41-Mile Subway Expansion Plan Offers Alternative to Free Buses

How much New York City subway can you build for a billion dollars? Historically, not a lot: The first phase of the Second Avenue line, which opened in 2017, came in at $2.5 billion per mile. Phase two of the project, now under construction, is projected to cost over $4 billion per mile.

But the Transit Costs Project, a research group that’s part of the NYU Marron Institute of Urban Management, says the city could lay down more than 40 miles of new subways and elevated transit lines over the next 40 years for far less. The projects envisioned ...