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I'd be willing to take transit activists more seriously if rather than advocating for more money, they advocated for reforms to get costs under control. US cost

I'd be willing to take transit activists more seriously if rather than advocating for more money, they advocated for reforms to get costs under control. US costs are insanely out of control relative to, well, everywhere. Construction costs are 2x-10x more than everywhere else in the world. https://pedestrianobservations.wordpress.com/2013/06/03/comparative-subway-construction-costs-revised/ https://pedestrianobservations.wordpress.com/2013/06/03/comp... https://pedestrianobservations.wordpress.com/2011/05/16/us-rail-construction-costs/ https://pedestrianobservations.wordpress.com/2011/05/16/us-r... Labor costs per ride are 3x more than Paris, 4x more than London. http://www.wsj.com/article_email/mtas-costs-loom-large-1468803446-lMyQjAxMTE2OTE0ODAxODg5Wj http://www.wsj.com/article_email/mtas-costs-loom-large-14688... Yet transit activists always ignore the fact that we could get 2-10x more transit for the same money. It almost makes you wonder if their real goal is just funneling more money to the people currently taking all the money, rather than actually getting transit.

bane 10y ago
The U.S. is capable of building and running great things, but we seem to be able to mire every effort down so much that the costs spiral out of control. We also tend to delay delay delay so much that we lose on the very simple time-value of money principle. D.C. Metro Silver line and the 2nd Ave subway line in NYC are big reminders of this. Silver line is about $300/mi almost entirely above ground on existing right of way. There are relatively few stops per mile as well so most of the line is just pure above ground or elevated track. 2nd Ave Subway is running something like $2.3billion per mile. When you compare to other developed economies, and their costs of line construction, these costs are basically indefensible.
abduhl 10y ago
How do you propose we cut construction costs? Should we cap labor rates on the workers? Looking at your lists (and from my own personal experience with people who have been on the various jobs listed), it seems obvious to me that the major differentiator between jobs is the labor costs. It just flat out costs more to hire skilled labor in the US and UK versus Singapore or Japan. This is largely related to union rates and municipal regulations on wages. How do we get 2-10x more transit for the same money? Where in your mind can we actually cut costs?
- yummyfajitas 10y ago
  One way is, as you note, to cut wages to British or Spanish levels. Another is to eliminate "buy American" provisions and just buy Japanese trains. A third way is to cut labor usage down to international levels. A fourth would just be to hire foreigners to build/manage us trains as per their own standards.

bane 10y ago

The U.S. is capable of building and running great things, but we seem to be able to mire every effort down so much that the costs spiral out of control. We also tend to delay delay delay so much that we lose on the very simple time-value of money principle. D.C. Metro Silver line and the 2nd Ave subway line in NYC are big reminders of this. Silver line is about $300/mi almost entirely above ground on existing right of way. There are relatively few stops per mile as well so most of the line is just pure above ground or elevated track. 2nd Ave Subway is running something like $2.3billion per mile. When you compare to other developed economies, and their costs of line construction, these costs are basically indefensible.

abduhl 10y ago

How do you propose we cut construction costs? Should we cap labor rates on the workers? Looking at your lists (and from my own personal experience with people who have been on the various jobs listed), it seems obvious to me that the major differentiator between jobs is the labor costs. It just flat out costs more to hire skilled labor in the US and UK versus Singapore or Japan. This is largely related to union rates and municipal regulations on wages. How do we get 2-10x more transit for the same money? Where in your mind can we actually cut costs?

yummyfajitas 10y ago
One way is, as you note, to cut wages to British or Spanish levels. Another is to eliminate "buy American" provisions and just buy Japanese trains. A third way is to cut labor usage down to international levels. A fourth would just be to hire foreigners to build/manage us trains as per their own standards.