{"id":2049157,"date":"2023-09-29T05:45:01","date_gmt":"2023-09-29T09:45:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/taxpayers-arent-getting-the-bang-for-buck-promised-in-transportation-projects\/"},"modified":"2023-09-29T05:53:05","modified_gmt":"2023-09-29T09:53:05","slug":"taxpayers-arent-getting-the-bang-for-buck-promised-in-transportation-projects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/taxpayers-arent-getting-the-bang-for-buck-promised-in-transportation-projects\/","title":{"rendered":"Taxpayers aren&#8217;t getting the bang-for-buck promised in transportation projects"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftaxpayers-arent-getting-the-bang-for-buck-promised-in-transportation-projects%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2049157&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Voters \u2063in Los Angeles County\u200b Not\u2062 Getting Their Money&#8217;s Worth for Transportation Improvements, Study \u200bShows<\/h2>\n<p>Voters in the nation&#8217;s most populous county have shown a willingness to tax themselves to improve crumbling transportation infrastructure. But Los Angeles County voters aren&#8217;t getting anywhere near their money&#8217;s worth, \u200ca new\u2063 study shows.<\/p>\n<p>Voters in the California county \u2062of more than 9.5 million people, home to Hollywood, Pacific\u200d Ocean beaches familiar in movies \u200band television,\u200d and scores more\u2062 iconic sites, backed\u2064 a sweeping \u200dNovember 2016 transportation funding ballot measure. It was \u2064meant \u200cto \u201cease traffic, repair local streets and \u2064sidewalks, expand public transportation, earthquake retrofit bridges and subsidize transit fares for students, seniors and persons with disabilities,&#8221; according \u2063to LA Metro, the Southern California county&#8217;s public transit agency.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>Transportation Funding Scheme Falls Short<\/h3>\n<p>Measure M\u200b was overwhelmingly approved by Los \u200cAngeles\u2062 County voters the same day the nation elected Donald Trump as president, raising \u2062the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/more-than-50-of-u-s-households-paid-no-federal-income-taxes-in-2021\/\" title=\"More Than 50% of U.S. Households Paid No Federal Income Taxes in 2021\">local sales taxes<\/a> by\u2062 half a penny on \u2064the dollar. Elected officials said it\u200b would generate $120 billion in benefits over 40 years.<\/p>\n<p>If only that\u2062 were \u200dtrue.<\/p>\n<p>A new report by the\u2064 San Jose State University-based Mineta Transportation Institute details the transportation funding scheme&#8217;s shortcomings. The report\u2019s authors, Mineta research\u2063 associate \u200cJoshua\u200d Schank and former LA Metro Manager Emma Huang, \u2064offer as Exhibit A the West \u2064Santa Ana Branch Transit \u2063Corridor project, a light rail transit line that would connect southeast LA County with downtown Los Angeles, which is fast\u200d turning into a boondoggle.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPreliminary cost \u2064estimates based on 5% design\u2063 indicated\u200b an alignment from \u200bdowntown Los Angeles to City of Artesia to cost over $4 billion in\u2064 2015 dollars,\u201d the \u200bMineta report states, \u200dwith local voters \u2063on the hook for less than half of that. As \u200dof today:\u2062 \u201cThe \u2062WSAB Project has not yet made\u200b it through\u2064 the environmental process, but the\u2063 cost is now estimated to be at least $9.1 billion.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Facing\u2062 mounting costs, LA Metro\u200d effectively downsized\u2064 the\u200d project in 2021. But maybe the\u200c project ought\u200c to be scrapped altogether, \u2063the report\u2019s authors\u200c suggest.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Overregulation is a Problem<\/p>\n<p>The Mineta Transportation Institute was \u2062founded by the late Norman Mineta, the Democratic\u200c San Jose mayor\u2064 and \u200bcongressman who went on \u200dto \u200dbe a Cabinet member for \u2064both Democratic\u2062 President\u200c Bill Clinton and Republican President George \u200dW. Bush, \u2064the latter \u2063as\u200b transportation secretary. The institute has a thoroughly bipartisan reputation.<\/p>\n<p>Taken together with another recent report from New York \u200dUniversity\u2019s Marron Institute of Urban Management, a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/taxpayers-arent-getting-the-bang-for-buck-promised-in-transportation-projects\/\" title=\"Taxpayers aren't getting the bang-for-buck promised in transportation projects\">transportation policy\u2063 community consensus emerges<\/a> over transit funding \u2064\u2014 that the process is broken \u2062and badly\u2063 in need\u2062 of repair. As \u2062the NYU paper puts it: \u201cthe United States has among \u200dthe highest transit-infrastructure\u2064 costs in\u2062 the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This matters\u200c nationally because the stakes have been raised by President Joe \u200cBiden&#8217;s administration, and could end up shortchanging businesses and taxpayers.