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The M.T.A.’s stations have not been bigger (nor deeper) than is typical. Insurance costs more but is only a fraction of the budget. Land and other types of construction do not cost dramatically more in New York. All projects use the same equipment at the same prices. Density is the norm in cities where subway projects occur. were challenges that all transit systems face. That might explain a tenth of the cost differences, contractors said.īut the contractors said the other issues cited by the M.T.A. The review found evidence for one of the issues cited by the M.T.A.: Because most countries have nationalized health care, projects abroad do not have to fund worker health insurance. And The Times observed construction on site in Paris, which is building a project similar to the Second Avenue subway at one-sixth the cost. employees, reviewed internal project records, consulted industry price indexes and built a database to compare spending on specific items. The Times also interviewed nearly 100 current and former M.T.A. To evaluate those arguments, The Times brought the list to more than 50 contractors, many of whom had worked in New York as well as in other cities.

Lhota listed 10 explanations, including aging utilities, expensive land, high density, strict regulations and large ridership requiring big stations.

“Because if they controlled the costs, they could do twice as many expansion projects and still have more money for maintenance.” “It’s sad, really,” said Lok Home, owner of the Robbins Company, which manufactured much of the tunneling equipment used for East Side Access. The transit authority has made no attempt to intervene to contain the spending. Worker wages and labor conditions are determined through negotiations between the unions and the companies, none of whom have any incentive to control costs. has not adopted best practices nor worked to increase competition in contracting, and it almost never punishes vendors for spending too much or taking too long, according to inspector general reports.Īt the heart of the issue is the obscure way that construction costs are set in New York.

Public officials, mired in bureaucracy, have not acted to curb the costs. employees, have persuaded the authority to spend an unusual amount on design and management, statistics indicate. Cuomo and other politicians, have secured deals requiring underground construction work to be staffed by as many as four times more laborers than elsewhere in the world, documents show.Ĭonstruction companies, which have given millions of dollars in campaign donations in recent years, have increased their projected costs by up to 50 percent when bidding for work from the M.T.A., contractors say.Ĭonsulting firms, which have hired away scores of M.T.A. Trade unions, which have closely aligned themselves with Gov.