If you're reading this on Tueday, cast a kind thought in the direction of City Hall, where members of the City Council will once again be deciding whether to pull the trigger on what will be — by far — the biggest, messiest and most expensive public works project in Honolulu's history.
The project: A transit line that will link the "second city" of Kapolei with downtown Honolulu and perhaps Waikiki and the University of Hawaii.
Previous councils have come to the brink of a similar decision at least twice before, only to falter. The question today is whether the magnitude of the project, the political baggage it brings and the competing ideas about what kind of transit line we need and who it should serve can be resolved.
The day will come when Honolulu adopts an alternative (not a replacement, but an alternative) to the private automobile. The question is whether the Council can decide, politically, that the day is now upon us.
Hawai'i's Newspaper Online 
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
