CONNECT Policy Brief 2:
Connected and Ready to Compete
To download the full brief, visit the CONNECT website >
Baton Rouge (April 19, 2011) – The New Orleans and Baton Rouge metropolitan areas are the economic engines of Louisiana, but traffic congestion and the absence of a regional transportation system cost the region more than $1 billion in 2009 alone in wasted time, productivity and fuel costs, a new policy brief says.
The policy brief, “Connected and Ready to Compete,” was prepared for Louisiana’s CONNECT Coalition and was released today in Baton Rouge at a meeting of the Coalition’s steering committee. CONNECT was formed last year by the Center for Planning Excellence (CPEX) to advance strategies for expanded mobility choices throughout the New Orleans to Baton Rouge region that offer improved access to affordable homes, job centers and equitable economic opportunities.
According to the brief, the Urban Mobility Report by the Texas Transportation Institute estimated that traffic congestion cost the Baton Rouge and New Orleans metropolitan areas a combined $898 million in wasted time, productivity and fuel in 2009. The institute also estimated that the freight trucking industry lost $350 million that same year with many of those costs passed on to consumers.
“Congestion threatens to put a ceiling on the economic growth of the region, existing infrastructure is insufficient to support significant economic growth and neighborhoods are calling for reinvestment and revitalization,” the brief states.
On brighter notes, the CONNECT brief cites a 2011 Brookings Institute report concluding that the New Orleans and Baton Rouge metropolitan areas comprise 44 percent of the state’s population, 46 percent of Louisiana’s jobs, and nearly half of the state’s economic output. The region also is home to 57 percent of Louisiana’s scientists and engineers.
The brief, available at http://connect.cpex.org, is the second in a series of three policy briefs by Reconnecting America, a Washington, D.C. based non-profit that focuses on transportation issues.
Boo Thomas, CPEX President and CEO, said the policy series was commissioned to explore the opportunity for New Orleans and Baton Rouge to mutually strengthen their regional economies and to support strong local communities through strategic transportation investments and improved coordination among cities, parishes and the private sector on issues of transportation, housing, growth and economic development.
ADD ONE – CONNECT POLICY BRIEF #2 – April 19, 2011
The CONNECT brief outlines three areas where increased investment and coordination are needed to strengthen the regional economy:
- Improve transportation connections between Baton Rouge and New Orleans
- Expand and improve transit within cities and parishes, including the use of streetcars, light rail, bus rapid transit or high-frequency bus service
- Encourage development of affordable, walkable and transit-oriented communities
The brief cites the national report, Emerging Trends in Real Estate,that says demand for housing in walkable, transit-oriented locations is expected to double by 2025 based in large part on the growing population of senior households and on the children of the baby boomers, known as “Generation Y.”
“Next-generation projects will orient to infill, urbanizing suburbs, and transit-oriented development. Smaller housing units – close to mass transit, work, and 24-hour amenities – gain favor over large houses on big lots at the suburban edge,” the Emerging Trends report says.
The 17-page CONNECT brief also describes five major benefits for businesses and employers from transit investment and coordinated planning.
- Improved productivity and reduced travel costs
- Increased innovation by linking business, universities, medical centers and other hubs
- Better access to a diverse pool of skilled employees
- More opportunities for real estate development
- Increased tourism between and within cities
Ashley Shelton, policy analyst for the CONNECT Coalition, said the benefits multiply as they are applied throughout communities. “Through better transit, citizens realize higher property values and enjoy lower household transportation costs. Those earnings and savings are spent in the community, helping build the local economy, so everyone benefits.”
The brief quotes Kurt Weigle, President & CEO of the New Orleans Downtown Development District, saying, “What matters most to ‘creative workers’ are lifestyle, the whole package of diversity, convenience and environmental quality, and fun places where creative people could meet and get inspired.”
The CONNECT brief also cites several examples of potential success in the Baton Rouge and New Orleans regions, including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s March announcement that the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO) is one of six national finalists for a Choice Neighborhood Implementation Grant. If New Orleans wins that grant, up to $31 million would help implement a neighborhood revitalization plan in the Iberville/Treme’ section of the city. The mixed-income neighborhood project, located near the Canal Street streetcar line, could be a model for the super region, the brief notes.
The region’s tourism industry, also, would benefit from a regional transportation system, the brief states. Tourism is an essential part of Louisiana’s economy, contributing an estimated $10 billion to local economies and supporting 144,000 jobs throughout the state in 2010. Giving visitors the option to travel through the region without a car could expand the tourism base and could potentially attract more international tourists who are accustomed to traveling without a car.
ADD TWO – CONNECT POLICY BRIEF #2 – April 19, 2011
Rachel DiResto, CPEX Executive Vice President, said the brief also details several U.S. success stories where planned investments in transportation have either led to or will lead to business and economic growth while providing citizens with better access to housing and good jobs. Examples include:
- Denver’s “Eagle Ps Project” consists of 36 miles of commuter train, connecting downtown Denver to its airport and outlying residential communities; the project is part of FasTracks, a voter-approved initiative with 122 miles of new commuter rail and improved local bus service.
- Cleveland’s “Healthline” bus line has helped restore Euclid Avenue and has attracted $4.3 million in new investment along the line.
- Private investors, through Detroit’s “M-1 Rail” coalition, have pledged $125 million to help pay for a light rail line that will connect the area’s major employment, cultural and retail centers.
- Charlotte, NC, realized nearly 10 million square feet of new business and housing along its 9.6 mile “Blue Line” light rail
- St. Louis, MO, where the MetroLink attracted $2 billion in development around its stations
- The Dallas/Fort Worth region, where a 62-mile rail corridor will connect those cities, the Fort Worth Medical Center and two universities
- Many mid-sized regions such as Raleigh-Durham, NC, Cincinnati, OH, and Nashville, TN, are gaining momentum around plans to bolster existing transit networks or to seek federal funding to build new systems
- A Motorola plant, located on Chicago’s Metra line, was able to draw upon a much larger labor pool than if the plant was accessible only by automobile.
- In Atlanta, BellSouth consolidated a number of scattered suburban offices into three locations near MARTA rail stations and partnered with MARTA in the development of a 47-acre live, work, play development at Lindbergh station.
Reconnecting America is also drafting the third brief, which will present strategies and next steps for advancing a regional transportation and community development vision. All three briefs are being underwritten by a grant from the Surdna Foundation.
The CONNECT Coalition is made possible through a grant from The Metropolitan Opportunities Fund at the Greater New Orleans Foundation. Learn more at http://connect.cpex.org
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Center for Planning Excellence is a non-profit organization that helps South Louisiana communities define and realize their visions by providing models, tools, and expertise for inclusive planning processes. CPEX helps create highly functional, equitable communities throughout Louisiana that capitalize on their unique qualities through community-driven planning and implementation.
Reconnecting America is a national non-profit that is helping to transform promising ideas into thriving communities – where transportation choices make it easy to get from place to place, where businesses flourish, and where people from all walks of life can afford to live, work and visit.
Other contact information:
John Robert Smith
Reconnecting America
(202) 429-6990
John Renne
University of New Orleans
jrenne@uno.edu