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>High Costs and Inefficient Spending<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cAfter some small starts in the Obama administration and the Trump Administration\u2019s \u2064constant attempts at Infrastructure Week, the Biden Administration\u2019s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law converted this \u2064enthusiasm for\u2064 infrastructure into law,\u201d the \u2063NYU report states. \u201cBIL calls\u200b for nearly one \u200btrillion dollars in spending between fiscal\u200c year 2022 and fiscal year\u200c 2026, more than \u2062$500\u200d billion will go to transportation, including $66 billion to mainline \u200crail and $39 billion to\u200d other public transit.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Report authors Eric Goldwyn, Alon\u2063 Levy, Elif Ensari, and Marco Chitti argue \u2062that \u201cWith such large \u200csums at stake, it \u200cis critical to spend money productively.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Numbers suggest that is currently not happening.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[T]he United States is the sixth most expensive country in the world to build rapid-rail transit infrastructure,\u201d the NYU study found.<\/p>\n<p>However, that likely\u200d understates the problem, \u201cBecause construction costs scale with the percentage of tunneled track, which is more expensive \u200bthan building rail at grade. The five \u2063countries with greater average costs than\u2064 the United \u200dStates are building projects that are more than 65% tunneled. In the United States, \u2064on the other hand, only 37% \u2063of \u200bthe total track length is tunneled.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Cost overruns on projects in California such \u200bas <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pro-trump-religious-groups-begin-turning-up-heat-on-gop-to-take-action-on-marjorie-taylor-greene\/\" title=\"Pro-Trump, Religious Groups Begin Turning Up Heat On GOP To Take Action On Marjorie Taylor Greene\">high-speed rail<\/a> are now widely known, but many other municipalities are seeing jaw-dropping costs\u200d to build \u200dout new transit \u200binfrastructure as well. On a per capita basis, some measures have Hawaii\u2019s current light rail projects as the most expensive in the nation.\u200d Or take \u200dNew York City&#8217;s subway expansion. The NYU researchers found that \u201cPhase 1 of New York\u2019s \u200bSecond Avenue Subway is 8 to 12 times more expensive \u200bthan our composite\u2062 baseline \u200ccase.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Inflation is\u2063 one factor \u2064driving \u2062construction costs higher. Yet other\u200c aspects of infrastructure planning,\u2063 from high\u2063 labor costs to planning costs, make it\u200c structurally\u2064 more expensive to build\u2063 out transit projects in the \u2064United \u200dStates \u200cthan \u200bin most\u2063 other nations.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>So what\u2019s to be done about\u2064 these spiraling prices? There is no firm consensus,\u2064 though there are a lot of suggestions.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>Proposed Solutions<\/h3>\n<p>The Mineta \u2063report says that\u200c the problem is the \u2064way projects are planned. Specifically, it argues that\u2064 \u201cprojects\u201d are the wrong way of thinking about transit, and \u200cthat these \u200cshould be replaced by goals \u200cto be \u2062met.<\/p>\n<p>One suggested\u200d way to\u2063 meet those goals\u2063 is through public-private partnerships, which typically come with both private financing \u200band more stringent cost controls. Reason Foundation transportation policy analyst \u2062Marc Scribner\u200d praised this suggestion to the Washington Examiner.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Mineta report\u2019s explicit recommendation to consider public-private partnerships (P3s) is wise,\u201d he said. \u201cP3s can combine the design and build phases with financing, leading to streamlined construction and enhanced\u2063 cost control. But just as important, they can include long-term operations and maintenance (O&#038;M) contract provisions.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Scribner explained that those contract \u200dprovisions are \u201cimportant because O&#038;M costs have surged in recent years, with growing transit \u200csystem maintenance backlogs and declining ridership \u2063that spreads those \u200drising costs over fewer customers.