several miles of frontage roads and several overpasses. It is expected to cost between $75 million and $85 million. DOTD expects to award the project to a firm no later than January 2014. Construction could be finished by early 2017. The construction of I-49 South from Lafayette to the West Bank of New Orleans has been in the department's plans for decades, but the multibillion-dollar price tag has stalled completion. State and local officials recently announced they're working to divide the project into smaller sections that can be...
Moving on
As far back as late last year, rumors swirled that Brian Marshall—embattled CEO of the Capital Area Transit System—was on his way out. Marshall, a veteran of the Chicago transit system who was four years into his tenure at CATS, had increasingly come under fire for the performance of Baton Rouge's bus system.
You get what you pay for?
It is bus service as usual in the city of Zachary.
CATS won't go to contract management model, board chairman says
What's next for CATS? That's the question swirling about the city's transit system in the wake of the resignation letter CEO Brian Marshall submitted late Monday to the board. Board Chairman Isaiah Marshall, who is not related to Brian Marshall, says the short-term plan is to hire an interim CEO, who will serve for several months while a national search for a permanent replacement is under way. While it's too early to say who might be offered the temporary job, sources say several names are already being bandied about, including those of local businesspeople. When asked whether the board might reconsider the suggestions of a transit consulting firm made earlier this year—namely, that the board hire outside administrators to run the agency on a temporary basis—Isaiah Marshall says no. "The decision has been made to go in the direction of a permanent CEO," he says. "That is the direction in which we are going to go." Sources tell Daily Report a majority of the board...
CATS board was planning to discuss CEO contract this week
CATS board members were preparing to meet later this week to discuss Brian Marshall's contract when the CEO abruptly submitted his letter of resignation late Monday.
CATS board was planning to discuss CEO contract this week
CATS board members were preparing to meet later this week to discuss Brian Marshall's contract when the CEO abruptly submitted his letter of resignation late Monday. Sources tell Daily Report that Marhsall, who was operating under a month-to-month contract and has been increasingly under fire for his management of the public transit agency, was losing support from those board members who had previously been in his camp. The full board was planning to hold a special meeting to discuss whether to continue or terminate the contract, sources say. Board chairman Isaiah Marshall, who is not related to Brian Marshall, declined to discuss what precipitated the CEO's resignation, saying only, "We had a conversation (Monday) and I respect his decision." Other board members decline to comment, saying Isaiah Marshall speaks for the board. However, sources say it was increasingly clear that Brian Marshall no longer had the support to keep his job. You can read his complete resignation...
CATS update to Metro Council pulled from agenda
Metro Councilman Ryan Heck says he's pulled from Wednesday's agenda a discussion and update from CATS officials about the progress of the public transit system. Heck, who also sits on the CATS board of directors, had initially put the item on the council's April 10 agenda. It was deferred for two weeks by the council at that time. Heck wouldn't go into specifics this morning on why he's decided to pull the item, adding, "It's something that I will consider putting back on the agenda in the future if it's necessary." Heck had previously told Daily Report he wanted CATS officials to provide a report to the Metro Council so those who have been asking him about the progress of the public transit system could have their questions answered directly. "They want to see the money well spent," Heck says, referring to the dedicated property tax that voters in Baton Rouge and Baker approved for CATS last year. "Right now, I think everybody—the pro-tax payers, the anti-tax payers,...
Editor: CATS tax dollars being wasted
One year ago this month, voters in Baton Rouge and Baker approved a 10-year, 10.6 mill dedicated property tax for CATS on a promise that the agency would build and operate a top-flight public transit system. But as Business Report Executive Editor JR Ball sees it, CATS "and its remarkably maladroit management team have wasted little time in making the case for why it's stupid to give unfettered tax-proposing authority to a government entity in which exactly zero folks running the agency ever—repeat, ever—have to stand before voters on election day and ask to keep their jobs." When asked to approve the tax, Ball notes, voters were promised the service would not only dramatically improve, but reform measures would improve management of the system. Instead, he says, voters have gotten "an embarrassing admission from CATS officials that the property tax, despite pre-election vows to the contrary, is not exempt from the homestead exemption," in addition to many more...
The street that could
The Better Block BR event last weekend saw an impressive turnout, and despite rain shutting down the second day of the event, the sense of accomplishment was already there. Saturday saw between 1,500 and 2,000 attendees, according to organizers, and guest appearances from Mayor Kip Holden and his caravan of cyclists for the Mayor's Family Bike Day.
The car app
Baton Rouge-based CellControl, which specializes in technologies aimed at eliminating distracted driving, has signed an agreement with San Francisco-based Esurance to provide the insurance company's teenage customers with CellControl devices in their cars.
Bill would ban social media posts while driving
A proposed state law would make it illegal to post status updates or anything else to social media websites while driving. With an eye toward closing a loophole in the law that prohibits texting while driving, the Senate Transportation Committee today approved a measure that would add accessing, reading and posting to social media sites, such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, to the prohibited list while driving. The proposal by Sen. Dale Erdey, R-Livingston, was approved by the committee without objection. It moves to the full Senate for debate. Erdey says the impetus for the bill came from law enforcement officials in the city of Walker who reported stopping drivers who looked like they were texting. After being pulled over, the drivers said they were not texting—they were posting to Facebook or Instagram. "Under current law, nothing states or talks about social networking," Erdey says. "Texting, social networking—it's all about taking your eyes off the road."
