The transit authority has made no attempt to intervene to contain the spending. Worker wages and labor conditions are determined through negotiations between the unions and the companies, none of whom have any incentive to control costs. has not adopted best practices nor worked to increase competition in contracting, and it almost never punishes vendors for spending too much or taking too long, according to inspector general reports.Īt the heart of the issue is the obscure way that construction costs are set in New York. Public officials, mired in bureaucracy, have not acted to curb the costs. employees, have persuaded the authority to spend an unusual amount on design and management, statistics indicate.

Cuomo and other politicians, have secured deals requiring underground construction work to be staffed by as many as four times more laborers than elsewhere in the world, documents show.Ĭonstruction companies, which have given millions of dollars in campaign donations in recent years, have increased their projected costs by up to 50 percent when bidding for work from the M.T.A., contractors say.Ĭonsulting firms, which have hired away scores of M.T.A. Trade unions, which have closely aligned themselves with Gov.

Subway lines new york