INTERNAL WORKING FINDING · 2026-07-22
Metropolitan Council · Metro Rail Simulator
Art Cost Reconciliation
The $1,077,470 difference is not savings and is not missing from the project total. It is detailed art cost that was absorbed into unrelated buyer-facing software rows without a traceable allocation.
The core proof: the exact art gap appears again as excess allocation in the Cost tab's non-art rows. The original $4,300,880 total balances only because understated art and overstated software offset each other.
Cost-tab non-art rows$2,566,678
−
Estimator non-art parents$1,489,208
Confirmed overlap$451,487Instructor Control Station parent plus four children priced separately.
Remaining excess$625,983Currently distributed across Operator Training Scenarios and Observer Station.
Art Hidden From the Direct Art Rows
| Detailed art component | Estimator source | Cost | Finding |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mid/far-field environment across 50 miles | Estimator A44:C44 | $537,485 | No direct Cost-art destination |
| 40 mid-field points of interest | Estimator A40:C40 | $284,992 | No direct Cost-art destination |
| 29 miles of extension near-field geometry | Estimator A39:C39 | $206,619 | Extensions promised but geometry not priced in route rows |
| Low-fidelity train-car shell | Estimator A34:C34 | $26,874 | No visible vehicle-art destination |
| S70/S700 visual differences | Estimator A35:C35 | $21,499 | Not traceably linked to separate software-differences row |
| Train parent reconciliation | Parent rounding | $1 | Rounding only |
| Total hidden from direct art rows | $1,077,470 | Not approved savings | |
Review draft · not applied
Corrected Allocation Matrix
This draft exposes the art, removes the confirmed parent/child overlap, and assigns each remaining estimator parent to one buyer-facing software row.
| Buyer-facing row | Proposed cost | Basis | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Existing platform and five direct art rows | $1,298,214 | Unchanged existing allocations | $0 |
| Six newly visible art components | $1,077,470 | Exact estimator art children | +$1,077,470 |
| Other Cost-tab rows outside this reconciliation | $435,988 | Existing Cost E9:E10 allocation | $0 |
| Operator Training Scenarios | $780,728 | S700 Operation + Fault Simulation parents | −$366,890 |
| Instructor Control Station — Remaining Core | $85,998 | Parent less four separately visible children | −$451,487 |
| Four separately visible Instructor children | $451,487 | Recording, configuration, fault injection, reporting | $0 |
| Observer Station | $170,995 | Multi-User Networking parent | −$259,093 |
| Corrected allocation total | $4,300,880 | Matches original estimator | $0 |
Decisions Needed Before Any Change
Training Scenarios
Confirm this row should contain the complete S700 Operation and Fault Simulation parents.
Observer Station
Confirm this row should contain the complete Multi-User Networking parent.
Art Row Structure
Keep the six art components separate, or document an explicit roll-up into route and vehicle rows.
One-Dollar Reconciliation
Keep the estimator's $1 parent reconciliation visible or absorb it as rounding.
No Pricing Source Was Changed
This page and its draft matrix are sidecar analysis only. The workbook, estimator, proposal, and ForgeRail remain unchanged.