Jackson Moore-Otto

It was great to go on the @StreetsblogUSA @theoverheadwire podcast to talk about how we can build public transit more cost-effectively in the US! The Transit Abundance Playbook authors have 15 fixes to build transit in America

America used to lead the world in transit delivery. Now we lead in transit costs, and build less as a result. Over the last year, we worked with 17 experts to write a Transit Abundance Playbook with specific policy solutions that directly address the causes of rising costs. Together, they show that our high transit costs are a policy choice that can be fixed. Check out our solutions at ifp.org/cheaper-transit: 1. @ericgoldwyn - Reform federal grants to include early, small, milestone-based grants to reduce project risks. 2. @steph_pollack - Cut procedural requirements, fund early right-of-way spending, require accelerated state and local permitting, and loosen procurement rules. 3. @rohanaras and @aarmlovi - Cap federal cost-sharing and encourage joint procurement to reduce bus overcustomization. 4. @_brianpotter - Cut redundant subway cross-passages to bring our fire safety standards in line with Europe's. 5. Anthony Potts - Allow and encourage agencies to do procurement based on the best value, not just the lowest cost. 6. @alon_levy - Require itemized bidding in procurement to increase transparency and reduce mid-stream change orders. 7. Anonymous - Adopt Italy’s "Conference of Services" model to empower a single decision-maker to ensure permitting disputes are resolved up front. 8. Lizzie Speed and @BennettCapozzi - Create a repository for federal transit reports and project data, along with an AI-based system for querying it. 9. Jamey Tesler - Give transit projects the same delegated permitting authorities that states have over highways and roads. 10. @the_transit_guy - Exempt voter-approved transit projects from costly and redundant permitting to deliver projects the voters asked for. 11. @AidanRMackenzie - Allow transit agencies to buy land and prepare for construction while permitting occurs. 12. @PaulrsLewis - Reduce dependence on expensive consultants by encouraging more capacity within transit agencies. 13. @AndrewMillerYYZ - Enable transit automation by spelling out worker protections explicitly instead of requiring a veto-prone process. 14. @profplotch - Provide confidential ways for agencies to share lessons learned with each other. 15. @jmooreotto - Streamline access to federal loans to create an alternative funding model for transit projects. And many thanks to @mattyglesias for publishing the intro I wrote with @ArnabDatta321 on Slow Boring: slowboring.com/p/how-to-fix-….

New York spent 18x what Madrid spends, per mile, on the Second Ave Subway. Over the same period that California failed to build 150 miles of high-speed rail from Bakersfield to Merced, China built 30,000 miles of high-speed rail. We've known for years that America was paying more for less, but we didn't know how to fix it. We published the Transit Abundance Playbook to change that, with 15 specific ideas focused on the surface reauthorization bill - let us know what you think!