RTD’s problems with math are well documented and are seen in the skyrocketing costs of FasTracks and its ability to properly budget for the project.  The district is now closing the books on its part of T-Rex and rather proudly announced on its website “T-REX closes out light rail portion of project $3.7 million under budget.”  Is that really true?

Let’s play a little game shall we? 

You contract with someone to make some improvements to your home for $20,000.  They come in, start the work and then tell you that the situation changed and those improvements will now cost $40,000.  You of course want to ensure the work is done so you are forced to agree to the higher price.  When all is said and done, the contractor brags that they did the work “on budget” for $40,000. 

Now, was that work really “on budget?”  Of course not.  It cost twice as much as expected! 

Let’s put RTD in place of that contractor and add a bunch of zeroes to those numbers and you now know how RTD can claim they build projects “on budget.”  They claim that, “The Southeast Light Rail Line was budgeted at $879 million, with $525 million funded by the Federal Transit Administration.”

Let’s evaluate that for a minute.  A quick search of old press releases and public records gives you some interesting information.  The Southeast Light Rail Major Investment Study projected a cost of $445 million (reference below). 

I am not a math major but a quick check of numbers tells me something doesn’t add up with RTD’s claims.  The $879 million the rail corridor actually cost is a good bit more than the original $445 million estimate.  In fact, it is 59 percent higher! 

Not only does this again highlight that RTD can’t do math, it also calls into question their honesty and integrity in the way they portray their work to the taxpayers.  In fact, they essentially are lying to Denver area residents and yet why have local politicos and media not called them out on it?

Source – Final Report: Southeast Corridor Major Investment Study (Denver, CO: Colorado Department of Transportation, 1997), p. 4-24.

Related:

• Denver Business Journal – RTD: Under budget on T-REX segment
• RTD Press Release- T-REX closes out light rail portion of project $3.7 million under budget