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, BRAC says CATS must regularly report on implementation plans for the new routes and make certain all federal dollars are leveraged to the fullest extent.
CATS CEO Brian Marshall says federal dollars are not available for operation issues, but the transit system recently secured a $5.2 million grant for 27 new vehicles and in the future will request more funding. CATS originally asked for $19.6 million.
“That’s our intent, to identify and use as much federal financial grants that we can get,” Marshall says, adding state and local grants are also being pursued.
Marshall adds the tax gives CATS more leverage for matching federal grants. BRAC also notes CATS must publicize and track the progress of implementing changes, ideally on the transit system’s website.
“We’re working on a website as we speak,” says Marshall, noting CATS still has not collected money from the new tax and the current website’s inefficiency is due to insufficient funding.
BRAC notes the $3 million CATS received from the city-parish in the past should be redirected to public safety now that the transit system has a dedicated funding stream. Marshall agrees.
BRAC also says public accountability should be a focus of CATS, involving the public in quarterly meetings held by Together Baton Rouge. Marshall agrees with the last point, but notes until recently CATS had no new information to communicate.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated since its original publication.