Transportation groups blast Jindal
Representatives from three transportation associations in the state say they're disappointed that Gov. Bobby Jindal "failed to address the state's transportation funding problems or offer any indication" that he considers it a priority during his opening remarks in the legislative session on Monday. The three associations are: Louisiana Good Roads and Transportation, the American Council of Engineering Companies in Louisiana, and the Louisiana chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers. "Unfortunately, it looks like transportation, as a public policy issue, is not on the governor's political radar," says ACEC of Louisiana Executive Director Daniel Mobley in a prepared statement issued by the three groups. Mobley says the state has a $12 billion backlog of transportation needs but no plan in place to address it. He acknowledges the state has used one-time money from past budget surpluses and federal stimulus programs to reduce the backlog from $14 billion in recent years, but...
A better block is upon us
This weekend marks the beginning of a transformation on Government Street with the Better Block BR project. Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on the two blocks between Bedford and Beverly drives, residents will get to see a model of what Government Street could look like if we push local and state officials to update the roadway to a safer, more “complete street” model.
CellControl signs deal with Esurance
Baton Rouge-based CellControl, which specializes in technologies aimed at eliminating distracted driving, has signed an agreement with San Francisco-based Esurance to provide the insurance company's teenage customers with CellControl devices in their cars. CellControl CEO and co-founder Rob Guba says the company is providing the technology—which consists of a smartphone app and small device that plugs into the vehicle's computer—to Esurance under the deal. In turn, Esurance is providing it to teenage drivers free of charge. The idea, Guba says, is that Esurance will reduce its exposure to accident claims among teenage drivers—whom statistics show are increasingly getting into accidents due to distracted driving—while CellControl will gain exposure and credibility in a new market segment. "The beauty of this is, Esurance sees incredible value in our solution to distracting driving, and they also see an opportunity to reduce their exposure," Guba says.
CATS to get scorecard on accountability tonight
Together Baton Rouge will release tonight the results of a scorecard evaluating CATS's success in implementing five reforms that were supposed to be completed by the end of the first quarter of this year. It does not appear the results will reflect well on the beleaguered public transit agency. Of the reform measures that were suggested by a 2011 blue ribbon commission—reduced rush-hour wait times, GPS bus locator system, new buses for express routes, 10 new shelters and more transparent, clear information—only the GPS locator system has been implemented, and even that system is still riddled with kinks. "On some things it's obvious they have not delivered," says Edgar Cage, who heads the transportation committee for Together Baton Rouge. "But first quarter 2013 was the first quarter where we were expecting deliverables, so it is too early in the process to say my hopes are diminished." Together Baton Rouge was instrumental in helping get passed a 10-year, 10.6-mill...
CATS seeking manager to oversee agency reforms
CATS has issued a request for proposals for a so-called implementation plan program manager that will be hired to oversee the long-awaited transit reforms that voters in Baton Rouge and Baker were promised when they approved a 10-year, 10.8-mill property tax for the agency one year ago. The RFP, posted Wednesday on the CATS website, says the contract will be for about 18 months and will not be awarded to the lowest bidder, but rather to the firm that demonstrates "that combination of expertise, production and price which is the most advantageous to CATS and its passengers." The program manager will report directly to the public transit system's CEO, according to the RFP, and will be charged with overseeing all aspects of the CEO's recently released plan for improving the beleaguered agency's performance. Those reform measures include: establishing three new...
CATS addressing safety concerns
Safety concerns raised by the Capital Area Transit System's maintenance workers don't reflect immediate danger, but they are being addressed, says CATS CEO Brian Marshall. Last week, mechanic Fred Quiett and a colleague advised the transit agency's board of directors of what they described as hazardous conditions and worn-out equipment, including the lack of an eyewash station and the need for new lifts and jacks. "There is no imminent danger," Marshall says. "Before now, we did not have the capacity to replace equipment and tools. Many of the items on the list will be repaired or replaced within the next two months." He says the agency is determining the cost, with plans to pay the expenses from the capital and maintenance budgets. Marshall also is defending RouteMatch, CATS's new GPS software, which is intended to inform riders in real time when a bus will arrive at their stop. Since being launched in January, the system has gotten mixed reviews. But the CEO says it's common for...
Metro Council to take up CATS board appointment Wednesday
Metro Councilwoman C. Denise Marcelle says when the council takes up filling the lone vacancy on the CATS board of directors at Wednesday's meeting, she'll nominate Errol Domingue, a pastor who has been active in transit and community building issues for years. Domingue is one of 14 applicants who will be considered by the council to fill the open seat of former CATS board President Tom Govan, who resigned Jan. 2. Marcelle is expecting council members to make a number of nominations for the spot. "I would hope they would unanimously select [Domingue], but I really doubt it," she says. Marcelle and Councilwoman Ronnie Edwards had floated the idea of forming a committee to vet the CATS board applicants and make a recommendation to the council, but Marcelle pulled an item from the last meeting's agenda. She says she did so in part because the council was confused and not in agreement...
If you build it
Back in February, the Better Block BR public workshop gave residents the chance to say what they think makes for, well, a better block. A series of visual examples were scattered around the meeting room at Ingleside Methodist Church. Visitors were given red and green stickers and told to place them on the examples they liked and those they didn't.
CATS begins looking for outside management help
CATS will issue a request for proposals for an outside program manager to implement the public transit agency's recently unveiled plan for improved service and efficiency. Board Chairman Isaiah Marshall tells Daily Report the board will "very soon" begin the search for a program manager who will assist staff management in "wrapping up and making sure we hit benchmarks for 2014" that were set after voters in Baton Rouge and Baker approved a 10.6-mill, 10-year dedicated property tax for CATS. Marshall declined to provide a specific timeframe for when the RFP will be issued. The decision to go with so-called staff augmentation is a somewhat tempered version of the contract management model that a consulting firm earlier this year recommended CATS adopt. That report suggested CATS should bring in a slate of...
