Tide LRT Vehicles Being Delivered
HRT has released their final “cost-to-completion” for the Tide light rail system currently under construction in Norfolk. The new final cost is $338,284,251. This is, of course, much higher than the $232 million that was originally promised. Despite claims that HRT’s new President and CEO Philip Shucet is responsible for the firming up of the new number, the consultant was actually hired for the job by Townes, who knew about the cost overruns but failed to live up to City Council’s standards. It actually would make sense to me that the numbers Townes was feeding council were the preliminary numbers from his consultant. The difference between Townes’s and Shucet’s communication is that Townes should have done what Shucet did: tell council to hold on for a couple weeks while the consultant finishes the estimate.
Regardless, I hope that the project can stick to these numbers until completion. Personally, if Shucet does a good job with costs, I think we should demote him to a position to simply control LRT construction. That way we can hire a President and CEO that actually knows how to operate a transit system.
http://www.ridethetide.com/about_the_tide/cost-to-complete.shtml
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Pilot reported that the new temporary leader for Hampton Roads Transit, Philip Shucet, will ask Virginia Beach to share 20% of the VB Light Rail Extension Study’s cost. Coming in at approximately $245,000, it is the latest in a long series of problems, real or perceived, at HRT. The money is to cover the 20% match required to receive a $1.2 million grant that HRT received from a federal source. Virginia Beach councilwoman Rosemary Wilson told the Pilot, “”It was always funded by HRT, we weren’t paying for it.” … I’m not sure that the councilwoman knows how HRT operates. It doesn’t have its own money. All of its money comes from grants from the federal, state, and local governments. Virginia Beach, however indirectly, has contributed money toward the study. I do understand that they were apparently told by former President Townes that all cost had been covered. Regardless, that is not my problem. My problem is that there was a cost estimate of $4.3 million that has risen to $6.6 million for a consultant contract. HRT’s Senior VP of Development told the Virginian Pilot that the price was just for the contract and did not include other costs. What other costs could not be included in a consultant’s contract? You hire a consultant to examine a possible extension of light rail into Virginia Beach. The price should include all costs of completing that mission. If the board made former President Townes leave, why can we not get rid of other executives that would even sign a contract that in not all-inclusive. I don’t even get work done on my car without a quote. If something new is discovered during the course of the service, they call and we discuss it. But studying a light rail extension is not the same as doing work on a car. These consultants were hired (hopefully) because they have experience in studying proposed transit systems. Perhaps they know that HRT seems to sign-then-read when they sign contracts. Regardless, a contract should include all costs to complete the task. Then, the consultant needs to be held to the price. No exceptions unless there is an actual emergency.
HRT has named Philip A. Shucet as the new interim CEO for the company. Financially, I think that this is a great move. Due to his record on cost-control, he should bring some much needed eyes on the various budgets of HRT. One minor thing that I have to wonder about is: The
Virginian-Pilot reported that “when Shucet took over VDOT in 2002, one in every five construction projects was behind schedule, and more than half were over budget. By the end of his three-year tenure, 75 percent of projects were on time and 80 percent were on budget.” Now basic math tell us that, as for the budget part, he improved. He raised the “on budget” rate from less than 50% to around 80%. Unfortunately, basic math also tells us that, when it comes to on-time performance, he lost ground. “One in five” is 20%. That means, following various properties you thought you’d never use, 80% were on time. When he left, however, only 75% were on time. Not a large number, but large enough the Pilot decided it needed a better spin.
The part that I really worry about is whether his budgetary sense is going to have a positive or negative effect on ridership and ease of use. This man has very little in his published background that suggests that he knows anything about running a public transit company. I am not saying that this is a bad thing. Given the fact that most transit companies are poorly run, it might be time for someone who is different. I just think that we need to keep a watchful eye on what he thinks are cuts waiting to be made.
Both HRT and private company MetroMarine are studying the possible use of ferries as a method to have people and vehicle from popular area to popular area. HRT wants to create commuter routes between the Peninsula and either Downtown Norfolk or the Naval Base. MetroMarine wants a public-private partnership with a much more extensive system. Either way, we need more information to choose, but the concept is promising. Each would probably have a toll (my W.A.G. would be about $5). I know that I would much rather pay $5 and take a nap/read the paper for a morning commute and not use any fuel, than spend an hour or so idling in traffic.
Regardless of what will eventually work out, I do know what won’t work: actual ferries. I read the Pilot’s headline, “HRT considering ferries to ease tunnel traffic” and it almost seemed like a parody on current events. You know? VDOT can’t afford roads, so we get HRT to enlist so ferries to see if we can really work some magic. 
Apparently someone made a mistake. The
Virginian-Pilot is reporting that a section of the embedded light rail tracks must be reconstructed due to a failure during a routine inspection. The problem only applies to the concrete surrounding the tracks and in no way requires the rebuilding of the tracks themselves. While this is unfortunate, it give us a couple of things to think about. First, it shows us that the line is being inspected properly. Not that the concrete plays much of a role in the light rail itself (the tracks are built as regular railroad tracks, them surrounded by concrete), but you would not want the concrete breaking up from traffic. The second thing to keep in mind is that
HRT is not responsible. Instead, the contractor must cover the cost of the repairs, as it is their mistake.
Workers remove concrete after it failed a compression test.
If only they would have thought about this earlier. Other situations such as the extra pilings they found early last year, should have been dealt with the same way. If you pay a consultant to count the pilings, you expect a thorough job. I could have gone down and counted from shore for the thousands that were paid out. I would have done it for half. I don’t have to say that I am definitely a proponent for light rail in HR, but come on. Hold contract holders responsible all of the time.
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Concrete Removal in a larger map
