Good crowd here to learn from @alon_levy why U.S. subways are so expensive 
Very excited about his spreadsheet going online tomorrow so I don’t have to view it with a pillar in the way
Key takeaway: @alon_levy says “it’s not the schist” that makes NYC subway construction so expensive. So give it up, schistheads
Other things he doesn’t think drive high subway/rail construction costs: health care, unions, wealth, corruption
What does drive high costs? “Anglosphere insularity.” Transit officials, consultants etc. in the U.S. are shockingly ill-informed about what’s going on in Germany, Spain, Switzerland, South Korea, etc.
Some advice from @alon_levy: build simple stations. “If Santiago Calatrava gets work in your country, something is wrong with your country”
Some background on that: nytimes.com/2014/12/03/nyr…
More advice: avoid consultants and bring key decisions in house. Also, pay government employees more now and less later (in pensions). With pension-heavy compensation, “you select for insularity”
Now @alon_levy has posted the slides and spreadsheet from his @NYUMarron talk yesterday. Let the (relative) decline in U.S. subway construction costs begin! pedestrianobservations.com/2019/11/20/i-g…
