The chunky cars are the notorious Breda "pigs'. These are the source of the recent controversy regarding the Breda contract at MTA. Not just overweight, but they are really noisy and have lousy interior space just to make things better for the customer, too.

There is no reason for a government sponsored contest to design LRT vehicles. The PCC, as was noted, was not a "govenment" contest, and if the Boeing Vertol is an example of that, it seems a failure. Several thousand's of LRV's are produced around the world, competively by a dozen or more manufacturers, every year. Figure out what you want in an LRV, look at the models, the performance, system needs, and set out a competitive tender based on an open specifications, and like magic the market place will respond.

What is needed is stricter contract compliance, oversight, and enforcement of contracts by the public agencies that take delivery, to make sure that they get what they are promised.

Another thing that is also needed is a little????... is less micromanagement of the contracting process by some politicians who are being stroked by these vendors.