5 ms·

A $100B Lesson in Why Building Public Transportation Is So Expensive in the US

10 points by ioblomov 4y ago

chiefalchemist 4y ago
> it is a complicated web of poor contractor and consultant management, poorly coordinated work between different entities, viewing infrastructure projects as job programs, and over-designing projects from the start, among other problems. I guess corruption falls under "among other problems"? Why can't we use that word in America? We all know the word. And we all know its force is alive and well here. Aside from that, it's lack of accountability. Everyone knows - just like the MIC - once the projects starts you're free to bill your "cost overruns".
- acdha 4y ago
  A lot of it goes back to Reagan-era small government policies forcing things to be contracted out because the relevant government agencies don’t have people on staff. That means that things cost more but also means they don’t have people who can adequately review bids or oversee the contractors and that means accountability is some nebulous multiparty exercise in blame shifting. Getting rid of entry level positions means you don’t have a career path for getting skilled civil servants and the people hires at a senior level probably have worked for at least one of the companies they’re going to be getting bids from. Unfortunately, people really don’t like admitting that feel-good policy made things worse so the “solution” is usually to double down on the strategy and treat the failures as unpredictable accidents.
  - ioblomov 4y ago
    Corruption, incompetence, and lack of accountability no doubt cover most of it. But I’m shocked the article doesn’t even mention, dare I say it, unions.
    - 3finmunchousen 4y ago
      I have a hard time imagining that US unions are more powerful than French ones.
    - acdha 4y ago
      It’s mentioned on some of the linked pages about NYC cost overruns but it basically doesn’t get prominent mention because it’s not a distinguishing factor. American transit projects which don’t use union labor also cost far more, and European projects which are heavily unionized are still considerably cheaper. Here’s one of the report authors blogging about this: https://pedestrianobservations.com/2019/01/08/meme-weeding-unions-and-construction-costs/ https://pedestrianobservations.com/2019/01/08/meme-weeding-u...
CaliforniaKarl 4y ago
I admit that I haven’t checked: I wonder if Vice has done similar pieces on cost-overrunning highway projects.

10 points by ioblomov 4y ago

> it is a complicated web of poor contractor and consultant management, poorly coordinated work between different entities, viewing infrastructure projects as job programs, and over-designing projects from the start, among other problems. I guess corruption falls under "among other problems"? Why can't we use that word in America? We all know the word. And we all know its force is alive and well here. Aside from that, it's lack of accountability. Everyone knows - just like the MIC - once the projects starts you're free to bill your "cost overruns".

acdha 4y ago
A lot of it goes back to Reagan-era small government policies forcing things to be contracted out because the relevant government agencies don’t have people on staff. That means that things cost more but also means they don’t have people who can adequately review bids or oversee the contractors and that means accountability is some nebulous multiparty exercise in blame shifting. Getting rid of entry level positions means you don’t have a career path for getting skilled civil servants and the people hires at a senior level probably have worked for at least one of the companies they’re going to be getting bids from. Unfortunately, people really don’t like admitting that feel-good policy made things worse so the “solution” is usually to double down on the strategy and treat the failures as unpredictable accidents.
- ioblomov 4y ago
  Corruption, incompetence, and lack of accountability no doubt cover most of it. But I’m shocked the article doesn’t even mention, dare I say it, unions.
  - 3finmunchousen 4y ago
    I have a hard time imagining that US unions are more powerful than French ones.
  - acdha 4y ago
    It’s mentioned on some of the linked pages about NYC cost overruns but it basically doesn’t get prominent mention because it’s not a distinguishing factor. American transit projects which don’t use union labor also cost far more, and European projects which are heavily unionized are still considerably cheaper. Here’s one of the report authors blogging about this: https://pedestrianobservations.com/2019/01/08/meme-weeding-unions-and-construction-costs/ https://pedestrianobservations.com/2019/01/08/meme-weeding-u...

CaliforniaKarl 4y ago

I admit that I haven’t checked: I wonder if Vice has done similar pieces on cost-overrunning highway projects.