Mass Pike chief says he feels like the guy with a shovel walking behind the elephant

Alan LeBovidge executive director of the Massachusetts Turnpike gave a colorful description of his current job. He told the Waltham MA Daily News Tribune newspaper in an interview: "I tell people I feel like the guy walking behind some big elephant with a shovel, hearing people say, 'What the hell is that guy doing?"'

The "elephant" in his metaphor is the $15+ billion untolled Big Dig and the debt service bills and other costs are the elephant droppings.

LeBovidge characterizes the Big Dig's history as:

"The state ran into some problems financing the Big Dig and said, 'Hey, let's just give it to the Mass Pike - they have plenty of money.' "

The former Pricewaterhouse exec says it turns out that "there's no way mathematically" the toll road can support the debt and maintenance costs of the untolled Big Dig.

That may be sound accounting, but his metaphor begs the retort that maybe the Big Dig elephant just needs a second shovel-equipped LeBovidge to follow it around?

COMMENT: this just begs for a cartoon of LeBovidge as overworked elephant attendant. Any readers care to try their hand?

TOLLROADSnews 2009-01-05