From: mrbrklyn@panix.com   
      
    nypost.com   
   Higher MTA project costs mean New Yorkers suffer again   
   Adam Brodsky   
   3–4 minutes   
      
   Yet again, the price tag for many MTA improvement projects has soared, this   
   time even before the agency has decided to start any actual work.   
      
   This means, yet again, New Yorkers will be paying more, getting less — or   
   both.   
      
   On Wednesday, an MTA assessment of expected transit upgrades over the next 20   
   years cited higher costs — as much as 50% higher — for several projects.   
      
   A new 7-line station on 10th Avenue would weigh in at $1.9 billion, up $600   
   million, or 45%, from its original price tag.   
      
   Extending the Second Avenue Subway to Houston Street would set the agency back   
   $13.5 billion, a 40% spike from the inflation-adjusted original budgeted cost.   
      
   Talk about money pits!   
      
   Only a few months ago, the MTA was facing monster shortfalls in its operating   
   budget.   
      
   You can blame the pandemic- and crime-spike ridership plunge, but the MTA   
   hauled in a whopping $15 billion in federal pandemic bailout money.   
      
   Albany raced to the agency’s rescue by socking businesses with payroll-based   
   tax hikes to bring in $1.1 billion a year for the system.   
   On Wednesday, an MTA assessment of expected transit upgrades over the next 20   
   years cited higher costs for several projects.   
   On Wednesday, an MTA assessment of expected transit upgrades over the next 20   
   years cited higher costs for several projects.   
   Bloomberg News   
      
   It also gave it a one-time handout of $300 million, another $165 million for   
   two years, and some of the revenue from downstate casinos that don’t yet   
   exist.   
      
   Fares and tolls shot up, too.   
      
   Yet financial crises plague the agency every few years, and it’s clearly not   
   because of a lack of revenue — the agency hoovers up $20 billion a year.   
      
   No, it’s out-of-control, wasteful spending.   
      
   Just this summer we flagged a crazy $5 million MTA outlay for workers to roam   
   a bus depot checking for flames, in lieu of a broken sprinkler system.   
      
   But it’s ever-more-pricey construction projects, like those cited Wednesday,   
   that seriously rocket up costs.   
      
   A Post series this year detailed how union work rules, larger-than-necessary   
   projects, overreliance on expensive consultants, and other factors drive up   
   costs.   
      
   It showed how other major cities — Rome, Paris, London — all do similar   
   projects for a fraction of the cost, echoing a New York Times report years   
   back showing outlays here are seven times as much per track mile as the world   
   average.   
      
   MTA construction chief Jamie Torres-Springer says his team isn’t   
   “committing to any of these investments” cited in Wednesday’s assessment.   
      
   Good. Because unless he can squeeze out a lot more value for the rider’s   
   buck, it’s beyond insane to launch the Second Avenue Subway extension, the   
   7-line station, or any big new project — including the lunatic idea of   
   burning cash on an utterly    
   useless Eighth Avenue “grand entrance” to Penn Station.   
      
   Stick to essential repairs, maintenance, and upgrades.   
      
   Maybe harden the system against flooding.   
      
   It’s tragic that New Yorkers can’t have many nice things when it comes to   
   their transit system.   
      
   But they’ve parted with enough of their hard-earned cash for the system   
   already.   
      
   The MTA needs to lower construction costs — or lower its sights.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)