[interurban]

I highly doubt that someone who has been writing extensively about the MTA for almost 10 years is "clueless".

You make a good point that the cost per km is exorbitant and needs to be reined in, but comparing the costs of a 10-15 year old system to one that is 100+ years old is probably not the most accurate comparison.

[yummyfajitas]

The Budapest metro is 6 years older than the NYC subway. The Tokyo metro is also 90 years old, as is the Barcelona metro.

High density rich cities like Hong Kong do it cheaper. Sprawling low density cities like Delhi do it cheaper. Ancient systems like London, Paris and Budapest do it cheaper. Shiny modern systems like Singapore do it cheaper. Cold places like Malmo do it cheaper. Hot places like Mexico City do it cheaper.

https://pedestrianobservations.wordpress.com/2011/05/16/us-r... https://pedestrianobservations.wordpress.com/2013/06/03/comp...

The question isn't why one specific city is cheaper than NYC. The question is why every single city outside the US is vastly cheaper than NYC. The only place that even comes remotely close to US prices is one line of the London metro.