It's roughly 80 miles from Baton Rouge to New Orleans. If you car gets 20 MPG, that's 8 gallons of gas. @ $2.50/gallon, that's $20 a day to drive. How is the train any worse?
If you ride the commuter trains up here, New Haven, CT, to Grand Central Terminal, NYC, it's $11.50 during off-peak times, and $14.00 during peak times, one way.
Not to mention THE COST OF PARKING.
If I do a round-trip to work by train, it's 30 minutes each way (roughly), $1.00 to park, $4.50 each way, $9.00 total. If I drive the 22 miles during rush hour, it's an hour and two gallons of gas, plus between $17 and $24 to park my car within 8 blocks of my office, or a $22-29 total.
I drive some days, but I try to take the train 3-4 days a week; you can work, clear emails, read the paper, do SR.com on a wireless computer.
Not to mention that downtown Philadelphia could not function without commuter transit; gridlock + no parking + and extra 45 minutes of rush hour, with people with these attitudes, is a combustible combination.