First CATS accountability meeting set since controversial tax passed

On Tuesday evening, Together Baton Rouge will hold its first quarterly “accountability night” on CATS since the public transit system won approval for a controversial 10-year, 10.6-mill dedicated property tax from Baton Rouge and Baker voters in April. The meeting is set for 7 p.m., and will be held at Mt. Carmel Baptist Church, 5262 Prescott Ave. Together Baton Rouge leaders will grade CATS using an Accountability Report Card developed before the election took place (you can download a report card of your own here). Together Baton Rouge is tracking CATS’s progress on reducing wait times; improving on-time arrivals; establishing new express and limited-service routes; expanding service areas; improving route efficiency; improving bus shelters, stops and pass availability; and increasing administration accountability and reporting. “Accountability was an extremely important issue for us during the election,” says Edgar Cage, a co-chair of Together Baton Rouge’s Transit Research and Action Team. “We have two goals for this gathering. The first is to hold CATS accountable for results. The second is to create a new model for how citizens can be engaged in making our public systems responsive and accountable to taxpayers.”