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It seems that every major American infrastructure project is dominated by concerns other than building a practical, efficient forms of transportation. Transpor

It seems that every major American infrastructure project is dominated by concerns other than building a practical, efficient forms of transportation. Transportation projects are dominated by politics, handouts, corruption and excessive opposition to transportation even existing, while ignoring practical and common sense ideas. The Cal High speed rail is a perfect example. Routes that don't serve major population centers, fights over land use, fights over whether a rail line should even exist, circuitous routes to reward political supporters, lack of transparency and auditing tools, cost overruns and corruption... There's a good write up here: https://www.city-journal.org/californias-high-speed-rail-project https://www.city-journal.org/californias-high-speed-rail-pro... Europe and Asia just build transit to be transit. In the US at least, if something actually gets built and used it's just a nice side effect.

geogra4 7y ago
It's strange to me how people imbue simple no-nonsense infrastructure projects with so much mental baggage.
arcticbull 7y ago
That really does embody the spirit of US infrastructure projects: "I'm here to make some money, and if {$infrastructure} gets built along the way, that's fine too, but by no means a deal-breaker."
brianpgordon 7y ago
When people think "political power at the highest levels" we rarely think about public works projects but that's a mistake. Public works shape our lives, and require flows of truly titanic amounts of capital to build and maintain. I'm halfway through Robert Caro's fantastic biography of Robert Moses, who had an iron grip on New York public works for nearly half a century. It's eye-opening just how much power and influence arises from being able to control these types of projects. Yet this authority flies under the radar because it's all soft power with little public accountability. Politicians vie in the public arena over relatively insubstantial things while the real significant decisions for the future of the state take place in never-attended hearings far from press scrutiny. Activists (admirably) fight tooth and nail for every inch of progress on the issue du jour but vote ambivalently on massive multibillion-dollar bond issues.
donarb 7y ago
Really? In Europe, take a look at Berlin's Brandenburg airport. It took 15 years to design, was supposed to open 5 years after that and now may not open until 2021, 15 years after construction started. Other example projects that are delayed from starting or late from finishing thus pushing costs higher are: a 3rd Heathrow runway, a tunnel to bypass Stonehenge (planned for over 20 years and costs projected to balloon from £180M to over £1.6B), the Paris Metro projected to be €12B over budget The US has no monopoly on poor planning, NIMBYs and corruption.
njstraub608 7y ago
I completely agree with this, and based on past research it seems it’s a highly cultural phenomenon. What it basically comes down to is that countries with strong public transportation infrastructure view public transportation as a basic human right, whereas the US views it as a social welfare program. It’s a bigger fight than just voting for better politicians, it’s deeply cultural.

geogra4 7y ago

It's strange to me how people imbue simple no-nonsense infrastructure projects with so much mental baggage.

arcticbull 7y ago

That really does embody the spirit of US infrastructure projects: "I'm here to make some money, and if {$infrastructure} gets built along the way, that's fine too, but by no means a deal-breaker."

brianpgordon 7y ago

When people think "political power at the highest levels" we rarely think about public works projects but that's a mistake. Public works shape our lives, and require flows of truly titanic amounts of capital to build and maintain. I'm halfway through Robert Caro's fantastic biography of Robert Moses, who had an iron grip on New York public works for nearly half a century. It's eye-opening just how much power and influence arises from being able to control these types of projects. Yet this authority flies under the radar because it's all soft power with little public accountability. Politicians vie in the public arena over relatively insubstantial things while the real significant decisions for the future of the state take place in never-attended hearings far from press scrutiny. Activists (admirably) fight tooth and nail for every inch of progress on the issue du jour but vote ambivalently on massive multibillion-dollar bond issues.

donarb 7y ago

Really? In Europe, take a look at Berlin's Brandenburg airport. It took 15 years to design, was supposed to open 5 years after that and now may not open until 2021, 15 years after construction started. Other example projects that are delayed from starting or late from finishing thus pushing costs higher are: a 3rd Heathrow runway, a tunnel to bypass Stonehenge (planned for over 20 years and costs projected to balloon from £180M to over £1.6B), the Paris Metro projected to be €12B over budget The US has no monopoly on poor planning, NIMBYs and corruption.

njstraub608 7y ago

I completely agree with this, and based on past research it seems it’s a highly cultural phenomenon. What it basically comes down to is that countries with strong public transportation infrastructure view public transportation as a basic human right, whereas the US views it as a social welfare program. It’s a bigger fight than just voting for better politicians, it’s deeply cultural.