Hah! It makes so much more sense now... FWIW, I do think the US as a whole should be concerned with (subway) infrastructure that's crucial to the basic functi

Hah! It makes so much more sense now... FWIW, I do think the US as a whole should be concerned with (subway) infrastructure that's crucial to the basic functioning of cities that are the biggest drivers of its economy. (NYC simply has too many people to move to rely on surface traffic.) And I think the neglect of the subways is representative of the general neglect of important infrastructure. Though some of the causes of high maintenance/repair/expansion costs differ, others are exactly the same.