BATON ROUGE – CRISIS, the Baton Rouge coalition for transportation improvements, released a report on the city's transportation infrastructure that reveals traffic is costing drivers on average more than $1,000 on gas due to congestion and an additional $700 in car repairs and maintenance due to poor roads.

The report states: 

Our road congestion and condition are costing us money. 

• According to the Texas A&M Transportation Institute report, commuters waste 25 gallons of fuel and spend an average of $1,262 per year due to traffic congestion. The trucking industry is expected to spend an additional $189 million annually due to local congestion.
  
  
• According to the 2015 report by TRIP, poor road conditions cost local drivers an average of $705 annually in additional repairs and maintenance. Our response is helping but the problem isn’t going away. 
  
  
• Congestion remains despite the Green Light Plan, a $700 million capacity-building effort by East Baton Rouge Parish under way since 2006. The plan identified 45 projects of various scales for completion by 2030, with 70% of the projects completed or currently under way. 
  
  

Our critical corridors are congested and in need of repair.

• Traffic volumes have increased from 76,000 vehicles per day in 1998 to 106,000 per day in 2013 on the I-10 bridge over the Mississippi River. At the same time, TRIP reports that Baton Rouge has the 11th worst road conditions in the country, with 38% of its major roads in “poor” condition compared to a national average of 28%. 
  
  
• According to the Texas A&M Transportation Institute, Baton Rouge has a peak-period planning time index of 2.8, travelers must plan approximately 28 minutes to complete what should normally be a 10-minute trip, due to the unpredictability of traffic conditions.
  
  The report includes research and analysis related to five areas of study:
  

Infrastructure Performance: The condition and effectiveness of existing roads, bridges, and transportation infrastructure

Land Use and Urban Form: The organization and distribution of the built environment

Resilience and Preparedness: The mitigation of threats to critical infrastructure and emergency response

Travel Options: The provision of transit service, regional bicycle infrastructure, and demand-based solutions

Regional Competitiveness: The Capital Region's ability to attract and retain a competitive workforce

The report also includes feedback that was gathered from a Strategic Mobility Forum that was held on Oct. 7.

Points of feedback from the forum included:

Infrastructure performance ranked as the highest priority among all groups surveyed
· 92 percent of participants said that increased transportation funding was "absolutely necessary" for the region to be successful
· A new bridge over the Mississippi River was the most frequent transportation project or initiative requested
· Increasing transit options was another popular suggestion, as 100 percent of participants rated regional travel options as poor

Download the full report here.

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