How the US can stop wasting billions of dollars on each transit project
The idea that we can do better and save money by ignoring context is utterly and shamefully stupid.  This piece highlights the Second Avenue subway.  That line was first proposed roughly a hundred years ago. It was decided then that the level of complication from utilities and other subway lines made it unreasonably expensive to build.  Over the years the Second Avenue line was repeatedly proposed and the conclusion was always the same.  The level of complication made it completely impractical.  The costs of construction would be astronomical.<p>So then it was decided that new tunnel boring technology would make the project pencil out.  So the project moved forward.  Sure enough, the complications caused costs to explode.  If only someone had consulted the extensive literature on the subject that had accumulated over the last hundred years.<p>Now researchers look at what went wrong and have decided that more careful control of contractors would fix things.  That is false.  The Second Avenue subway has always been impractical.  Basic research shows that has been demonstrated at length many times.  Making generalizations about transit construction based on a project that was ruled out repeatedly over a period of a hundred years makes no sense.  The Second Avenue subway did not break records with its expense because we don&#x27;t know how to build.  The Second Avenue subway cost a phenomenal amount because it is an impractical project with a huge amount of complications.  No amount of clever design or management could possibly make the Second Avenue subway cost a reasonable amount.  And this has been solidly understood for a hundred years.