$3.8 Million Spent on Bike Racks in 2015, Still Unfinished. Can you Guess What City This Is?
The Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) spent $3.8 million on two bike racks that will house 92 bicycles, according to ABC 7 News in Washington, D.C.
The project began in December 2015, and is still unfinished. The Metropolitan, also known as the “Metro” is attempting to build bike racks for the East Falls Church in Oakton Virginia, and the Vienna Metro Station in Arlington Virginia.
The budget for the bike rack was initially $600,000 but then increased to $1.9 million each. The covered bicycle shelters will store 92 bikes, which makes the cost for each bike more than $20,000 per bike! And there may be additional monies needed to finish the bike shelters.
“Quality control issues with contractors can take time to sort out, but Metro determined it was more important to get the project done right rather than get it done quickly,” the Metro told ABC 7 News.
ABC7 News requested documents related to bicycle project through the Freedom of Information Act, but has yet to get a reply.
.@wmata has spent $3.8 million and taken five years to build two unfinished bike racks, at the East Falls Church and Vienna Metro stations.
— ABC 7 News - WJLA (@ABC7News) February 13, 2020
The projects were supposed to be completed in December 2015 but remain unfinished in 2020.
🔗: https://t.co/3K0WAHqZzb pic.twitter.com/HXnlQVGLkZ
One Twitter user commented, “But government is gonna be cost effective and efficient when they take over healthcare with M4A.”