A plumber is a good example, and we usually expect them to fix things up
properly for as reasonable a price we can get away with. We want them to
tell us straight just whats wrong and how to fix it.
But what's funny about a plumber is that they are usually a one-off
assignment. Theres little to no repeat business, so they might as well
get it all done in the one shot they have. There's a great incentive to
do it right, right away.
Engineering consultants working with government on transportation projects
face a very different reality. While there are many plumbers in the phone
book, there are only two significant transportation engineering firms
around here. They are URS (a San Francisco firm which bought out BRW of
Minneapolis two years ago) and SRF (located in Plymouth). If you look at
all the contracts let for services over the last 10 years, you will see
that URS gets Hennepin County plus all LRT projects, and SRF gets Ramsey
and Washington Counties. They seem to have their own "turf" based on the
relationships they have developed.
Today's Strib has an article that highlights the way these relationships
work, all based on e-mails and memos obtained via the Data Practices Act
on the downed I-35W Bridge. That one was up to URS, the ones who do
nearly everything in Hennepin County. They are also the consulting
engineers on Saint Pauls own Central Corridor:
http://www.startribune.com/10204/story/1542407.html
The scenario was simple: URS saw a serious problem, and proposed a fairly
radical solution. They wanted to reinforce key parts of the bridge with
steel plates. MnDOT, who was in charge, initially went along with the
idea but when it came to the top people in charge the cost was a bit too
much. If you were a plumber, the situation would sound pretty familiar
about now. But this is where it all diverges a bit.
In the words of Ed Zhou, the URS Engineer in charge of this project, "I
view this project as an important opportunity for us to get more work of
this type from MnDOT in the future." That's where this becomes different
from plumbing. Theres a big incentive to give the client just what they
want, regardless of whether it's the right thing to do. And that's
exactly what URS did when they prepared the final report on the I-35W
Bridge - they totally caved on the reinforcement and went along with
MnDOT's idea of more inspections. They were writing the final report on
this up until 3 hours before the bridge fell down.
What's this got to do with Saint Paul?
URS is also the consultant on the Central Corridor. As we can see, it's
the nature of their business to be very sensitive to what the client wants
to hear rather than what the client needs to hear. Their contract is in
the tens of millions of dollars, and that's not money you take chances
with. The record URS set down with the I-35W Bridge is that they will
indeed tell the client what they want to hear, and they went along with
whatever MnDOT was interested in. Unlike a plumber, it's not about doing
the job right but about getting the next gig.
The problem with the Central Corridor is that we have to go to the next
level . Who is the customer? Why its the Met Council, of course. And
the MCTO, since they are operating it. And Hennepin County Regional Rail.
Dont forget Ramsey County Regional Rail. And the cities of Minneapolis
and Saint Paul. Of course, the money comes from the Federal Dept of
Transportation. And itll be built by our old friends at MnDOT. So if
you're a consultant, who do you please?
Ive been told by someone well placed on this project, Make no mistake
about it, this is the Met Councils show. They run things. That
explains how the technology was chosen first, as they want the Bombardier
Flexity Swift LRV that is consistent with regional transportation but
wholly unsuited for local. That was the first decision made.
But this doesnt happen without Ramsey County, since the roughly $200M
that they can pony up based on a half cent sales tax is critical to
getting this built. What do they want? Oh, they want it on University
Avenue. Check.
What does Hennepin County want? Oh, they are insisting that we go along
with the tunnel at the University . and so on. Who is in charge?
Everyone has an angle that they demand. Saint Paul demanded that Union
Depot be connected. Check.
The consultants, who have clearly been shown to tell the client what they
want to hear, have an awful lot of clients to please in this operation.
And they have done their best to do it. Thats how the tab has been run
up to about $1.2B (no matter what anyone tells you, thats the tab)
despite the fact that Federal funding will not happen if it is over about
$840M.
Many, many people have said that the problem with transportation is that
we do not have dedicated funding for rail systems. While I would love to
have money dedicated to it, we have a system that is terminally sick. It
produces plans that are so expensive that we not only cannot afford them,
we cannot even get Federal funding for them.
Is it possible to build a rail line on University Avenue? Yes, if you
look at how Portland and Albuquerque have done it, we can do it for about
$400M well under the Federal guidelines. We can do it with much less
disruption and mess than what has been planned, too. Why dont we do it
that way?
Because we do not have one agency that is capable of doing it. We have to
farm it out to consultants, a group of people who have a vested interest
that is not in any way the same as that of the public that will ride the
rails when they are built.
If you want to know why the Central Corridor has bogged down as sadly as
it has, look no further than the article on how the consulting engineers
at URS handled the I-35W Bridge. Then, multiply the sinking feeling in
the pit of your stomach by 8, because thats how many clients they have to
please.
If you want to fix this, there is only one thing that can be done. An
agency that is set up to have its interests clearly the same as the
transit riding public has to be in charge, and they should have as many
core competencies in house as they can. From design to build to
operations to maintenance, they have to be focused on getting as many
people on the rails as they can. They wouldnt have time for sycophants,
they would simply make things happen.
Think back to the plumber, and how he or she approaches their job. Its a
matter of figuring out how to make it happen with the budget you have.
They would never report to 8 clients all asking different things from
them. Theyd have an incentive to do it right the first time. As a
Chemical Engineer (by training) Ive often been called a "glorified
plumber". What I think the transportation engineers need is a lot less
glorification and a lot more plumbing.