How Franchise Terms Impeded Private Subway Construction In New York City Comparison With Concession Agreements For Early Subterranean Transit In Great Britain

New York could have had a practical and profitable subway in operation by the 1870s—financed entirely by the private sector—had franchise terms been as liberal as those in Great Britain. Although it would not have been as technologically sophisticated as the 1904 subway, it would have been superior to the elevated railways of the time. Moreover, permitting experimentation and entrepreneurship in New York City's transportation industry would ultimately have accelerated the development of subway technology. Regardless, given the political constraints, the DBOM public-private partnership model finalized in 1900 was extremely successful. The lines built under this model comprise half of today’s New York City Subway network. Fares were low, no government subsidies were required, and investors earned high returns (until the unprecedented inflation of World War I, which could have been resolved by allowing the franchisees to raise fares with inflation).

Why does New York City have a subway system, and why does it have such an unusual design? Railroad engineers developed its bold and ambitious design in 1891 for the purposes of speed and convenience, above all else. By understanding the original thinking behind the subway, we can see beneath the grit and appreciate the true beauty of the system…and be inspired to build even bigger and better things in the future. The subway possesses a combination of design elements that make it unequalled among the world’s major rapid transit systems. The pillars of the system’s design are the high-speed right-of-way and trains, being underground but close to the surface, having extensive four-track mainlines with all tracks on the same level, and providing bi-directional local and express service.

Singapore F&B companies must venture beyond Singapore for greener pastures. Venturing overseas can be successful for many, while others have failed. The key questions are the following: 1. What are the critical success factors? 2. What are the struggles? 3. Is internationalisation the same process for all companies? 4. What capabilities and competencies must the company possess to succeed internationally? 5. What are the internationalisation strategies to be successful? The book is based on a multiple-case study of the internationalisation of thirty Singapore food service companies. These Singaporean companies were categorised in the stages of internationalisation as aspirants, actives, and achievers. To strengthen external validity and data triangulation, the study included eleven industry experts, termed as advisers, and seven international purchasers of the Singapore F&B brands called acquirers. _______________________________________________ James Mok has written a must-read book for any F&B business considering international franchising, in particular throughout Asia. The thirty cases studies were well chosen to illustrate the complexity, challenges and pitfalls Asian F&B businesses face when introducing a foreign foodservice concept to overseas markets. This book also serves as highly useful guide for Asia-based F&B businesses to compete successfully internationally (Dr Stephen Choo).

Excerpt from Building the New Rapid Transit System of New York City It is not generally realized how huge an engineering work it is which is now going forward in the city of New York on extensions of the underground rapid transit railway lines. The best way to compare the relative magnitude of engineering works is to compare the total expenditure involved. The total cost of building and equipping New York's new rapid - transit lines will be in the neighborhood of This is substantially equal to the entire cost of the Panama Canal. It is three times the cost of the New York barge canal. It is a greater amount than the total investment in road and equipment of the Chicago, Milwaukee St. Paul Railway Company, or the Rock Island, or the Chicago North Western, or the Great Northern, or the New York Central Hudson River. The building of underground rapid-transit lines in great cities is comparatively a new development in engineering. New York was not the pioneer in this field. The first underground city railway lines were those in London, operated for many years with steam locomotives. Underground lines operated by electric traction were built in London and Budapest and Boston before the first New York rapid-transit subway was in operation. The development of the system in New York, however, has far exceeded that in any other city of the world. In fact, with the completion of the new extensions the investment in underground rapid-transit lines in New York will probably be as great as that in all the other great cities of the world combined. The building of subways, however, is well recognized to be the next step in rapid-transit development for the congested districts of other large cities. Phila delphia, Chicago, Cleveland, and a number of other American cities have subways under way or projected. The work carried on in New York during the past dozen years, and especially that now in progress, has developed a large amount of experience in street excavation with avoidance to traffic interruption, in the underpinning of. Buildings, and in the solution of a hundred different problems in connection with the work of construction which are of general interest to the engineering profession. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Reproduces photographic prints from the collection of the New York Transit Museum.

Urban transport systems are essential for economic development and improving citizens' quality of life. To establish high-quality and affordable transport systems, cities must ensure their financial sustainability to fund new investments in infrastructure while also funding maintenance and operation of existing facilities and services. However, many cities in developing countries are stuck in an "underfunding trap" for urban transport, in which large up-front investments are needed for new transport infrastructure that will improve the still small-scale, and perhaps, poor-quality systems, but revenue is insufficient to cover maintenance and operation expenses, let alone new investment projects. The urban transport financing gap in these cities is further widened by the implicit subsidies for the use of private cars, which represent a minority of trips but contribute huge costs in terms of congestion, sprawl, accidents, and pollution. Using an analytical framework based on the concept of "Who Benefits Pays," 24 types of financing instruments are assessed in terms of their social, economic and environmental impacts and their ability to fund urban transport capital investments, operational expenses, and maintenance. Urban transport financing needs to be based on an appropriate mix of complementary financing instruments. In particular for capital investments, a combination of grants †“from multiple levels of government†“ and loans together with investments through public private partnerships could finance large projects that benefit society. Moreover, the property tax emerges as a key financing instrument for capital, operation, and maintenance expenses. By choosing the most appropriate mix of financing instruments and focusing on wise investments, cities can design comprehensive financing for all types of urban transport projects, using multi-level innovative revenue sources that promote efficient pricing schemes, increase overall revenue, strengthen sustainable transport, and cover capital investments, operation, and maintenance for all parts of a public transport system, "from the sidewalk to the subway."