Cooking the books or refining the model? You decide.
Did they fudge it?
MTA uses math tricks to fudge the federal formula.
Governor O’Malley completed the state’s expected pantomime Tuesday, choosing the $1.6 billion-plus Red Line Alternative 4C as the Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA). It was chosen partially because it’s the most “viable,” meaning that it’s closest to meeting preferred cost standards for Federal money. Their numbers have improved 24% since than the last time the project was formally evaluated.
But you have to wonder – what did the MTA do to 4C to approach that preferred standard?
One way was to cut corners on the project. Making a single-track “Death Trap tunnel” under Cooks Lane is reckoned to save perhaps $70 million. But single tracking is an option the MTA rejected before because it causes, in their own words, “Longer travel times – this is due to the need to wait for trains in the opposing direction; Less frequent service – resulting in a less convenient, attractive service; Lower passenger capacity due to less frequent service, not allowing for future ridership growth, and overall operational and maintenance flexibility.”
What all that means is that the system is less reliable and slower. The end-to-end travel time has now increased to a sluggish 44 minutes, an average speed of 19mph.
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