Art and smart growth roundup
So much is going on this week that I could easily devote several blog posts to, but I thought I'd try to keep it simple. Here's what you should know about that's happening in our smART city right now:
Plan to improve CATS includes new bus lines, transfer centers, expanded service
CATS CEO Brian Marshall presented his long-awaited business plan today for upgrading and improving services to the city's bus system. Among the highlights: establishing three new transfer centers; creating new express lines; bringing service to currently underserved areas; reducing wait times at bus stops; using GPS tracking to make routes and exact arrival times accessible via mobile devices; and increasing the number of bus stop shelters. The three-year plan makes use of the controversial 10-year, 10.6-mill property tax approved last spring by voters in Baton Rouge and Baker. A significant part of Marshall's plan is the hiring of an outside program manager to oversee the implementation of the upgrades and improvements. CATS board Chairman Isaiah Marshall, no relation to Brian Marshall, says that manager might be an individual or a firm. Isaiah Marshall says the board also plans to hire a chief operating officer and a human resources manager. Brian Marshall's plan also calls for...
Marshall to unveil CATS plan Wednesday
CATS CEO Brian Marshall will publicly unveil his long-awaited plan for upgrading and improving services to the city's public transit system Wednesday morning at a CATS board committee meeting. Though CATS board Chairman Isaiah Marshall, who is not related to Brian Marshall, has seen the business plan, he won't discuss details of it until after "everyone has had a chance to get their questions answered tomorrow." Brian Marshall was originally scheduled to present the plan—which promises to explain how CATS will implement upgrades to the system funded by the 10-year, 10.6-mill property tax voters in Baton Rouge and Baker approved last spring—at a Feb. 22 meeting that was hastily canceled. Isaiah Marshall says all or most of the CATS board is expected to attend tomorrow's meeting, though no board action is expected. Also on the agenda for the meeting is management response to "staff augmentation suggestion," which refers to a board consultant's recommendation that the CATS...
CATS board forms two new committees
CATS Chairman Isaiah Marshall today informed the public transit system’s board of two new committees that will help select a ninth and final board member in March and oversee new developments regarding the overhaul of the bus transportation system. The Management Committee is comprised of Marshall, as chair, Deborah Roe and Dalton Honore. The Board Development Committee is comprised of Donna Collins-Lewis, Ryan Heck and Roe. Marshall says the committees were designed this month and will have no participation in helping CEO Brian Marshall—who is not related to Isaiah Marshall—develop a business plan for CATS, whose budget has changed dramatically since Baton Rouge and Baker voters last year approved a 10-year, 10.6-mill property tax dedicated to the bus system. "The plan is already being put together by the administration," Isaiah Marshall says, "so that’s not the purpose of this committee." Collins-Lewis says her understanding is that the new committees will...
Thinking the green way
If you were one of the many at the Better Block BR public workshop last week, you know there are quite a few folks in town who have a passionate interest in smart growth in Baton Rouge. Next week, you'll get another chance to share your thoughts on smart growth and alternative transportation pathways as Downtown Development District hosts three days of public workshops and discussions on the proposed Downtown Greenway.
Grant money for CATS bus shelters in jeopardy
Now that CATS has money to grow—thanks to the 10-year, 10.6-mill dedicated property tax approved by voters in Baton Rouge and Baker last year—a priority for the public transit agency is to build new bus shelters along revamped routes. However, $237,124 in federal grant money for shelters, which has been sitting safely in the bank, may be lost in the coming weeks if CATS doesn't soon put out a request for proposals to manufacturers, says CATS General Manager Carol Cranshaw. When CATS board member Jared Loftus noted during a regular meeting on Tuesday that the grant money could soon expire, Cranshaw said the Federal Transit Administration is waiting for at least an update on RFPs. On Wednesday, Cranshaw said the FTA wants to see the RFPs go out before the end of March, or it will take back the grant funds. "Then Congress wants them redistributed," Cranshaw says. In the meantime, a plan for the bus shelters won't be discussed publicly anytime soon, since a committee meeting...
CATS management blasts consultant's report
A consultant's report that identifies serious shortcomings in the management of CATS and recommends replacing the public transit agency's management team with outside experts is full of "errors, misrepresentations and omissions," and is, essentially, "useless."
CATS management blasts consultant's report
A consultant's report that identifies serious shortcomings in the management of CATS and recommends replacing the public transit agency's management team with outside experts is full of "errors, misrepresentations and omissions," and is, essentially, "useless." So says the beleaguered management team in a written response to the report, which TMG Consulting delivered to the CATS board in January. Daily Report obtained a copy of the management response in a public records request. The response makes for interesting reading, not least because of its defensive, albeit curiously worded, language. "Clearly, TMG are no Green Bay Packers but by all evidence provided CATS with a less than sandlot report," the response says, apparently trying to suggest the TMG report is unprofessional and amateurish. For example, the CATS response faults TMG for criticizing the system's aging and unreliable fleet, "but does not indicate that new vehicles were ordered, which will decrease the...
The road to complete streets
In preparation for the Better Block BR event in April—where two blocks of Government Street will be converted to a “complete street” model for a weekend—organizers are hosting a workshop tonight to hear what types of infrastructure, businesses and activities you want to see along the route.
