$1.8 billion on low end of price for MontCo bus network

From The Washington Examiner, by intrepid reporter Rachel Baye:

Montgomery County's proposed bus network is likely to cost much more than the current $1.8 billion estimate, according to county Planning Department staff.

"I have reasons to believe that the cost estimate that was done by the [County Executive's Transit Task Force] is less than what it should be," Master Planner Larry Cole told The Washington Examiner.

Past projects indicate that the cost of building the proposed bus rapid transit, or BRT, network could be several times the $1.8 billion estimate, according to Cole, who helped write a staff report on the project last week.

And:

The cost disparities may be the result of the task force not accounting for as many costs as they are likely to encounter, Cole said.

The group allocated about $75 million for claiming private property, and about 25 percent of other construction costs will go toward utilities, said Transit Task Force Chairman Mark Winston. But most of these factors are too uncertain to price, he said.

The county Transportation Department thinks $1.8 billion is low, Winston said. Consultant Parsons Brinckerhoff estimated the construction cost would be about $2.5 billion.

To read the entire story go here.  To read the Task Force's "Final" report, go here.