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Why is Transit So Expensive to Build?

Posted by: Tim Halbur

2 September 2010 - 9:00am

Glen Bottoms at The American Conservative attempts to answer the question.

The verdict? Bottoms sees three key factors:

"1) overdesign, 2) lack of technical expertise at the overseeing transit agency, and 3) external factors like political interference and rising material costs.

Consultants retained to design these systems regularly use plans that they already possess without regard to applicability or functionality, selecting higher-speed overhead wire in rail yards and city streets or specifying certain types of rail without regard for cheaper alternatives. Excessive tunneling is also a critical cost driver."

Full Story: The Real Costs
Source: The American Conservative, September 1, 2010
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Every dollar spent on new and wider highways is a dollar taken from taxpayers, and every inch of right-of-way that Big Brother takes is an inch taken from landowners.
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