Sound Transit, the agency in charge of Seattle’s rail program, recently announced a shocking $35 billion cost overrun on the ST3 program, bringing total program costs to at least $185 billion – just for light rail. The latest bad news is on top of numerous cost overruns and delays associated with the Sound Move, and ST2 plans. With approximately 3.4 million people in the district, the new cost estimates equate to about $55,000 for every man, woman and child within the district.
This staggering taxpayer cost doesn’t even include long-term debt payments into the 2060s, where future generations will shoulder the burden for decisions made today.
Each of the three “phases” for Sound Transit has involved missed deadlines, cancelled projects and massive cost inflation. As Charles Prestrud of the Washington Policy Center put it in August, the continual “underestimating” of costs “finally caught up to them,” implying that the billions in current tax revenue aren’t enough to absorb the magnitude of cost overruns.
The program had already announced runaway costs on its latest program, ST3. The West Seattle link’s cost estimates have doubled to more than $7 billion, despite only increasing transit use by 1% over the bridge. Officials were far off the mark when they told voters the Ballard Extension would cost $5.2 billion to build, as cost estimates more than doubled to a whopping $10.1 billion.
This is a familiar story across the country as well. In New York, the most expensive subways (per-mile) in the world are being built, while the rest of the system continues to be plagued by maintenance failures and delays. Estimates to bring the system to a state of good repair surpass $110 billion alone.
And who isn’t familiar with California’s High Speed Rail debacle, which recently had federal funding pulled due to project cost inflation and delays.
Some areas are cancelling rail altogether due to the extreme financial burden of not just building rail, but operating it. Near Minneapolis, Minn., officials have cancelled the Northstar Commuter Rail Line because of a staggering $116 subsidy per ticket. Officials plan to replace rail with bus service that will cost 86% less and serve more people.
In Portland, one local transportation expert said they should close their WES commuter rail line amid dismal ridership numbers and a $108 per ride taxpayer subsidy, and “admit they made a mistake” in building the commuter line in the first place.
Rail projects across the country continue to see massive cost increases. While Sound Transit did use expert review panels to check the feasibility of their programs, those processes haven’t ensured a well-run rail program. Ultimately, the Washington State Auditor’s Office or JLARC (legislative auditor) should step in and conduct a comprehensive performance audit to examine the causes of the overruns and delays.
This is why infrastructure and transit programs should have strong controls in place to ensure financial accountability. Tying funding to performance measures, empowering oversight committees and making transit board positions directly elected (rather than appointed) would go a long way to ensuring taxpayers receive what they are promised.
Bob Pishue is a policy analyst for the Mountain States Policy Center, an independent research organization based in Idaho, Montana, Eastern Washington and Wyoming. Online at mountainstatespolicy.org.
