It all depends on the counterfactual. Could the money solve the problem, if the issues with transportation arent funding?

It seems like an institutionally made black hole that will simply consume anything put into it. I dont think flooding it with more money will fix that problem.

Investors have poured about 10 billion into waymo prior to 2026. That could only have paid for about 5 to 7 miles of urban light rail given recent project costs in Seattle, San Francisco, or New York.

And that's if you completely ignore the challenge around who has the money and assume the state can just collect extra taxes without discontent or impacts

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inigyou a day ago | parent [-]

What if investors poured 9 billion into making light rail cheaper, and then 1 billion into light rail? Where would we be then? Other countries don't spend 2 billion dollars a mile. Hire the best engineers from Europe and Asia.

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s1artibartfast a day ago | parent | next [-]

Like the sibling said, It is mostly legal and political gridlock, not engineering.

They would have to put that 9 billion into a political takeover of the US government, a major rewriting of environmental and property laws, and silencing/steamrolling opposing interest groups.

This is a pretty tall order.

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inigyou a day ago | parent [-]

They managed it for AI. How much did it cost for AI?

	▲	s1artibartfast a day ago \| parent [-]
		Humm, interesting idea to compare and contrast the two changes? I dont think AI cost much at all because politicians were largely supportive to begin with, and the legal changes were small if any. It would be different if you had to replace them all or change their mind on a deeply held issue.

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my123 a day ago | parent | prev [-]

A big chunk of the problem is planning/political:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_Line_(Maryland)

> A March 2025 report by the Maryland comptroller's office found that permitting and legal fees for the project, originally budgeted at $6 million, had actually consumed roughly $800 million, thanks to two lawsuits and the contract renegotiations

Better tech cannot solve that on its own, the problem is not even there.

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inigyou a day ago | parent [-]

That's still only 3% of the money per track length that we're talking about here.

	▲	tetromino_ 8 hours ago \| parent [-]
		My guess is that the indirect impact might have been in the tens of %. One of the biggest (if not the biggest) reasons for enormous construction costs is delays which make an efficient construction timetable impossible, and two lawsuits of course result in a long and enormously unpredictable delay.