The West Bank has been a vital part of greater New Orleans since the city’s inception, serving as its breadbasket, foundry, shipbuilder, railroad terminal, train manufacturer, and even livestock hub. At one time it was the Gulf South’s St. Louis, boasting a diversified industrial sector as well as a riverine, mercantilist, and agricultural economy. Today the mostly suburban West Bank is proud but not pretentious, pleasant if not prominent, and a distinct, affordable alternative to the more famous neighborhoods of the East Bank. Richard Campanella is the first to examine the West Bank holistically, as a legitimate subregion with its own story to tell. No other part of greater New Orleans has more diverse yet deeply rooted populations: folks who speak in local accents, who exhibit longstanding cultural traits, and, in some cases, who maintain family ownership of lands held since antebellum times—even as immigrants settle here in growing numbers. Campanella demonstrates that West Bankers have had great agency in their own place-making, and he challenges the notion that their story is subsidiary to a more important narrative across the river. The West Bank of Greater New Orleans is not a traditional history, nor a cultural history, but rather a historical geography, a spatial explanation of how the West Bank’s landscape formed: its terrain, environment, land use, jurisdictions, waterways, industries, infrastructure, neighborhoods, and settlement patterns, past and present. The book explores the drivers, conditions, and power structures behind those landscape transformations, using custom maps, aerial images, photographic montages, and a detailed historical timeline to help tell that complex geographical story. As Campanella shows, there is no “greater New Orleans” without its cross-river component. The West Bank is an essential part of this remarkable metropolis.

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This synthesis will be of interest to administrative and financial officials of toll authorities, as well as members of the governing boards of these agencies. It will also be of interest to state departments of transportation and to legislators who are exploring innovative methods for financing major highway facilities. This synthesis also provides useful information for bonding and other financial institutions. It presents information on the current tolling policies and practices employed by highway, bridge, and tunnel tolling authorities throughout the United States. This report of the Transportation Research Board presents a profile of the traditions, pricing practices, and operational aspects of the tolling industry. Based on information derived from survey responses from 41 toll organizations, representing over 90% of annual U.S. toll transactions, the research for the synthesis indicates that the tolling industry employs a wide range of policies and practices, including many innovative approaches, used in response to the need to provide improved highway facilities. Case studies of several selected innovative tolling practices are discussed: variable/congestion pricing; high- occupancy toll, or HOT lanes; public-private partnerships; interagency partnerships; and others such as state infrastructure banks (SIBs), shared resource agreements, and transportation utility fees. Detailed information on the experience of states with privatization of highway facilities is also presented. A unique summary of the future issues to be addressed in the tolling industry as gleaned from the survey concludes the document.