re: Why is drunk driving such an epidemic in this state?

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i think the lack of cabs shows it has nothing to do with planning and everything to do with the market

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I agree though the cab situation has gotten infinitely better in the last few years.

For Spanish Town we took a cab downtown and had no problems. I was ready to go at 4 and no one else was so I walked to the corner of North and 3rd and got a cab in less than 5 minutes.

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but are bus lines really common at night?

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In places that have a night life, yes, they do. In places that don't, no. It's the chicken and egg though. If you want a night life, then support it. If you want people to go downtown and have something cool in the form of a night life, start thinking different, rather than looking at what's in front of your face and thinking that makes sense or doesn't based solely on your current reality.

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cabs are not "public transportation". they are a private industry subject to market forces (within some regulation, obviously)

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You're right, but the city can support it to be more accessible and functioning in the short term to help in bringing this to fruition and in order to really support that which they're already working to revitalize in our downtown. Money is already being spent down there, a bunch of it, but nobody is really going to go down there without a way to get there and get home, or at least get home after a night on the town.

The best place in the short term I think to focus on is with LSU students, but you also don't want this to become seen as a frat hangout either, so I think we need to think of ways in which we can make it a reality for people in the other areas of Baton Rouge to leave their house and enjoy downtown and go back home without worrying about drinking and driving, a chief reason why most people elect to stay closer to home and not risk it in distances they feel they run a higher risk of getting pulled over in.

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I believe there are some politics involved with the BR taxi cab market. New Orleans now has about 14 million cabs driving around. BR has about 20 at any time

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it will change...but yes cab licensing is a fricking racket

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In places that have a night life, yes, they do.

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where are we talking exactly?

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It's the chicken and egg though. If you want a night life, then support it. If you want people to go downtown and have something cool in the form of a night life, start thinking different, rather than looking at what's in front of your face and thinking that makes sense or doesn't based solely on your current reality.

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cabs are an option, though

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The best place in the short term I think to focus on is with LSU students, but you also don't want this to become seen as a frat hangout either,

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wait...what?

and let me add, on top of cabs, the private market also provides another solution: DDs

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For BR, I'd say that if they want to really make the downtown that they're pushing to redevelop a place of destination, and an economic plus for the city, then don't just put shite down there and expect a miracle to happen. Support it with public transportation and watch it blow up. I guarantee you it will.

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I can't take the city seriously on wanting to stop drunk driving as long as they're pimping downtown the way they are. Most of the revitalization of downtown BR is catered around drinking. If the city is serious about curtailing drunk driving, they need to either provide ways to travel downtown or shutter downtown bars/severely restrict operating hours.

I'm still here.

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Hell Hollywood even gets it. Look how many times Marty and Rust drove drunk in True Detective. It's not like we WANT to. It's just acceptable. Driving STUPID is driving STUPID, drunk or sober.

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To be fair True Detective was set in 1995 and it was common for people to drive loaded then.

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To be fair True Detective was set in 1995 and it was common for people to drive loaded then.

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They weren't drinking in 2002 at Marty's PI office? Granted there are 10xs the number of cars in Tigerland on a Sunday morning than their were in 1995 but it's still a culture thing down here.

Old farts give youngons a lot of shite but that's one thing they are doing WAY smarter than old people.

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Public transportation is non existent. So people drink, say frick it, then drive. I know its not an excuse, but if someone waits over 45 minutes for a cab when they can drive home in 10. Most likely they will just say eff it and drive home.

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I have hardly ever waited long for a cab, but I will admit it's because we take them 3-4 times per week. Once your number comes up as a regular customer (and you snag some drivers' personal numbers), it is obviously easier than someone who never takes a cab trying to get one.

Another thing is a lot of people don't call until 2AM when the club closed and they're standing outside. It's the single busiest time for a cab driver. If you don't want to wait on a cab, step outside and call at 1-1:15.. they'll be there within 20 minutes and you're still enjoying the bar during that time. If you can't go home half an hour before the bar closes, you have other things to worry about

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So public transportation is the reason dipshits get drunk on the southshore and drive back to Hammond? Give me a break, I'll wager $20 that guy never once thought about calling a cab.

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Also true. Downtown has a lot of people from Denham/Central/Zachary/etc. area. My brother goes every weekend with a big group of friends. He says they always have a DD, but he's 21 so who knows if he's telling the truth or not. They all drive home to Central at 2AM. A cab is never even a possibility to them.

The cab stuff is hard. It's more about the big picture: Our city is not laid out in a way in which people rely on cabs other than while drunk. They can't employ hundreds of cab drivers for midnight-3AM on weekends (the only time they're slammed). Some of my regular cabbies on weekends are people from other cities who come in only on the weekends to help out because our weekends are so busy. It's hard to find enough people willing to do that.