Poll: the Baton Rouge/New Orleans region wants rail
Baton Rouge (December 16, 2010)—A rail line between Baton Rouge and New Orleans has been championed by mayors, non-profits and urban planners alike, but do the people of this region actually want it? According the findings of a recent poll, 75% of residents along the proposed rail corridor are in favor of the concept of linking the two metro areas by intercity rail.
The Center for Planning Excellence (CPEX), with support from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) and the Louisiana Realtors Association, has recently commissioned a poll to gauge regional attitudes about transportation and other quality of life issues. CPEX President and CEO Boo Thomas said,” The CONNECT initiative was created to advocate for expanded mobility choices throughout the New Orleans to Baton Rouge region that offer improved access to affordable homes, job centers and equitable economic opportunity.”
Louisiana Realtor’s CEO, Malcolm Young stated, “As the Baton Rouge and New Orleans economies become more interdependent, the Realtors felt it important to gauge the opinion of residents along the river corridor about quality of life issues including the possibility of passenger rail in the seven-parish area. The Realtors felt that it is important for the economic future of the area to relieve traffic congestion by creating more transportation alternatives. The proposed passenger rail service has the potential to accelerate growth of the entire region.”
The poll was conducted to support the outreach efforts of the CONNECT Coalition. An initiative of CPEX, CONNECT is a coalition of private industry and public entities focusing on how proposed rail service could impact housing, workforce opportunities and intermodal transportation along the proposed route.
The poll measured support for rail service among residents in the parishes the proposed rail intersects: East Baton Rouge, Ascension, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist, Jefferson and Orleans. The questions were designed to measure what residents appreciated about their communities and where they felt further quality of life investments were necessary.
The poll finds that citizens along the corridor think highly of their communities as desirable places to live. They cite positive reasons for living in Baton Rouge, New Orleans and parishes along the corridor. Among their top concerns are issues regarding traffic congestion, and they generally support rail as an additional transportation asset.
CONNECT supports passenger rail as an important component in an overall regional transportation strategy that will relieve traffic congestion, attract new industry, create new jobs and provide more choices for moving around– especially for those who don’t have transportation options. Mayors Kip Holden of Baton Rouge and Mitch Landrieu of New Orleans, both, support the potential rail line.
New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu stated, “There will be high-speed rail across the United States of America and I don’t want South Louisiana to get left out. We have an opportunity as a region to work cooperatively to put passenger rail at the forefront of creating better transportation infrastructure and improving regional job creation efforts. I’m for the rail, and this poll gives us unique information and a solid basis to move forward.”
The random telephone poll was conducted by the national polling firm of Myers Research on September 15-21, 2010, and reached 800 residents who live in the seven parishes along the rail line. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
For more information on the poll, visit the CONNECT website.
Other poll findings:
- Three-quarters of respondents say they either strongly (48 percent) or somewhat (27 percent) favor the proposed passenger rail service between Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
- Reasons for support vary widely, from reduction in traffic congestion to providing an additional evacuation route during a hurricane. More than half (55 percent) said they would use the train for travel to work or recreation.
- More than three-quarters (78 percent) say it is important to live in neighborhoods with sidewalks so they can walk to work or to visit friends. More than half (55 percent) say sidewalks are very important.
- 3 in 4 residents are concerned about traffic and congestion, 4 in 10 are very concerned. A majority of respondents (53%) believe road maintenance should be top transportation priority.
- Energy costs top the lists of issues associated with growth and development that cause voters the most concern (7.5 level of concern on a 10 point scale). Decaying and rundown neighborhoods is a very close second (7.4, 38 percent rate a “10”). The increase in traffic ranks third (7.3), but is the top concern in East Baton Rouge and Ascension parishes.
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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. Visit their website at www.cpex.org.