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The NYU report suggests\u200b that\u200b federal, state, and local\u2062 regulations and best practices are badly\u2062 in need of updates.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<h3>Reforming Regulations and Practices<\/h3>\n<p>\u201cWe \u200bbelieve the most important \u200bdevelopment should be to empower entities that build transit projects \u200dto realign regulations and practices with\u2063 what is found across as wide a net as possible of low-cost cities,\u201d\u2063 the NYU\u2064 report states. \u201cMoreover, the entire\u200c procurement \u2063process must be reformed.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> What are some of \u2062the regulations that contribute to the excessive costs and delays in transportation\u200b infrastructure projects in the United States?<\/h2>\n<p><span>  Ng and \u200cdelivery are also contributing to\u2064 the problem. The NYU report highlights excessive regulation as a\u200b major \u200bissue in the United States.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery level of government has added \u2063regulations that slow \u2063down \u200cproject\u2064 delivery and add to costs. Much of this regulation is supposed to make projects better, but\u200c much of \u2062it is simply \u200ba\u200c product of\u2063 political negotiation, designed to prevent opposition groups from \u200cblocking projects entirely,\u201d the report states.<\/p>\n<p>These regulations \u200binclude requirements \u200dfor environmental impact studies, public hearings, and lengthy approval processes. While these measures are intended\u200c to ensure the safety \u200cand environmental sustainability of projects, they also create significant delays and inflate costs.<\/p>\n<p>According to the NYU\u200d report, the average time for a light rail\u2063 project to complete all necessary approvals in the United States is 6.8 years, compared to just 3.2 years in Europe.\u2064 This prolonged process not only increases costs but also hampers the ability of transportation agencies to respond quickly to changing needs and demands.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Way\u200c Forward<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The transportation funding scheme in\u2064 Los Angeles County, as well as the\u2062 broader\u200b issue of inefficient\u200d spending in transit infrastructure projects, calls for a reassessment of current\u200d practices and \u200ba shift towards\u200b more cost-effective\u2064 and streamlined approaches.<\/p>\n<p>The NYU report suggests\u200b several \u200cstrategies for improving the situation, including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Implementing reforms to streamline the approval process and reduce regulatory burdens<\/li>\n<li>Enhancing transparency and accountability in project\u200d planning and \u2062execution<\/li>\n<li>Investing in research \u2062and innovation \u200bto develop more efficient construction methods\u2064 and technologies<\/li>\n<li>Promoting collaboration and coordination between different levels of government, as well as public and private stakeholders<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>By adopting these measures, transportation agencies can ensure that\u200d taxpayer dollars are effectively utilized to \u200cdeliver high-quality transportation infrastructure \u2063that meets\u200b the \u2063needs of the community.<\/p>\n<p>In conclusion, the study&#8217;s findings highlight \u200cthe\u200b pressing need for improvement in transportation funding and spending practices. Voters in Los Angeles County, and across the United States, deserve better value for their money. By\u2062 addressing issues such as overregulation and\u2062 inefficient project delivery, we can create a \u200dtransportation system that is efficient, cost-effective, and responsive to the needs of the people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Voters in the nation&#8217;s most populous county have shown a willingness to tax themselves to improve crumbling transportation infrastructure. But Los Angeles County voters aren&#8217;t getting anywhere near their money&#8217;s worth, a new study shows. Voters in the California county of more than 9.5 million people, home to Hollywood, Pacific Ocean beaches familiar in movies<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2049158,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2049157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2049157","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2049157"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2049157\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2049158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2049157"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2049157"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2049157"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}