The head of the Capital Area Transit System expects to spend more than $1 million on a new transit hub in north Baton Rouge as part of a broader effort to turn around a bus system that has been in the “doldrums” for more than a decade.
CATS CEO Bill Deville announced several initiatives at the Press Club of Baton Rouge today, including an analysis of how efficient Baton Rouge’s bus system is compared to other similar-sized cities.
“I know we have a lot of catching up to do,” Deville said. “We’ve got to change the image of CATS—not only for our riders, but for the public as well.”
The CATS Board of Commissioners approved plans for the north Baton Rouge transit hub in April. Last month, the LSU Board of Supervisors agreed to sell land next to its health center on Airline Highway near North Foster Drive to CATS for the hub. Deville said he will not have an exact budget for the project until after the federal government approves an environmental study, but he estimates the hub will cost upwards of $1 million.
The federal government will pay for 80% of the project, Deville added, while the CATS dedicated property tax—a 10.6-millage approved in 2012—will cover the remaining 20%. The agency hopes to complete construction no later than early 2019.
Deville said he is hoping retailers will be drawn to the hub, which will be near the new emergency room underway in the area. Uber, the ridesharing service that launched in Baton Rouge in 2014, has agreed to partner with CATS to offer discounted rates for certain riders going to and from some bus stations—a service Deville would like to make available at the north Baton Rouge transit hub. He is also in talks with leaders of the Baton Rouge bike share program to get bikes at the location.
Deville acknowledged the transit system’s troubled past—sometimes hours-long waits, dilapidated buses and few riders—but said he hopes the recent decision to buy 24 new buses, as well as plans for new hubs, will help turn the agency around.
The CATS head said the dedicated tax has helped reduce wait times from as long as two to three hours to 30 or 45 minutes. But lag times on some routes remain.
“We’ve been in the news with bad headlines with buses breaking down, people getting delayed going to work,” Deville said. “We have some (buses) that are 20 years old.”
One initiative he cited is plans to add “rapid transit” routes from Florida Boulevard and Plank Road to downtown—a move he said might save north Baton Rouge riders 15 to 45 minutes by eliminating most of the stops along the route.
CATS is acquiring new buses, which run $420,000 each and have a shelf life of 12 years. That move will cost more than $10 million, 80% of which will be covered by the Federal Transit Administration, with CATS on the hook for the rest, Deville said. CATS is also set to acquire three new electric buses in the coming months, which could the agency reduce maintenance costs.
—Sam Karlin
