Quote:
Originally Posted by someone123
$1.5 billion is not a large long-term project for a city like London. This project is expected to cost about $25B: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crossrail
You are talking about $1.5 billion that can be partially paid for by the users and that will be used to build a piece of infrastructure useful for 50 years or longer.
Over 30 million trips take place over the bridges each year. Imagine 15 million for the new bridge (probably conservative in the long run). Over 50 years that works out to 750,000,000 trips. $1.5 billion works out to a $2 cost per trip. It is easily worth spending $2 to save 10 minutes on a commute. Many people would spend much more than that.
These expenses always need to be put into context. All too frequently people get caught up on large cost numbers without accounting for the fact that the value they provide affects a large number of people for a large period of time. |
From a safety point of view we need a 3rd crossing, I was chatting with some bridge people recently and they told me point blank that the bridges are currently at capacity which surprised me, but I won't argue it, they are the experts not me. So ya, I guess we should start this project.