Mornin’ Politocadoes!
Public Transit. We all use it in some way, shape, or form. We all tolerate it. Yet, I can’t be the only one who rides a train, sees yet another delay, or has to get off at some godforsaken station to get on a bus because there’s more construction being done on the weekend. Yet, we still see rising costs for fares, increased wait times, and the odd fire break out on train cars that are pushing 40 years old.
Why are American subways so difficult to maintain and why is it so expensive? The price is something the average person balks at. Amtrak’s train tunnel underneath the Hudson will supposedly cost $11 billion, a number far larger than similar projects in peer countries, with even the CEO of Amtrak saying that he does not know why “I don’t know that that’s an astronomical number.”
Well, it comes down to consultancy fees! Yes, consultancy fees. NYU’s Transit Costs Project points to the general hollowing-out of the public sector and outsourcing of expertise to outside consultants as one of the reasons for the high cost of transit projects. New York’s Second Ave subway is the most expensive mile of subway ever built and part of the reason is that 20% of construction costs were from consultant contracts. Even the consultants note this problem, with some saying things along the lines of “these agencies don’t know what they want, so we have to figure it out”. I can’t even blame them. If that’s the state of play then what else can they do *not* charge them for their services?
It’s part of this vicious cycle of blaming big government spending, putting people into power who absolutely hate spending money on public works, and then cutting back on workers and resources. The MBTA (Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority)’s recent Green Line extension had *6* full time government employees managing the project. By 2011, the MTA (Metropolitan Transit Authority) had, over the course of twenty years, cut its16,000 full time employees in its capital projects management group to just 124.
It speaks also to a loss of institutional knowledge. Even understanding that by giving money to outside consultants and cutting full time employees only increases costs, it also decreases in-house knowledge. By continuing to use consultants and contractors, knowledge gained through completion of projects ultimately goes to those outside groups retaining the knowledge, *not* the agency. And well hey, look that contract is up at the end of the year, maybe it’s time we renegotiate for the next project.
Cutting jobs and funding in the public sector does not save the American taxpayer any real amount of money, it goes into different pockets and at higher amounts. It creates a loss of institutional knowledge for transit agencies and leaves government agencies dependent on consultants to see projects through to the end.
https://slate.com/business/2023/02/subway-costs-us-europe-public-transit-funds.html
Welcome to Thursday! The Mayor McSquirrel Rule is in effect. Please be excellent to each other. Reminder that the Covid Pandemic is still occurring and everyone should do their best practice safety measures in large areas or on public transportation.