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NetQuarterLatte t1_jbohxnr wrote

>The project would extend the subway line by 1.5 miles from East 96th Street. It would add three new stations: one at East 106th Street, another at East 116th Street, and a new level beneath the existing platforms at Lexington Avenue and 125th Street.

$7.7B is a lot, but the price tag doesn't mean it's not worthwhile.

Absent from the article is how much the MTA expects to collect in fare revenue from this expansion. Couldn't future fare revenues be used to finance the construction?

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BLAUBOY t1_jbon6du wrote

If you do some back of the envelope math, you’ll see the numbers don’t square. Don’t forget that if you’re including fare revenues, you should also add operating costs including maintenance, which may consume all or most of the revenues on their own.

In any case, these construction costs seem laughably astronomical.

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OHYAMTB t1_jbp8o8q wrote

7.7 Billion divided by 2.75 is 2.8 billion rides, and that’s without accounting for the operating costs, maintenance, and debt servicing. This will never pay for itself at these prices.

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