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CactusBoyScout t1_jdvopiu wrote

I remember several years ago when the 7 line was upgraded with CBTC signaling, Paris did the same thing to one of their lines and a few articles pointed out that it was the most apples-to-apples transit project comparison possible... the two lines were almost the exact same length and number of stations.

And yet Paris did it for like 1/3 the price... despite having very powerful unions.

It is depressing how inefficiently our money is spent.

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magnus91 t1_jdx4fpb wrote

But does Paris have powerful politically connected high priced consultants?

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TheAJx t1_jdyn7on wrote

> And yet Paris did it for like 1/3 the price... despite having very powerful unions.

Believe it or not France actually has one of the smallest unionized workforces in the EU. New York's unionization rate is twice that of France (20% vs 10%). I know France's unions are capable of putting on a show, but I wonder how "powerful" they really are. In social democracies they tend (though not always) to be incentivized o work in partnership with the government.

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Inevitable_Celery510 t1_je2fo7m wrote

To AJx: The politicians in France worked hand in hand with their Transot leaders to make sure costs were low, people could still travel and improve ridership.

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Inevitable_Celery510 t1_je2ffh3 wrote

France, Japan even Canada have sophisticated cost plans that make their subway projects way more cost worth your money.

Attended Cuomos so-called genius program. Met some intelligent engineers from Japan.

New York transit is managed by a cesspool of wasteful public transit managers with workers who are not even close up to any American standard of industry we once had.

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