The United States is not the only country where transit agencies are wildly spending on questionable projects that suffer huge cost overruns. In Canada, Toronto opened its first subway in 1954 at a cost of just $11 million per mile — $90 million per mile in today‘s U.S. dollars. The city is currently building a subway line that was supposed to cost almost US$1.0 billion a mile, but with cost overruns is expected to cost as much as US$1.4 billion a mile.
Toronto subway. Photo by Tim Adams.
Light rail in Canada has also undergone huge price inflation. Edmonton opened North America’s first modern light-rail line in 1978 at a cost of US$47 million a mile in today’s money. Today, Calgary, Hamilton, Kitchener, and Toronto are all planning or building light-rail lines that are expected to cost at least US$300 million a mile, and several of these have had cost overruns of as much as 180 percent. Continue reading
