Debt Free

In the egalitarian dream that is rapid transit, the one fact that always seems be omitted from supporters mouths as they expound on the benefits of such projects is the astounding magnitude of cost over runs and the fact that few of these projects ever finish even close to their initial completion date. To make matters worse, many of these mass transit projects fail to encompass even close to the scope of the original project. The Big Dig, the Puget Sound's Sound Transit, Chicago Transit Authority, and the Los Angeles MTA are somewhat famous for the scope of the cost overruns and delays plaguing the ambitious projects.

In many cases tax payers are either (blissfully) unaware of or have been outright lied to about the massive nature of the cost containment problems (nice euphemism, that) experienced by these transit projects. Too many of these projects are supported by those who deem themselves “progressive” in nature and feel that the “progress” they support justifies their vision of the future, cost overruns and misuse of the people's money be damned.

In Washington State's Sound Transit, the people approved a light rail transit project in 1996 that was projected to deliver to the voters about 25 miles of light rail and 25 stations at a cost of just under $2 billion. The completion date was claimed, at the time of the vote, to be 2006. Shame on the bamboozled voters for believing such nonsense. 2006 was actually closer to the start date of the project. To make matters worse, the scope of the project had shrunk substantially. Now the light rail project will only extend about 15 miles and have just over half the original number of stations in the plan originally sold to the voters. Oh, and the price has risen to over $4 billion.

If you approved a contract to have your next new home built and the project was supposed to provide you with 3,000 sq feet, 4 bedrooms and 2-1/2 baths at a cost of $250,000, and finished in 1 year, you'd be kind of pissed off when the contractor delivered you an abode of 1,800 sq feet with 3 bedrooms and 1-1/2 baths at twice the price in 3 years, no? That's the same way Puget Sound voters should feel now. But wait, it gets worse, much worse. According to the latest plan foisted upon beleaguered taxpayers in the region, to get something like the original plan will require, imagine this, more taxes.

How much of a tax increase you may ask? Well, in a Bostonian like stroke of tax dollar inflation, Sound Transit will ask voters in November to approve a plan that they claim will total over $28 billion in the coming 20 years. About 60% of that will be for transit projects, with the remaining 40% to be for roads. That sounds bad enough, yet opponents claim the actual cost of the projects is actually about $157 billion through 2057. Think about the magnitude of that number for just a second. $157 billion. That is the claimed cost of the project after all interest and inflation related costs have been paid. Proponents deride the number, claiming that it's just not fair to include interest and fees. They claim that the transit authority has the ability to reduce taxes after construction has been completed in 2027.

Give me a break, please. For one thing, why would you not include the entire cost of the project, including the interest and fees to be paid by the taxpayers for the life of the bond issue, in your cost projections? There's only one reason, to try and slip this boondoggle past the voters, just like they did in 1996. When you buy your next house, you're not really concerned about the interest on your mortgage, are you? The Sound Transit proponents are using a well worn tactic practiced by car salesmen the world over. Don't get them to look at the total cost. Forget the interest and just look at the shiny new car parked outside the showroom. Don't buy it!

Even if the the $157 billion estimate is too high by half, Washington taxpayers will still pay $60,000 per household to finish the project. For that kind of money, they could hire a car and driver to take them to work. The thing is, I suspect it's not too high by half. Looking at the problems that plagued the projects in Boston and LA, in addition to the problems facing the Puget Sound project to date, it's probably too low, if anything. Seattle's King 5 News had a program by Investigative Reporter Robert Mak describing the potential consequences of the latest rapid transit project to be put before the voters (taxpayers). See his blog about the program Up Front with Robert Mak, here. At this rate Washing State taxpayers will soon be paying a 10% sales tax.

In Chicago the city has been plagued with cost overruns and delays on the area's CTA projects for years. The latest involve the $150 million overrun of the originally $213 million Block 37 station. It';s only the latest in Chi town's transit overruns.

On a percentage basis, the king of transit related cost overruns is Boston's “Big Dig”. This massive project swelled from the originally projected $2 billion to over $14 billion at the time of the project's completion. The astounding omission of the Fleet Center in the preliminary design drawings (Cost to rectify, $1 million) to other design related overruns and scheduling problems alone directly accounted for, according to a Boston Globe investigation, of over $1 billion in excess costs.

When will voters wake up and realize that they are being lied to on a daily basis about the scope, costs and completion dates of almost every major transit project. If you're a Washington State resident, and your retirement account is too low, wouldn't an extra $60,000 be nice?