Can Transit Infrastructure Projects Be Delivered Better?

Can transit infrastructure projects be delivered on time and on budget?  Canadians across the country have reason to be skeptical given the many examples of delayed projects and cost overruns.

Eric Goldwyn of the NYU Marron Institute joined the Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance (IMFG) and the Infrastructure Institute on Wednesday January 15, 2025 to share insights from the NYU Transit Costs project on how infrastructure projects can be delivered better.

The Transit Costs project, led by Eric and a team at the Marron Institute of Urban Management (NYU), seeks to understand why transit infrastructure projects cost several times more to build in North America compared to countries in Europe and Asia. The project surveyed hundreds of transit developments around the world to develop a database that spans more than 59 countries and more than 20,000 km of urban rail built since the late 1960s.  It has also examined project management, governance, and site conditions. The goal of this work is to figure out how to deliver more high-capacity transit projects for a fraction of the cost in countries like the United States and Canada.

View the Presentation

Speaker: Eric Goldwyn is an Assistant Professor in the Transportation and Land-Use program at the NYU Marron Institute where he leads the Transit Costs project. He received his Ph.D. in Urban Planning from Columbia University. He teaches courses on urban planning and urban studies and his writing on cities and transportation technology has been published in academic journals and popular press outlets.