CATS board waiting on business plan, considering new chairman
When the CATS board of directors holds it regular monthly meeting later today, among the items on the agenda will be the election of officers and the contract of embattled CEO Brian Marshall. As reported by Daily Report Monday, board Chairman Jared Loftus is likely to be replaced by Isaiah Marshall, who says he believes he has the support of a majority of the board to be elected chairman. Brian Marshall's month-to-month contract could also come up today, though Isaiah Marshall—who is no relation to the CEO—says he will push to defer the measure. Among the reasons: Brian Marshall is scheduled later this week to present to a CATS committee his long-awaited plan detailing how the agency will implement the expanded and improved bus service that was promised to voters last spring, when they approved a new 10-year, 10.6-mill property tax...
Reason to smile
For years, Rob Miller tried to secure a contract to provide paratransit service for CATS, submitting seven different proposals.
Loftus likely out as CATS board chairman on Tuesday
A change in the executive leadership of the CATS board is likely Tuesday when the transit system's board of directors elects new officers at its regular monthly meeting. Sources tell Daily Report that Chairman Jared Loftus does not have the support of a majority of the board to be re-elected to his current position and that Isaiah Marshall will be selected by the board's nominating committee for the position. Marshall confirms he expects the nomination and says he believes he has the votes. Loftus declined to comment. A change in leadership could have implications for how the CATS board proceeds with the findings of a consultant that last month recommended the agency replace its top management with outside experts. A review of the contract of CATS CEO Brian Marshall—who is not related to Isaiah Marshall—which is currently month-to-month, is also on the agenda. A CATS committee today recommended that the board not take up the contract issue, Isaiah Marshall says,...
DOTD opens a portion of widened I-10
More than a year after it was first scheduled to be complete, the widened stretch of Interstate 10 between the I-10/Interstate 12 split and Siegen Lane officially opened today, says the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development. The $86.2 million project, which began in 2009, expands the freeway from four to six lanes in both directions. In 2011, DOTD replaced the lead contractor on the project, from Austin Bridge & Road Inc. to Boh Bros. Construction of New Orleans. The project is part of the $315 million Geaux Wider program, an ongoing development that will revamp I-10 and I-12 in East Baton Rouge and Livingston parishes. DOTD says drivers can expect I-10 work to continue between Siegen Lane and Highland Road, where additional widening to six lanes is expected to be complete this spring. That project has a $60 million price tag. The widening is expected to ease traffic along a four-mile stretch of roadway that is used by an estimated 73,000 motorists every day. Last...
Airlines merger may lead to service cuts
The airline industry took a decisive step toward greater concentration Thursday with the announcement that American Airlines and US Airways have agreed to merge, forming the nation's biggest airline, The New York Times reports. The merged airline, to be called American, leaves just three major carriers, including Delta Air Lines and United Airlines, able to offer extensive domestic and international service. But while airline executives argue that mergers are good for passengers because they bring more service to more destinations, some economists and consumer advocates warn that consolidation comes at a price for travelers. With fewer carriers, passengers have fewer options, and fares and fees are now more likely to go up, particularly for flights between midsize cities. And more cities, especially smaller ones, can expect to see further...
Ascension, Livingston officials set public meetings on parkway project
Public meetings will be held in Ascension and Livingston parishes next week to discuss the feasibility of building a new four-lane parkway and bridge across the Amite River, connecting the two parishes. The project would link access to three major roadways: U.S. 190, Interstate 10 and Interstate 12. Livingston Parish will host its public meeting Tuesday, from 6 to 8 p.m., at the Livingston Parish Health Unit, 29261 South Frost Road, in Livingston. Ascension Parish's meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 20, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Lakeside Primary School, 16500 State Route 431, in Prairieville. The open house meetings will provide an overview of the proposed project, with parish officials and engineers on hand to answer questions. A toll road connecting the two parishes has previously been discussed by officials, who have said a preliminary study shows a $2-per-vehicle toll road could generate more than $5 million annually.
La. getting $24M grant for highways
Federal-aid highways in Louisiana that were damaged by Hurricane Isaac will be repaired with the help of more than $24 million in federal grant funds. The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development is receiving $24,124,570 in funding from the U.S. Department of Transportation. "This grant will begin the process to rebuild or repair that infrastructure," reads a statement from Sen. David Vitter, who announced the grant award today. The grant is funded through the Federal Highway Administration Emergency Relief program and will be used to pay for emergency repair work.
La. lawmaker proposes school bus fuel tax exemption
Louisiana school buses operated by municipal and parish boards would be exempt from paying fuel taxes if legislation introduced Friday passes during the upcoming legislative session, which begins April 8, The Times-Picayune reports. The fuel tax goes into a state fund dedicated to road construction and repair. No estimate is yet available regarding how much revenue that fund would lose as a result of the exemption. House Bill 24, sponsored by state Rep. Sherman Mack, R-Livingston, would exempt "from state fuel taxes fuel sold to or consumed by school buses owned and operated by a parish or municipal school board." Legislative Fiscal Office economist Greg Albrecht says the exemption would reduce the amount of money going to the state's Transportation Trust Fund, which is financed by a state gas tax of 20 cents per gallon. Albrecht adds that the office has not estimated how...
CATS CEO: Business plan in 'compilation form' to come soon
Shortly after receiving a performance evaluation in executive session this morning, CATS CEO Brian Marshall was mum on the reviews he received from the public transit's board of directors, though he confirmed he will remain the top leader at CATS. Marshall gave no indication about which way the board is leaning as it considers hiring an outside firm to temporarily assist the agency in its growth. On Thursday, CATS board member and Metro Councilman Ryan Heck criticized the board and CATS management for a perceived lack of a plan for reaching expansion goals outlined in a 2012 tax election. Marshall says he is in the process of improving a CATS business plan to quell criticism. "I think what you're going to see very soon is the documents in compilation form, and that will kill all of that," he says. Deborah Roe, a board member and chair of the evaluation committee, says the board today discussed only Marshall's job performance and would not go into detail about those conversations.
