Building and maintaining a quality roadway network is critical to the movement of people, goods and services, and unfortunately, Louisiana highways are in poor shape overall. Louisianans can all agree that the state needs to improve roadway quality and safety while decreasing congestion. To do this, we must modernize and take a more free-market approach to funding and financing Louisiana’s roadways.
It should come as no surprise to any Louisianan that the state consistently ranks near the bottom when it comes to infrastructure. When traveling the state, it becomes clear that every parish seems to need a road or bridge repaired. Fortunately, State Representative Mark Wright has a bill this coming session that aims to bring...
Today, the Pelican Institute released its Get Louisiana Working Policy Solutions. This plan outlines reforms to key public policy areas to encourage the return of jobs and opportunity and to strengthen the state’s economy following the destruction resulting from COVID-19 and measures taken to address it. The Pelican Institute is also calling on state leaders...
To reduce the risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19, many Louisianans are foregoing shopping in stores and are instead, ordering their necessities online through services like Amazon, Postmates, and Instacart. But these delivered goods are still interacting with human handlers multiple times before they make it to consumers. What if there was a way to...
This week, the Pelican Institute joined groups around the country in signing a letter opposing legislative efforts to increase the Passenger Facility Charge (PFC) for airline tickets. When purchasing an airline ticket, you may notice that there are taxes and fees associated with this purchase. In total, these taxes and fees can account for 20...
There is constant news coverage about the newest innovation in transportation. From driverless cars to hyperloops, the future technology and transportation always seems to be right around the corner. But for all the big ideas about how to improve transportation, one of the most successful so far in changing how people navigate in cities is...
It’s no secret to the people of Louisiana that things aren’t going well. The state has a shrinking labor force, an antiquated budget system, a struggling education system and a backlog of infrastructure projects that are in need of addressing. Given these issues, it’s no surprise that there is a sizable population that is leaving...
Just a decade ago, the idea of using your cellphone to get ride from a complete stranger, driving their personal car, seemed ludicrous. But with more than 10 billion rides completed, this idea is not only accepted, but commonplace in many places around the world. However, in Louisiana, many are still left out of the...
For years, The Pelican Institute has been warning citizens in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, and elsewhere about red light traffic cameras and how they may not be what they seem. They may not be as safe as previously thought, they may not be constitutional, they were ripe for corruption, but the one thing every...
No viable enterprise would hope to operate at a profit with the extremely inefficient procedures currently used by Amtrak.
Louisiana’s natural gas has given the state an economic advantage over its neighbors, but the implementation of a thriving natural gas economy is still in its infancy.
Once the initial government subsidies end, states would be left to pay for the mammoth costs of a higher-speed version of the failing Amtrak model.
The debate over whether to build a high-speed rail line spanning 80 miles between Baton Rouge and New Orleans is heating up.