Activity 14- Exe Project

Case Study 14.1—New Jersey Kills Hudson River Tunnel ProjectThis case illustrates the challenges in making an early termination decision.  Often, particularly in the case of public projects, there is a real difficulty in stopping a project once it has gotten “on the books.”  As a result, projects with huge cost overruns, like Boston’s “Big Dig” are allowed to continue almost indefinitely.  New Jersey Governor Chris Christie made a tough call in deciding to cancel the Hudson River Tunnel project because he was given a number of rosy projections that did not match the actual costs incurred to that date.  This is a great case to let students pick sides: should Christie have cancelled the project or not? There are arguments to be made that the need was strong (although others could argue that the need was over-sold).  On the other hand, the history of the project to date and the uncertainty about future federal funding made it a real gamble, especially during a time of economic recession.Questions