Regional planning commission hopes to exceed 'the bare minimum'
The committee that will select a new director for the Capital Region Planning Commission met for the first time today, with hopes of finding a proactive leader who will be successful in drawing down federal dollars for planning and transportation projects. "Right now, this [metropolitan planning organization] is doing just the bare minimum," says Mary Stringfellow of the Federal Highway Administration. The MPO primarily serves the core areas around Baton Rouge, and is run by the same staff as the CRPC, which serves 11 parishes. Walter Brooks, head of the New Orleans MPO, says technical expertise may be less important than management and communications skills. Current and former employees often criticized the management style of the former director, Huey Dugas,
Coastal Bridge Co. changes hands
Coastal Bridge Co., a 57-year-old heavy construction company, is under new ownership. Longtime employee Kelly Sills, who has been with the company more than 20 years and owns several other business ventures, acquired Coastal Bridge in late December from Robert Overall Jr. and Ed Milner Jr., who have owned it since the 1970s. "They wanted to sell; I was able to get the deal done," says Sills, whose other ventures include local homebuilder Level Construction. "Nothing really changes. It's kind of like no one even knows." Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Sills says he has no changes planned for the company or for its approximately 250 employees. But then, business is good these days. The company just finished its best year ever in 2012, with revenues of more than $70 million, and currently has a backlog of some $45 million in mostly road construction projects for the state Department of Transportation and Development. In Business Report's 2012 listing of the Top...
CATS committee begins reviewing recommendations
A CATS committee meeting held today to begin reviewing recommendations recently made by an independent consulting firm ended without any action being taken. Isaiah Marshall, who sits on the CATS board of directors and the F&E Committee that met today, characterized it as "an overview meeting," adding, "There was really no meat that was discussed in detail." The recommendations from TMG Consulting grabbed a lot of headlines, primarily those regarding potential changes to management of the public transit system. But CATS CEO Brian Marshall says most local media reports following the release of the recommendations were not entirely on target, which left the committee meeting today with a lot of questions as they began digging into the report for themselves. "There were some real question marks as far as what the consultant was really saying," says the CEO, who is not related to Isaiah Marshall. The committee today discussed "a lot of the media speculation going on," says Isaiah...
CATS to begin discussing consultant recommendations Thursday
The CATS board of directors will begin discussing Thursday recommendations on system operations and management spelled out in a report authored by TMG Consulting, delivered to the board about two weeks ago. "Tomorrow we take the first step on that path of deciding what is going to be done" to improve CATS, says board Chairman Jared Loftus, who also chairs the CATS F&E Committee that will meet tomorrow at 11 a.m. at CATS headquarters, 2250 Florida Blvd. "By no means are we deciding one way or the other on anything tomorrow," Loftus says. "But there are big decisions to be made, there are a lot of questions out there, and tomorrow we begin to discuss them." Among the recommendations made, TMG Consulting says CATS management and certain key staff positions should be turned over to a private company. TMG Consulting says contracted management is not the same...
Regional planning organization moves on with interim director
While the abrupt resignation of Capital Region Planning Commission Executive Director Huey Dugas was a surprise, says Mayor Kip Holden, the officials who oversee the CRPC have long been concerned about his leadership. "We want our [metropolitan planning organization] to be one of the best in the nation," Holden says. "In order to achieve that, we needed to seek a new direction." The CRPC serves an 11-parish region, while the MPO, operated by the same staff, primarily serves the core urban areas of East Baton Rouge, West Baton Rouge, Ascension and Livingston parishes; Holden is part of the executive committee that oversees the agency. Holden would not comment on any discussions committee members have had about the internal management of the office. But he says "there was some question of confidence" in Dugas, and says the local MPO has not been as successful as its New Orleans neighbor at drawing federal funds for transportation projects. The executive committee met today, accepted...
Regional planning director resigns
Huey Dugas, executive director of the Capital Region Planning Commission, has resigned, sources tell Daily Report. The resignation has not been publicly announced. A CRPC staffer would not confirm or deny the resignation and referred questions to West Baton Rouge Parish President Riley "Pee Wee" Berthelot, vice chairman of the executive committee that oversees the CRPC. Berthelot did not respond to a call for comment in time for publication. Dugas has directed the CRPC staff since 2010. During that time, the commission has corrected some of the issues that nearly caused its Metropolitan Planning Organization to lose federal accreditation. But many former employees and outside parties who deal with the commission say Dugas mismanages the office and maintains a hostile work environment. More than a dozen employees have resigned or been fired since he took over, including Ray Miller Jr., a former transportation director,
CATS surveillance featured on 'CBS This Morning'
Baton Rouge's public transit system is featured on a CBS This Morning segment that aired today, focusing on the national debate about privacy concerns in light of increasing public surveillance. The segment zeroes in on CATS because it installed recording cameras and microphones on all of its 63 buses in 2011 with hopes of improving rider safety and behavior. CATS CEO Brian Marshall tells CBS the cameras have worked. The report says only one fight has broken out on a CATS bus over the past two years, while workers' compensation claims have fallen 65% and passenger complaints have fallen 80%. "It's wonderful to be able to have that audio and video component," Marshall says. As for privacy concerns, Marshall says no one is sitting around monitoring the surveillance videos, let alone private conversations. "We don't have that kind of time, or interest, to monitor those private kinds of conversations." The report says CATS "seldom" looks at its recordings and keeps them for two...
