As much as most might expect, I chime in here....

Cost-effectiveness was the federal funding component harped upon the most by TRAC when the Red Line project was handled by the Ehrlcih admin. They repeatedly ignored the concept of "time savings", which was the benefit and focused only on the cost.

The argument that there's no way Red Line will be constructed with maximum tunnel is certainly true if you accept the following conditions:

1) The alignment currently in favor is the only one considered. Other alignments can offer full grade seperation at lower costs and higher speeds.

2)Federal funds are desired at every stage of the project. There is no necessity to construct the project with federal funding throughout a multi-phase project. The state could decide to construct the most-expensive and least cost-effective segment first with it's own money and subsequently request federal money for later stages of the project which will be inherantly more cost-effective.

3) Federal New Starts funding schemes will remain constant throughout a decades long development of a comprehensive system. This is almost certainly not going to happen. Despite the budget crunch, expenditures on infrastructure designed to minimize environmental impacts are likely to increase.

4) The length of the project in route miles stay the same. Generally, making a longer line that covers more urbanized territory will increase the cost-effectiveness due to system efficienies and economies of scale. This might make the project more expensive, but more fundable. This is exactly what the MTA did when the project was extended to Bayview; when the Red Line was to end in Canton the numbers cost-effectiveness was beneath abysmal. Honolulu is a great example: 20 miles, 95000 projected riders/day, $4.8 billion with the Feds agreeing to consider a $1.2 billion match.

5) The integrity of the input data. Data is almost always massaged at least slightly for a project you want to build. The problem with the federal formula is that the cost-effectiveness rating is extremely sensitive to the inputs, with VERY slight changes causing the quotient to change by a few dollars. There unexplained assumptions not detailed in the Red Line DEIS.

Nate Payer
TRAC

This FTA whispering based on the policies of the last decade is truly a waste of time. The new administration and Democratic majority are fully supportive of dramatically expanding federal funding for mass transit. Funding has already been doubled and further expansion in future budgets is a strong possibility.

Plus we have the federal horses in the state of Maryland for both major infrastructure projects. Steny Hoyer, House Majority Leader, represents a portion of PG County affected by the Purple Line and supports the project. Elijah Cummings, who represents portions of west side districts affected by the Red Line and supports the project, has decent seniority on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

Let's not waste time divining how to appease the Feds. Our Senators and Representatives are finally back in power and have a White House that will support them. It's time to push for the best system we can get while the stars are aligned in our favor.