A 17-member commission charged with implementing transit goals outlined in the 30-year FuturEBR master plan was announced this morning by the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, Together Baton Rouge and Mayor Kip Holden. “This group has the critical task of building the roadmap to implement the transit initiatives of the FuturEBR plan, as well as laying out the business plan to make it a reality,” says BRAC President/CEO Adam Knapp. “Real metropolitan mass transit is a big, bold idea, and we’re confident of the capabilities of this group to lay out a plan to get there.”
Holden says he expects the commission to bring him options for addressing the parish’s transit challenges by June. The commission will hold public meetings to get community input, estimate costs of FuturEBR transit projects and study the sustainability of various options, as well as analyze and determine the best mechanism to present another transit-related ballot initiative to EBR voters.
Meanwhile, the Capital Area Transit System is still trying to find funds to fill a $1.2 million budget shortfall, which CATS executives say could bankrupt the system by October. Last fall, voters rejected a 3.5-mill property tax increase for dedicated CATS funding. If it had passed, the tax would have generated about $11.5 million annually and doubled the system’s current budget.
The first commission meeting was held this morning at Wesley United Methodist Church. Future meetings are to be announced later. For the list of members, click here.
