Smart Growth, the Ozone and Trains?

When we started on our campaign to make sure the Loop would not destroy our community, historic homes, ancient oaks and the Spanish Lake Basin area, we never thought that we would begin looking at the problem of transportation in Baton Rouge as a whole. It makes sense though. If we are going to object to the loop coming through our town, we had better get educated about it or the inevitable “NIMBY” word will get thrown at us.

So, we started doing our homework, looking at DOTD documents, asking questions, going to meetings and basically doing a LOT of research (see our links page on http://www.smartbrloop.com/ for some of the great resources we’ve found). We didn’t want to be perceived at “anti- progress” or “anti-transportation”.

What happened sort of surprised us. Through a chain of events that could only be serendipitous, we all met up at Alligator Bayou one night at a meeting to help save the Bayou. Realizing that the issue was bigger than saving the alligators or our homes, we saw a common goal emerging. We pooled our resources, abilities and took turns going to meetings and doing research (after all – none of us gets PAID to do this – we do have lives outside of this ya-know). The end result is this blog, a website by the same name and our new mission: to convince those in power to have some vision and look at our transportation problems as a whole. One road or system of roads in not going to fix every problem we have.

We have all heard the term “Smart Growth” before. It’s a new favorite buzzword for politicians. Actually, it’s a real way of thinking that makes a whole heck of a lot of sense. It’s great that our leaders like how smart growth sounds, but what we need is for them to really UNDERSTAND what it implies. When dealing with transportation issues, Smart Growth demands that we have a variety of ways to get from point A to point B. When you want to go to work or out to dinner, this does not mean: “Do I take Airline or the Interstate?” What it does mean is: "Do I take the train, bus, taxi or do I drive?" In Baton Rouge, we have no real viable options.

Sure, there are some bus routes and once a pitiful attempt was made at a Park-n-Ride system. But these were never fully fleshed out or well funded. Trains, buses and mass transit options only work if they are fully funded, dependable, reliable, clean and consistent. If we took the time to do it right by making stations attractive, hiring the best people to run them and locating them properly, they could potentially be a solution to both our traffic and non-attainment problems.

What’s “non-attainment?

On March 12, 2008, the EPA released tougher standards for ozone pollution. “Five parishes in the Baton Rouge area are out of compliance with current ozone pollution standards: East Baton Rouge, West Baton Rouge, Livingston, Ascension and Iberville.” The Advocate, March 12, 2008 . What does this have to do with the loop? Basically, ozone pollution comes from many sources such as industry and automobiles. In fact, the EPA considers motor vehicle exhaust as one of the major man-made sources of NOx and VOCs. We are in danger of being moved to the EPA’s non-attainment list (if we haven’t been moved to that list already). When an area is designated as being in non-attainment, there are consequences.

The EPA is requiring that we do something about our compliance to the new Ozone Regulations and the Clean Air Act. The quicker we adopt alternative methods of transportation, the more money we will save in the long run. Let’s spend our money once the right way instead of spending it over and over again on projects doomed to fail from conception.

Trains can be a major part of the overall solution

Did you know that traveling by train is one of the most efficient modes of transportation in terms of fuel efficiency per passenger? If we could reduce the amount of cars on the road, not only would congestion on the existing roads be decreased, but we could also reduce the amount of NOx and VOC’s released in to the atmosphere – helping us to get into compliance and get off the non-attainment list.

BTW, have you SEEN the prices at the pumps lately? My mini van and my husbands SUV aren’t looking so great anymore. We have 3 kids in car seats so a Prius is out of the question. Instead of giving up our cars, we could just drive them less, right? I can’t imagine anything that would be more fun for the kids than to take a train – and more relaxing for me. Or how about this: Imagine, reading a book on the way to work instead of cursing the traffic?

Like toll roads, the rails will have a revenue source: fares. People will pay to ride the rails. In many cases with rising fuel costs, it will actually be cheaper to ride than drive. Additionally, it will encourage smart growth in the right areas. Residential and commercial development would go up around train stations. Young professionals who may not be able to afford a car can live near the train station and get to downtown or to Essen lane on the train. Restaurants and night life catering to these young professionals would be attracted to these areas as well. This is smart growth! Think of all the tax dollars this would bring in…

Learn more about Smart Growth by visiting http://www.smartgrowth.org/