re: New Infrastructure Spending Plan likely means a NOLA -Baton Rouge passenger rail link

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Think about taking the train down to the quarter on a random Saturday. Wouldn't have to frick with parking or traffic or anything.

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Except you’d uber from the train station to the quarter, Uber from the quarter back to the train station. Then when you’d get back to Baton Rouge, you’d either drive your drunk arse home, or get another Uber.

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I don't get why Louisiana residents are so close minded when it comes to anything of public transportation. It's like they feel a sense of being elitists like they would never use that. Meanwhile, in most other metropolitan areas you see all walks of life from one end of the spectrum to the other using the shite out of it.

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Besides Atlanta, name another southern state that has a giant amount of public transportation usage. What you’re referencing is in the northeast where there are a shite ton more large cities that are relatively close to one another. They also have very walkable cities, we do not.

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If only there was a rail station located close to the stadium, like by Alex Box maybe.

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At that point you’re serving a niche that may be widely used 7-8x year.

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If there was a quicker, easier, cheaper way to get to the CBD do you think it would increase or decrease the amount of people who start working in the CBD?

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Companies are moving out of the city, may even further accelerate if Latoya is re-elected. You’d have to be a moron to locate there.

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Your mentality is a pretty good representation why Louisiana is last place when it comes to every category.

Absolutely no room in your mind for any forward thought. Just keep doing the same thing that has put us and kept us in last place.

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Because I don’t want to waste millions on something no one would use? Please point out to me what other better ranked state in the south uses extensive commuter rail. There is nowhere near the population density necessary for this to make sense.

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Cheaper and easier.

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How is it cheaper when you’ll likely have to pay for an Uber trip or two in addition to your train ride? How is it easier when you have to drive to and park at the train station prior to your trip? Most people it would take 15-30 minutes to get to the train station in the first place.

Have you ever done a true cost analysis on what it takes to operate your car per mile?

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So you’re saying building a little used commuter train that will lose money, and then having to further piss state tax money away to prop up said operation is what companies are looking for?

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No public infrastructure runs at a profit. Not interstates nor the subdivision road your house is built on.

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No public infrastructure runs at a profit. Not interstates nor the subdivision road your house is built on.

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People use the interstates, people won’t use this shite.

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(and if you have ever made that drive for commuting you know it is almost two hours each way)

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How many people make the commute from New Orleans to Baton Rouge daily? I’d be shocked if it’s more than a handful.

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How many people make the commute from New Orleans to Baton Rouge daily?

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An Advocate article from April 2020 used 5-year avg LADOTD GIS data that showed 1,500 from EBR to Orleans and 2,250 from Orleans, St. Bernard, and Jefferson to EBR for individuals who commuted daily. So between 3,500 and 4,000 daily business commuters between the endpoints of the route.

This doesn't include people who commute one, two, or three days a week (think state government offices in BR, Fifth Circuit federal courthouse in NO, or other places). There are probably 5,000 and 7,500 commuters between the endpoints on any given day. How many of these people per day would ride a train instead of drive?

A commuter train makes more sense with the plan that had stops in suburban EBR (the hospitals by Essen and Bluebonnet), Gonzales, LaPlace, Kenner (MSY), and Jefferson (by JPAC and Zephyr's Field). The GIS data shows 54,470 daily commuters to Orleans from Jefferson, 5,455 to Orleans from St John, St James, St Charles, and Ascension, plus 20,970 to EBR from St John, St James, St Charles, and Ascension. That is another 80,895 daily business commuters heading to EBR or Orleans, but obviously not all of them are heading near the endpoints of the train route. This also doesn't consider non-daily business commuters, so there are probably somewhere between 100,000 to 150,000 commuters per day traveling near the route.

These numbers do not include any recreational travel. There are over 50 home dates for the Saints, Pelicans, and LSU football, plus another 50+ for LSU men's basketball and baseball. Special event trains could probably be made available for the former but not the latter based on demand. Factor in daily MSY travel (millions of travelers per year pre-Covid), visiting fans for sporting events, plus festivals, museums, concerts, dining, and trips to visit friends and family. There are also a few hundred students driving round-trip on this route for college classes several times a week. How many of those people each day would take a train instead of drive?