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I don't doubt a lot of that. But: 1) Labor is a relatively minor (well under 50%) component of major heavy construction projects, so lowering it is never going to make the project 40-60% cheaper even if it's probably a good idea. 2) Much of what you said is a criticism of unions (much of which...

Bankruptcy is paid for by creditors who chose to loan airlines money. Same as any other industry. EAS is a dumb program that should be eliminated. But it's not a subsidy to air travel as a whole, it's a subsidy to a few rural areas. If spending is cut, it reduces the deficit, even if what...

They should also make the cars universal across Blue/Red/Orange. That's the Southwest Airlines model and it's been proven to cut maintenance, training, procurement, and all kinds of costs across the board. Might take some work to change the stations or tunnels but I think it'd be worth it. Then...

I think we'd be better off with a cut and cover tunnel for the whole thing. Cut and cover isn't that expensive and you could have more parkland or trails or whatever the trendy thing is these days on top of the tunnel. It'd be better for motorists and better for the Esplanade and the Hatch Shell.

Parking, implicitly, yes, through zoning requirements, is subsidized, but that's a separate issue from roads. I won't beat a dead horse as far as roads other than to say I think it's clear that driving-related fees exceed driving-related expenses. I should also note that some of the Federal gas...

One thing that never seems to be even discussed for the MBTA is platform screen doors. To me this would be a relatively inexpensive way of improving the experience of T customers, not to mention safety and security, and dampening some of the screeching noise coming from the tracks. And once...

I see your point, earmarks are bad, but at the same time earmarks in Massachusetts are unique in that they are simply authorizations. The Governor is the one with the authority to borrow money, and if he thinks a project isn't worth it, he can simply ignore the earmark's authorization to borrow...

I think we're getting to a point where it's just a difference of opinion. I think it's a good idea, both in terms of basic fairness and economic efficiency, to have programs with revenues and costs pay for themselves. Otherwise you have one constituency leeching off another. That's not to say...

Only bridges and overpasses. Environmentalists got the rest nixed in favor of a "study".

I seriously doubt that. Once you subtract out the non-labor costs (materials, construction equipment, contractor's profit, design and engineering costs, permitting, insurance, etc), what's left? My bet is the cost of labor in these projects is in the vicinity of 25%. That's not to say...

Does anyone know what's going on with this project? This is a perfect example of why the DCR should be stripped of its authority over all major roadways. They're a parks agency and they just have no idea what they're doing when it comes to building this stuff.

They don't, though. Anywhere. Even where the market is ideal for transit, such as in NYC. I'm sympathetic to the idea that zoning codes, minimum parking requirements, underpriced street parking, etc. are economically inefficient and favor cars - at least in urban areas. But even in areas where...

I take your point about the sales tax exemption on gas; I'm agnostic on that point and I'd be fine if they removed the exemption and dedicated that to general revenue. However, I don't agree that dedicating motorist-related fees to roads is a bad idea. There's more to it than fuel usage, it...

There's actually a few distinct points here that overlap. I'll try and explain. The first is, do the fees and taxes that motorists pay that relate directly to operation or ownership of vehicles, in the aggregate, exceed the expenses that are spent on roads. I think the answer here is yes. Some...

In order to get to the part that goes over the railroad tracks, you need to be on the overpass, though. To demolish part of the overpass and then make a ramp up to it would take so much design work that by the time you did it you could have designed the grade-level boulevard. And that part of...

No, I'm saying that fees and taxes that add directly to the cost of ownership or operation of motor vehicles are fees on motorists. Notice a few things I don't categorize as fees on motorists: sales taxes on cars (everyone pays sales tax when they buy things), inspection fees (a government...

An expense is something that is actually incurred. We're covering expenses. They aren't enough to keep the roads in good repair. That's a separate issue. They'd be perfectly capable of doing so with a barely noticeable increase in the gas tax (say, ten cents). RMV fees, tolls, federal funds...

It's 100% because we don't have enough taxes, and because our dysfunctional political culture doesn't allow us to raise them even when it's necessary. Other countries don't seem to have this problem, at least not to the extent we do.

Like tobacco and alcohol, the gas tax is an excise tax. That is, it is a fixed cost per unit (in this case, per gallon). There is no sales tax on gas in Massachusetts. Our gas excise tax is 21 cents per gallon, and has not changed since around 1990. It's lost over 40% of its value since then.

Insufficient revenue. The user fees cover expenses; because the fees have been too low the expenditures have been too low. Set properly, user fees will raise enough revenue to properly maintain the roads. The gas tax needs to go up and be indexed to inflation going forward.