Fixing Our Broken Transit Planning Process

While there is more funding than ever available for mass transit projects, it never seems to be sufficient as project costs continue to increase independent of inflation. If the U.S. wants to use that money more effectively going forward, it is critical to consider as many ways as possible to reduce costs. One potential place for savings is in the planning process. Transit typically sells a project politically before it is planned, combines the planning and environmental processes into one, and organizes planning, construction, and operations functions into walled siloes. Transit should consider modifying its planning processes in a few specific ways to potentially reduce time and cost and improve mobility.