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NY - NJ Hudson River Tunnel Bites the Dust

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[quote user="henry6"] <blockquote> <div><img src="/TRCCS/Themes/trc/images/icon-quote.gif" /> Bucyrus:</div> <div></div> <blockquote> <div>It is possible that one man can have the courage to stand up to hundreds who have a self-interest in wasteful spending of public money.  </div> </blockquote> <div style="clear:both;"></div>   </blockquote> But is he?  Courageous in the face of.....what?  If all experts say that two rail tracks into NYC will be cheaper, cleaner, more efficient, and cost effective in the long run, how can he say they are wrong and he is right.    Or do you consider environmentalists and planners to be nothing more than those with self interest rather than honest in their endeavors?  Eliminate all planners and planning?  Eliminate all scientists and science?  Ignore anyone who has a knowledge, skill, or talent because you don't want to spend a buck even if that buck will give long term value and return?  No, no.     Wasting public money here is repaving a 100 year old highway that isn't big enough to carry today's traffic much less any growth.  Wasting public money is putting it toward a project that cannot be built because there is no more room for the highway nor room in the air to absorb pollutants.  Wasting public money is building a highway to a place where there is no room to accept the traffic, the vehicles.  Wasting public money is not doing something with it that will get people to and from jobs where the jobs are.  <div style="clear:both;"></div> [/quote] Why is cost overrun so rampant with publicly funded projects compared to privately funded projects?  With a public project, the pot of money is fundamentally unlimited, whereas with a private project, it is limited.  Sure, the professional participants in a public project are necessary, and they are qualified.  But collectively, they all pull in the direction of driving up the cost.  There is no reason not to, and they benefit from it.  Because it is public money, and perceived to be unlimited, there is nobody with an incentive to spend it efficiently.  <o:p></o:p> It may very well be that the tunnel is needed, and even a good idea compared to road improvements.  But my point has nothing to do with evaluating the need.  It is simply about the fundamental dynamic of public sector cost runaway sinking a project once the project reaches a certain size.  And by the way, I believe that the $15-billion committed to HSR is considerably beyond that project size threshold.  It is likely to result in the whole plan being scrapped after maybe half the money is spent with no HSR actually getting built.
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