Details:

Creators:
Nobbe, Patrizia ; Berechman, Joseph
Nobbe, Patrizia ; Berechman, Joseph Less -
Corporate Creators:
The City College of New York, CUNY
Corporate Contributors:
United States. Dept. of Transportation. Research and Innovative Technology Administration
Subject/TRT Terms:
[+]
Case Studies Decision Making Financing Infrastructure Investments Megaprojects Politics Subways Transportation Planning
Publication/ Report Number:
49111-16-23
Resource Type:
Tech Report
Geographical Coverage:
New York (New York)
Corporate Publisher:
University Transportation Research Center
Abstract:
Over the past few decades, urbanization and economic growth have intensified the need for more efficient urban and

regional transportation, including the expansion and reorganization of existing transportation networks. Given such

huge investments and severe constraints on resources such as financial and land, infrastructure projects require a

careful prioritization and selection among available alternatives. In reality, project selection appears to be determined as

much by politics as by transport-economic considerations. This paper traces the politics of megaproject decision-making of the Second Avenue Subway (SAS), a subway project in New York. The project’s first stage is currently being

built after nearly 100 years of effort. In particular, we examine whether project-related decisions were the results of

power struggles between the involved actors, and less the results of transportation planning concerns. We argue that

the re-organization of transportation institutions, specifically the formation of the Metropolitan Transportation Agency

(MTA), enabled the selection and implementation of SAS. While transportation agencies are bound by the legal and

bureaucratic rules set by those who create them, they have their own agendas and are crucial for project selection. If

successful, as in the case of the Second Avenue Subway, they can establish political momentum against political and

fiscal adversity. Against the background of this project long planning and failure history, we find that besides the

creation of the MTA, the following factors contributed to project eventual success: 1) the long project history bestowed a

“legendary” character upon the project; 2) a “window of opportunity” opened up for inner-city projects after September

11; 3) a strong set of project champions advanced the project; and 4) the nature of funding arrangements was

instrumental in this project success.


Format:
PDF
Collection(s):
US Transportation Collection University Transportation Centers
Main Document Checksum:
[+]
urn:sha256:d742b3710e5e634794d33a0db51705ad5c168e79d2bf922e3f62474721a65bca
Download URL:
https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/27119/dot_27119_DS1.pdf
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