> no city or state agency can come up with that kind of money Every major city can come up with that kind of money. Spread it out over 20 years and raise taxes

> no city or state agency can come up with that kind of money Every major city can come up with that kind of money. Spread it out over 20 years and raise taxes 10%. So sales tax goes from 6.25% to 6.875%, property tax goes from 0.1% to 0.11%. If a city with 675000 people needs to raise $24B, they just raise taxes $3500 per person per year for the life of the project. You're not going to spend the $24B in a single year, so you don't have to raise the money in a single year. MBTA claims a daily ridership of ~800,000. Raise the fair $0.25 per ride and you get an extra $50M/year. I'm not saying you would be popular, but you could raise the money. Shutting down the subway wouldn't be popular either. Aren't those your options? Either it's worth the money or it isn't.