Who might run the show?
In its report to the CATS board, TMG Consulting recommends the transit agency replace its top administrators with outside experts. Among the possibilities are three large transit companies that have similar arrangements in cities around the country. The TMG report does not suggest contracting with any particular company because public bid laws require that should CATS decide to contract out its management, it would have to issue an RFP. However, TMG consultants did name the following companies as possible options.
Who's driving the bus?
You could forgive CATS staffers for giving themselves a moment in the sun. Even as officials took to the microphone at the Jan. 15 board meeting to extol the accomplishments of 2012 and the improvements in the city's mass transit system, everyone at the standing-room-only meeting knew the agency was about to get hammered.
CATS may consider company managing N.O. transit
As the CATS board ponders a consultant's recommendation that it contract out its executive staff positions in order to increase efficiency and improve service, it will be looking in part to New Orleans for advice. The Crescent City's Regional Transit Authority moved to a so-called delegated management model in 2009, when it hired Veolia Transportation to manage, operate and maintain its system. While that arrangement is far more extensive than that recommended by the consultants for Baton Rouge's public transit system, Veolia will likely be among the companies from which CATS will solicit bids for a management contract, should the board move in that direction. So what has been the experience in New Orleans? According to statistics, the costs of operating buses in New Orleans in 2011 was actually more than in 2009, when Veolia took over the RTA—$14.28 per vehicle revenue mile as compared to about $12 per vehicle revenue mile—but still less than in 2008, when it topped $17...
CATS CEO responds to report calling for his replacement
When TMG Consulting presented its findings on CATS to the transit agency's board last night, it didn't blame any particular CATS executive for the shortcomings highlighted in the report. But it made clear that the best way to achieve the agency's goal of service expansion is to replace key C-level positions, specifically the CEO, COO and CIO. "The existing conditions cannot continue," consultant Dwight Norton told the board, noting that CATS ranks 15th out of 16 peer systems in service efficiency, lacks industry-standard software for scheduling routes, and has no capital program or budget prepared for the next several years. Now, CATS CEO Brian Marshall is engaging in what could be seen as damage control. In a written statement issued this afternoon, Marshall says: "Over the past couple of years, [CATS] has seen an improvement in our on-time performance, our training and overall fiscal efficiency. … The report submitted by TMG is another part of that process. TMG is not in an...
CATS board surprised by findings
When CATS board members received a report last night on how the system can best meet its promised service expansion goals, it came as no surprise that the consulting firm recommended contracting out top management positions within the transit agency. What did catch some board members off guard were several findings in the report, including the fact that CATS uses Excel spreadsheets to schedule bus routes, rather than an industry-standard software tool known as Trapeze. "I'm still not sure what that's about," says board Chairman Jared Loftus. Loftus was also taken aback when transit consultant Dwight Norton told the board the CATS staff has still not come up with a documented capital plan for the expansion and improvement of service, which the agency promised to deliver when voters approved a 10.6-mill property tax last spring. "[The board] has tasked the administration with putting together this plan," says Loftus. "That is their responsibility. Now we are finding out that it still...
News alert: Consultant recommends contracted management for CATS
Management and certain key positions on the CATS staff should be turned over to a private company. That's the much anticipated recommendation from a consulting firm hired by the CATS board to advise it on restructuring the public transit system. TMG Consulting says contracted management is not the same thing as privatization, nor is it as extensive as the delegated management model in place at the public transit system in New Orleans, where a private company is in charge of all operations and maintenance. Contracted management could be put in place in CATS within three months, consultants say, and would increase the system's efficiency.—Stephanie Riegel
CATS board to explore restructuring options, but no vote expected
In anticipation of greater-than-usual interest in today's CATS board meeting, the transit agency has moved the meeting location to a space that can accommodate more people. The issue that's generating a lot of buzz is the much-anticipated report from a New Orleans-based consulting firm that will recommend a handful of restructuring options for CATS, including farming out management of the agency to a private company. But CATS board Chairman Jared Loftus says "privatization" is too strong a term to describe what will likely be in the report, which has been kept under tight wraps, adding that no vote on any sort of restructuring option will be taken this afternoon. "Privatization will not be on the table," he says, "but I imagine that making people understand what 'privatization' means will be part of the conversation." Loftus says "privatization" means turning over all the assets and liabilities of the agency to a private company, something CATS will not be considering today. Some...
Council pressed into making CATS board appointments
Last month, there was public discussion about the need to shake up the nine-member CATS board and possibly replace some of the four members whose terms were up for reappointment. Then, after 12 newcomers threw their hats into the ring, there was a push to defer the Metro Council vote on reappointments so that the candidates could be thoroughly vetted. But at Wednesday's Metro Council meeting, after several council members previously said they favored deferring the matter, the group reappointed three of the four CATS board members facing the end of their terms. "We were disappointed," says Edgar Cage, who works with Together Baton Rouge. "I can't say whether the best candidates were chosen or not because there was no vetting process." So what happened? Sources tell Daily Report at least some council members were lobbied hard by various groups and power brokers to get the board appointments settled in advance of the upcoming CATS board meeting on Tuesday. That's when TMG...
