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BRT East-West Corridor Locally Preferred Alternative
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DESCRIPTION: Adopt the LPA for the BRT East-West Bank Corridor allowing the project to advance to the environmental and design phase and apply to FTA's CIG Small Starts program
AGENDA NO: Click or tap here to enter text.
ACTION REQUEST:
? Approval ? Review Comment ? Information Only ? Other
RECOMMENDATION:
recommendation
Approve the staff-recommended Locally Preferred Alignment (LPA), as described below, for the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) East-West Bank Corridor project.
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ISSUE/BACKGROUND:
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The New Orleans region has a severe and worsening disparity in access to jobs, education and basic services between households that can easily afford a car and those that cannot. A transit users' average commute is 75% longer. The hospitality and service industry, a key economic driver, is concentrated in the downtown core, yet nearby housing prices have increased 80+% in the last 6 years pushing residents further away. A new mode of transit is needed to:
* reliably and affordably move people from outer neighborhoods
* create more and equitable opportunities for upward mobility
* orient development of new, workforce housing and walkable communities
RTA identified several rapid transit corridors in its 2019 Strategic Mobility Plan. Rapid transit would be a first in the region, yet among the largest 50 metro areas, New Orleans area is one of only 7 without any rapid transit in service or under construction. In recognition of the need and the plan, the FTA awarded RTA a HOPE grant in 2020 to study one of these corridors for rapid transit using buses or BRT.
RTA commenced its BRT feasibility study and alternatives analysis in late 2021 to develop:
* BRT Standards: establish a guide as a new mode of transit service
* Corridor Plan: Develop and identify community-supported route based on evaluation of several alternatives; preliminary location stations; and conceptual design of the guideway
* Financ...
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