Public infrastructure costs more to build in the New York region than almost any other place in the world. Some projects that can be built in two or three years in some countries can take over in decade here. Megaprojects like the MTA’s East Side Access can take years longer and cost billions more than original estimates. Even small projects can get caught up in layers of agency process, federal or state mandated rules, local opposition, and the high costs of consultants, labor, and materials. It doesn’t have to be this way.

This panel will explore why projects cost so much and take so long, and how some projects have succeeded in completing projects faster and cheaper.