The Capital Area Transit System board and Metro Council will each take up a cooperative endeavor agreement between CATS and the city-parish that’s needed in order for Mayor Sharon Weston Broome’s proposed 10-mile express bus route to move forward.
Under the agreement, CATS and the city-parish will each pay half of a $440,000 fee to HNTB, the firm designing the bus rapid transit line.
East Baton Rouge Parish Redevelopment Authority CEO Chris Tyson is hopeful both groups will approve financing for the project. The CATS board is expected to vote on the agreement this evening, while the Metro Council will take it up Wednesday.
“We’ve discussed this pretty extensively over the past few months,” Tyson says. “This is just one step. There are many more.”
The Federal Transit Administration has agreed to match city-parish funds for a 3-mile tram connecting downtown to LSU. However, since Broome redefined the project to include a bus rapid transit line instead, it will have to be vetted again by the FTA. The cooperative endeavor agreement is a first step to regaining FTA approval.
Upon completion, the transit line is estimated to cost somewhere between $40 million and $50 million. Based on what other cities across the world have paid for similar systems, Tyson calls the estimate a “back-of-the-envelope cost per mile of building the average bus rapid transit system.” CATS Communications Director Amie McNaylor says some costs on CATS’ end include $800,000 for three electric buses, as well as additional dollars for enhanced shelter stations and digital kiosks, the latter of which won’t roll out until after early fall 2019, once the first phase of the project is expected to be complete.
CATS is also in “active talks” with transportation network companies such as Uber and Lyft about bringing a “first-mile, last-mile” concept to the Capital Region, McNaylor says, where someone living outside the CATS service area can take an Uber or Lyft to and from a CATS station along the route.
According to the Baton Rouge Area Foundation’s latest CityStats report, 27% of locals use a ride-hailing service to travel in the city, while CATS ridership has declined by 1% since voters approved a dedicated property tax for the transit agency in 2012.
Rider discounts are a “potential reality,” McNaylor says, adding it’s too early to determine what kind of deals will be available. “They’ve been amenable to a partnership, they’re just waiting on us to have all the amenities in place.”
