In Government, Failure Gets You The Job
From a Market Urbanism tweet:
@MarketUrbanism
Consultant that built Portland's slower-than-walking streetcar will try to "fix" LA's
From Neil Broverman at CurbedLA:
DTLA's proposed line would connect South Park to Bunker Hill, and be operated by the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, the city agency behind the DASH and commuter express buses. And, just last week, the LADOT submitted a grant request with the Federal Transit Administration--the project could get up to $75 million. Even with the grant, the streetcar will probably need more money: An early estimate put the project at $150 to $160 million, and that doesn't include utility relocation costs.
The results in Portland -- man beats streetcar:
In the end -- averaging 3.25 miles per hour, a typical speed for a 43-year-old, 6-foot-1 man, according to an iPhone walking app -- I arrived at the Powell's platform in 31 minutes and 26 seconds. The streetcar with Kraig on board pulled up 58 seconds after that.
In that Portland article, Joseph Rose makes it clear that he did not walk with the street car tracks. He took a more direct route. This is understandable as it is the way people will walk to a destination. But to say the street car is slower than walking, he should have also walked the path the street car takes, even leaving the 12 minutes before the street car arrives. He still probably would have beaten it and it would have made for a better story.
However, I do agree that the people responsible for the Portland project should just steer clear of LA.
Fayd at December 19, 2013 8:23 AM
Amy Alkon
https://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2013/12/in-government-f.html#comment-4133184">comment from FaydWrong, Fayd. The timing that counts is the timing it takes to get somewhere, not what route you take.
The streetcar is slower than walking from where one is to one's destination. That's what matters.
Amy Alkon
at December 19, 2013 8:31 AM
In government, connections get you the job. Actual performance has little to do with it.
Very few government programs are judged on results. So, very few politicians and government managers are judged on the performance of their programs.
I read an article while back that talked about why so many directors whose big-budget movies flop get hired afterward to direct the next big budget blockbuster. They've directed big movies before.
Likewise with government. Your transit projects in another city may have been colossal failures, but you've worked in transit before, handled large projects, have built up the connections and logistics. So, by government logic, you're qualified.
Conan the Grammarian at December 19, 2013 9:03 AM
It also helps when there are enough outside factors to which to shift the blame for failure.
"It's not our fault, traffic jams."
"The heavier-than-usual rain caused unexpected issues with the tracks."
"The City Council cut our funding in the middle of the project."
Conan the Grammarian at December 19, 2013 9:17 AM
"The timing that counts is the timing it takes to get somewhere, not what route you take." - Amy Alkon
I totally agree with that. I'm just saying it would have made for a better story if he had attempted it.
Fayd at December 19, 2013 9:36 AM
I am not familiar with it. It looks to me like it runs on the city streets which would seem to be a significant in speed so that seems like a legitimate reason.
In all the mass transit build outs I am familiar with the design (e.g. route, where stops are) was done by quasi-government group - not the contractor. who builds it. I didn't find anything about this particular line.
Most of the important reasons around speed look to me to most likely be out of the builder's hands.
The Former Banker at December 19, 2013 12:49 PM
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