LCO Middle wins ’em all
November 18, 2014
Proposed rule change gets local opposition
November 18, 2014
With the help of the South Central Planning and Development Commission, Lafourche has taken the next step toward the possibility of a parish-wide public transportation system.
Last October, the parish commissioned SCDPC to apply for grant money on behalf of the parish in order to perform a transit feasibility study. The study is now underway.
“The parish is growing. Our neighboring parishes Terrebonne and St. Charles are bringing [public transportation] forth. It’s something that the people of this parish need and deserve,” said the councilman who brought the resolution to the table, L. Phillip Gouaux.
SCDPC received $120,000 from the federal government, requiring a 20 percent local match, so Lafourche contributed $30,000 to the $150,000 study.
The objective of the study is to gather data and determine if parish-wide public transportation is feasible, and if so, which types of transportation would meet the needs of the residents best.
“The goal of the study that we’re doing right now is just to look at that possibility and just make some suggestions back to the parish,” SCDPC Transportation Planner Adam Tatar said. “The study is basically going to look at demographics of Lafourche Parish. Where to folks live? Where do they work? Who owns a car and who doesn’t? Who bikes to work? Who rides the bus to work? We’re going to look at all of this stuff and kind of see where there might be an unmet transportation need and then we’re going to try and brainstorm on some different transit-based solutions that may help address that need.”
Tatar said there is no solution already in mind to the totally open-ended question of how would public transportation work in the parish, if at all.
“We’re going to look at what the need is and we’re going to ask how do we meet this need? Really every option is on the table. We’re just looking to see where is the need, what is it and what kind of additional transit service will meet that need,” Tatar explained.
Because of the elongated and often sparsely populated nature of Lafourche Parish, lots of ideas are on the table.
“The rural nature of Lafourhe Parish definitely makes transit a challenge. There are people there. There’s a need for transportation, but the landscape there definitely poses challenges,” Tatar said. “It will require a little bit of creative problem solving on our end. There’s not going to be stops every two blocks like you see in New Orleans. That doesn’t make any sense in a place like Lafourche Parish, but there still is a transportation need. There are folks without cars who have jobs to get to, so it’s going to be working within the constraints of the landscape.”
Possible options include but aren’t limited to carpool services like van pooling and paratransit and the extension of the Good Earth bus route in Thibodaux – an expansion of Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government’s transportation system into Thibodaux by way of a cooperative endeavor.
There are four other bus routes as part of the Good Earth Transit, three of which stay completely within Terrebonne Parish. The other connects Houma to Nicholls State University.
“I think it’s a great service. I wouldn’t hesitate to implement it as a public service. I think it does a great good for the community,” said TPCG Public Transit Administrator Philip Liner in regard to the possibility of a similar system in Lafourche. “It gives people who would otherwise have to find a ride or call a taxi, it gives people an alternative to get where they need to go through the day and get their tasks accomplished.”
Good Earth has been transporting residents since 1997, and Liner said it averages 3,000 to 3,500 riders per week.
Good Earth is funded mostly by the federal government through Federal Transportation Administration funds – something Lafourche would have the ability to take advantage of also. Liner said some capitol projects are 100 percent funded by FTA funds, while others require a 20 percent local match. Operational costs are split 50-50, he said.
Soon-to-come improvements to the Good Earth Transit system include a ridership information system, which would provide real time statistics on how many people are riding and where they are getting on and off as well as a smart phone app, which would pinpoint the location of busses for residents. Visit http://www.tpcg.org/index.php?f=public_transit for more information on the public transportation system TPCG provides.
As for Lafourche, the possibility for a transit system is still in its infancy, but SCDPC invites residents to help it grow by participating in an online survey at www.surveymonkey.com/s/D2YCSL7.
Additionally, SCDPC is reaching out to business leaders, the chamber of commerce and the local institutions of higher learning to gather as much information as possible.
“The more input we get the merrier. It just makes the study that much more robust,” Tatar said.
Tatar hopes to have a report with recommendations presented to the parish in early 2015. From there, the parish will decide if or how to move forward with public transportation.
“I think it would be great to have a parish-wide transit system for the simple reason the central part of the parish has never been afforded that option, and it’s just something that I think would benefit the parish having something like that,” said Lafourche Parish councilman Joseph Fertitta.
A Terrebonne Parish public bus makes its way through Downtown Houma on the North Bayou Route. A study is currently being conducted to see if a similar public transit system would be feasible in Lafourche Parish.
