“In 2015, the Paris region began construction on the Grand Paris Express, a 125-mile expansion of the city’s rail system that will transform the city and its suburbs. Most of it—80 percent—will be in tunnels. It will have 68 new stations, four new lines, and two extensions of existing lines. It will be completed, if all goes according to plan, in 2030, with the first line opening in 2025. It will cost some $38 billion.” In France, citizens are like, “Why is this so expensive and how come it takes so long?” In America, that seems like what it takes to get out of the planning phase. Vice: A $100 Billion Lesson In Why Building Public Transportation Is So Expensive in the US.

+ “A suicide prevention net on San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge that is already years behind schedule will cost about $400 million, more than double its original price.” (One wonders how things would play out if that $400 million were directed toward mental health services.)