Council likely to defer vote on CATS board
When the new Metro Council holds its first meeting this afternoon, it is likely to defer what was expected to be one of the most controversial issues on the agenda: appointments to the CATS board. The terms of four of the nine board members are up, and 16 candidates, including the existing board members, have submitted their names for consideration. But several Metro Council members say they are getting requests to put off the vote for two more weeks and are inclined to do so. "I'd like to see it deferred, and I think the votes are there for deferral," says Mayor Pro Tem Chandler Loupe. Among those pushing for deferral is Together Baton Rouge, the community organization that campaigned last year for the 10.6-mill property tax benefiting CATS. "We have made a firm commitment to do everything in...
CATS rolls out GPS system
Baton Rouge's transit system won't be getting more buses or adding new routes anytime soon. But beginning this month, CATS riders will be better able to estimate their notoriously long waits, thanks to an app that will enable passengers to hone in—in real time—on the exact location of their bus and determine when it will arrive at the stop. The new system, which is technically up and running but will not be officially rolled out until later this month, is made possible by GPS devices that were recently installed in all 57 CATS buses. Riders will be able to download an app to their mobile devices that will show them where their buses are and how long until they pass. "It isn't a silver bullet," says CATS board Chairman Jared Loftus. "But it will make the system more efficient. It opens up a lot of possibilities for us." Loftus says the GPS system will be as useful for CATS management as it is for riders. Previously, there was no precise way to measure the locations and...
CATS board shakeup likely
The new year will potentially bring several new faces to the board overseeing CATS. Because of their staggered terms, four of the nine CATS board members are up for reappointment by the Metro Council, including chairman Jared Loftus, Dalton Honore, Deborah Roe and Marla Williams. As of Thursday's noon deadline, 16 hopefuls had submitted their names for consideration, including all four who currently fill the slots and are eligible for reappointment. It's likely to be a contentious issue when the council takes it up at its first meeting next week. Community leaders have made plain their displeasure with the existing board—save for Loftus, who appears to have broad support—and have said they want fresh blood on the board. "We definitely want to see good board members appointed," says BRAC CEO Adam Knapp. "We have been looking for folks to serve and making calls...
B.R. bike activists reaching out to businesses
Newly re-branded as Bike Baton Rouge, the nonprofit formerly known as Baton Rouge Advocates for Safe Streets hopes to make 2013 a turning point for cycling in the capital city. Part of that effort, says board member Beaux Jones, is a program that recognizes and promotes bike-friendly businesses and business districts. "When people can walk and bike in between the stores, rather than get on the interstate and drive, it's good for business," he says. It's a way to thank businesses that encourage biking for their customers and workers in various ways, from putting out bike racks to providing showers for employees. "We want to encourage businesses and merchant associations to get together and say, 'As a group, we want to support cycling and alternative means of transportation,'" Jones says. Promising areas could be LSU's North Gates, the Perkins Road overpass area, Mid City and Capital Heights. The national bicycle commuting rate is a bit less than 1%; and Baton Rouge's rate is roughly...
Raleigh going urban
North Carolina's Research Triangle region is a magnet for young professionals, says Mitchell Silver, planning director for Raleigh, N.C. Baton Rouge, on the other hand, seems to be repelling many of its educated young people, some of whom, Silver reckons, are headed his way.
Decision on La. passport requirement for domestic travel expected this week
By mid-January, Louisiana residents could need a passport to fly within the United States. There are a lot of unknowns regarding Louisiana's non-compliance with the federal REAL ID Act of 2005, but some of them could be cleared up later this week. Louisiana Office of Motor Vehicles Commissioner Stephen Campbell says the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has promised him that the Transportation Security Administration will announce its decision this week on whether or not state-issued driver's licenses will continue to be valid identification cards for flying domestically and entering federal buildings. Campbell spent all of last week in Washington, D.C., attending a conference and seeking answers pertaining to what could happen if Louisiana doesn't get an extension to comply with the REAL ID Act, which is poised to take effect Jan. 14. "We're still hopeful that there will be an extension or some other compromise," says Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport spokesman Jim Caldwell.
Capital Area Pathways Project to begin construction in January
With the completion of a 7.4-mile pathway loop for walking and biking in Baton Rouge, the city could take a step toward one of the visions laid out at the recent 2012 Smart Growth Summit and another step away from the fossilized, car-centric mindset it has clung to for decades. This morning BREC unveiled the first 2.2-mile section of the loop—called the Capital Area Pathways Project—behind the Mall of Louisiana, which will break ground in January and could be completed as early as next summer. It begins at Siegen Lane, near St. George Catholic Church and School, and passes near Richard Carmouche's urban mixed-use development, The Grove, as it ties in with Wards Creek and runs to Bluebonnet Boulevard. "Exactly how it will grow, I don't know," says Ted Jack, an assistant superintendent at BREC. It won't be until 2014 that BREC will consider allocating some of its strategic funding for another leg—or legs—of the pathway. "We'll keep partnering with people to get...
Roadwork at O'Neal and South Harrell's Ferry to begin final phase
The fourth and final phase of work on O'Neal Lane and South Harrell's Ferry Road will begin on Saturday, Dec. 15, city-parish officials announced this morning. Once it does, the majority of through traffic and turn-lane restrictions that have been in place on the roadways during earlier and current phases of construction will be lifted. The final phase of the project, which had been slated to begin Saturday but was delayed due to weather, is expected to be complete in three to four months. Work on the intersection at O'Neal and South Harrell's Ferry began on July 16 as part of the Southeast Area Group project in the Green Light Plan. The Southeast Area Group project, which includes three separate projects on the two roadways, commenced in September 2009 and is among the largest infrastructure projects in the history of the city-parish, officials say. You can get complete details and updates on all Green Light Plan projects online
Officials open new Magnolia River Bridge in Greenwell Springs
Gov. Bobby Jindal joined other state and local officials in Greenwell Springs today to mark the completion of the new La. 64 Magnolia River Bridge connecting East Baton Rouge and Livingston parishes. The four-lane bridge spanning the Amite River cost $19.9 million to build and replaces a former two-lane bridge crossed by an estimated 26,000 drivers each day. Jindal says completion of the project, which also includes the widening of La. 64 from Greenwell Springs Road to La. 1019, "will improve safety for drivers, speed up commutes and make the Capital Region more accessible to the rest of the state and the country." The new bridge has two 12-foot travel lanes in each direction and outside shoulders measuring 10 feet wide. The governor has more details about today's ribbon cutting at his website here.
