Getting Gouged
August 29, 2012 | ∞ Stephen Smith, reporting for Bloomberg, on the dismal return on investment Americans get out if transit projects:
American taxpayers will shell out many times what their counterparts in developed cities in Europe and Asia would pay. In the case of the Second Avenue line and other new rail infrastructure in New York City, they may have to pay five times as much.
[…]
The French rail operator SNCF told the California High- Speed Rail Authority that it could cut $30 billion off the project’s $68 billion estimated price tag. San Francisco can barely build underground light rail for the price that Tokyo pays for high-capacity subways. Los Angeles’s planned subway to the sea will be a bit cheaper, but is still very expensive considering the area’s lack of density.
The important takeaway is not that we shouldn’t invest in transit. The takeaway is that we should invest smarter and require accountability. If SNCF can save Californians $30 billion, why aren’t we getting that deal? While this article is about mass transit, it’s not unreasonable to assume that road projects are beset by the same gouging. This should be unacceptable.
Reader Comments (1)
Yeah, it's crazy. Right now, Portland, a very pro-transit, anti-road city is going through planning, nearly forced upon by the federal government and some local politicians to build a ridiculously overpriced bridge over the Columbia River (the columbia river crossing they call it). replacing a 6 lane highway with more than 12 lanes I think. Most citizens are against it, at least in that form and at that cost, (many billions), but it seems like the deck is stacked against them. They've already spent over 100 million studying options. Their one concession that may placate the public is the inclusion of a light rail on the bridge to extend the line that ends about a mile south of the river. But they have defeated highway projects in the past. In the 60s (or 70s?) the infamous Robert Moses proposed a network of highways that would have gouged through the city starting with the Mt. Hood freeway, that was successfully opposed by the public. They got their first light rail line instead, though many years later. A pretty good deal if you ask me.