Seems to me like the author is very selectively shopping in non-US examples in order to just go on an anti public-transport rant.

In most places in Europe costs of mass transit projects are notorious for spiraling out of control, and unlike the Madrid example other Western countries tend to do exactly the opposite and usually spend a lot more money on prestigious design and architecture of public works than is common in the US.

And that's okay, because besides the notoriously crappy and corrupt management of these projects by government officials, the results are worth it.