The Downtown Development District will soon implement a trolley system to accommodate more visitors, employees and residents to the downtown area as projects continue to build the area into a bustling metropolis.
Davis Rhorer, DDD executive director, said the system will be comprised of four or five buses running from the capital park area in northern downtown to the Sheraton Atrium in the southern part every seven minutes.
“The buses are being purchased from Dallas and will be run by Capital Transportation Corporation,” Rhorer said. “We worked with Urban Systems to figure out the best path to quickly shuttle people from one side of downtown to the other.”
He said the free service’s purpose is to give people the option to do everyday activities downtown instead of leaving for other parts of Baton Rouge.
“We already have a new planetarium, a public market and restaurants that people can go to,” Rhorer said. “It’s also for visitors staying at the Sheraton to get from one place to the next easier. We want to accommodate both visitors, employees and residents of Baton Rouge.”
Shawn O’Brien, DDD vice chancellor, said she hopes the trolley will link tourists as well as residents and workers to businesses in the area.
“We want to encourage people who live and work downtown to stay downtown,” O’Brien said. “There are lots of new state employees now because of all the new buildings, and we want them to be able to stay in the area for lunch or errands.”
She said hundreds of state employees are moving to the area every day because the state is integrating all state departments into buildings downtown. Along with state employees, O’Brien said the new transportation system will also cater to residents in Spanish Town and eventually in new apartments under construction.
“Hopefully there will be more destinations to go to for errands and shopping so that people who live here will not have to go across town,” O’Brien, who represents Spanish Town on the DDD board, said. “We want to make this more pedestrian friendly.”
Some students, like history junior Nathan Pfeifer, do not think the trolley system is reasonable unless it travels beyond the downtown streets.
“That doesn’t make much sense to have it circle downtown,” Pfeifer said. “Unless you want to go from Casino Rouge to Argosy, back to Casino Rouge, it’s kind of pointless. You could just drive there.”
Constance Petty, an anthropology junior, said she would not use the trolley because there are not many attractions to visit.
“I don’t even know what’s down there, to tell you the truth,” Petty said. “They just finished the planetarium and there are casinos, but other than that there isn’t much to see.”
Adrienne Smith, an ISDS senior, works at the capital and said the trolley system would be useful to her if she wanted to go elsewhere in the area.
“I would use it because traffic is ridiculous and I wouldn’t want to lose my parking spot,” Smith said. “I think it would be better for other people if it came to campus.”
Although the plan does not include a regular route to campus, this may soon change when construction on a new arts building is completed in the spring, Rhorer said.
“The Shaw Center, a $53 million project, will be for art development, and students will be taking classes there and will need the shuttle service,” he said.
Rhorer said funding for the project is from a $1.3 million grant from federal funds approved by the State Bond Commission and other money from the state. The Metropolitan Planning Association, which Mayor Bobby Simpson heads, is responsible for heading the project.
Along with implementing a downtown trolley, other measures are being pursued to bring more people to downtown businesses on gamedays. Rhorer said a “tiger transit” will run from two hours before games until the band leaves Tiger Stadium in order for tiger fans to hang out downtown before and after games.
This service, unlike the downtown trolley, will require a $6 fee, but Rhorer said he hopes the transit will relieve parking problems on game days.
“We’re hoping to provide a downtown that is accessible in many ways,” he said. “People working here and visiting can have the convenience of getting around more easily. It’s a great means of urban development.”