BRAC urges CATS to step up its efforts on improving transit system
Three weeks ago Together Baton Rouge gave CATS a "C-" overall grade for implementing plans since voters in April approved a 10.6-mill property tax dedicated to the cash-strapped public transit system. CATS received an "F" grade from Together Baton Rouge for poor communication with the public. Today, BRAC is expressing frustration that CATS is not meeting the expectations of improved service that were laid out during the tax campaign. Earlier this month, CATS officials revealed the transit system will not be able to implement one of the eight new express routes—one along Gardere Lane—that it planned to have in operation by January 2014. "The focus of CATS management should not be on what it is unable to provide, but on when and where we will begin to see improvements in our transit system," says Adam Knapp, president and CEO of BRAC, in a prepared statement released this morning. "The implementation by management has been very poor." To reach expected levels of operation,...
Big ideas
I'm not one to casually throw out motivational quotes. But at the Smart Growth Summit in downtown Baton Rouge Wednesday, Scott Bernstein of the Center for Neighborhood Technology said something I thought applied well to the many movers and shakers in the room (not to mention, y'know, to life in general). To paraphrase, “Great ideas, unlike fine wine, don't get better with age sitting up on a shelf.”
Transportation costs undercut housing affordability
Transportation is often the second-largest expense for families, next to housing. Yet many homebuyers only consider finding a very affordable mortgage when purchasing a new home. That type of search often places families 10 to 15 miles away from the downtown of the city where they likely work. Scott Bernstein, president and co-founder of Center for Neighborhood Technology, calls this phenomenon of suburban living "drive till you qualify." CNT estimates Baton Rouge homeowners spend 22% of their income on housing. CNT also says housing is considered affordable if it costs less than 30% of a household budget: meaning, for example, the savings of living in Livingston Parish or Ascension Parish doesn't outweigh the cost of having to commute to Baton Rouge. "The housing looks affordable, but not when you throw in costs for transportation," says Bernstein, a guest speaker this morning at a 2012 Louisiana Smart Growth Summit seminar in Baton Rouge. CNT studies show foreclosure rates tend to...
That's the ticket
Those parking in the Third Street garage after hours and on weekends won't have to worry about getting towed anymore. The state of Louisiana is suspending the controversial practice, opting instead for a more amicable solution.
Conflict spills onto B.R. streets with too many vehicles, too few spaces
Back in early September, John Schmidt pulled into the State Parking Garage on Third Street a little after 8 p.m. on a Saturday and parked his vehicle. When he returned, he discovered it had been hauled away by Riverside Towing. He made his way to the company's towing yard—a dark, isolated lot surrounded by chain-link fence under the downtown bridge near the levee. Transactions here are strictly cash. It was 8:45 p.m., but the lot didn't open until midnight. That meant he would be charged for an extra day of storage, not to mention a $45 "gate fee." Total cost of parking that night in downtown Baton Rouge: more than $200. There's a war going on in certain flourishing areas of Baton Rouge, and it's driven by simple supply and demand: too many vehicles, not enough parking. Game day at Tiger Stadium. Saturday night in the Perkins Road overpass district. Major events in downtown Baton Rouge. LSU area apartment complexes on the weekends. They are all battlegrounds. Merchants...
CATS will defeat lawsuit challenging new property tax, officials say
The lawsuit against CATS, calling the bus transportation system's new tax unconstitutional, will be defeated in court because CATS receives taxes other than just property tax, speculates Jared Loftus, the transit system's board president. Brought about by Milton Graugnard, a Cajun Industries executive, the lawsuit says the tax is unfairly levied against property owners within the city limits of Baker and Baton Rouge, while bus riders living outside city limits benefit from the bus service. "Around 85% of this [bus] system is inside city limits," Loftus says, noting that hotel occupancy taxes and monies from the city-parish transportation fund also support CATS. City-parish Assistant Finance Director Linda Hunt says until the new budget was hammered out, about $1.2 million from the transportation fund had gone to CATS for years. But this year—and for the unforeseeable future—about $550,000 is going to CATS. "Now we want to take that money and put it into our...
International Commerce Board to benefit B.R., statewide ports
A new board tasked with increasing international commerce at Louisiana's 32 ports will benefit Baton Rouge, as well as towns and metro areas statewide, The Times-Picayune reports. The board, which is nearly completely formed, will draft a master plan with the goal of bringing jobs, manufacturing and infrastructure improvements to the state. Formally called the Louisiana Board of International Commerce, the board will include a mix of state officials and business leaders nominated and then appointed by the governor, as well as representatives from industry groups, state ports and airports. "The most important role of the board, from my perspective, will be shepherding and improving the state's Master Plan for international commerce," LED Secretary Stephen Moret says. "This is a significant opportunity to really expand what we're doing in the international commerce space, and it'll be a major focus for us during [Gov. Bobby Jindal's] second term." The board, whose creation was...