It would appear fiscally irresponsible to rush ahead when the cost of doing so may be near $1 billion in taxpayer dollars. Certainly traffic is a tough problem but it's one we are familiar with. At a time when economic indicators look very bleak it seems unwise to put the citizens at risk for an additional billion of tax money. Were we to shoulder the entire $5 billion cost, this project would burden Oahu residents to the tune of nearly $6,000/person.

I don't think we can afford that.

please dave, look into the military tunnels that run from waianae to wahiawa to kahulu to kaneohe to red hill and pearl harbor. i have voiced my opinion to use them as a rail or bus system in the opinion section and blogs, but i am too small. perhaps you or one of the other reporters could look into this and get the public involved before this rail disaster begins.

I suspect you don't have to drive in from the Westisde much Dave. I'm lucky enough to be going opposite traffic when I do have to travel out to the Westside. But I really feel for those coming the other direction stuck in gridlock. This is only going to get worse as more houses are built. And as we have seen several times over the past two years, a tradegy on the freeway makes it imposible for westside residents to get home (unlike Kailua people, who have four viable routes to get home.)
We need to get this project started soon. We have been debating it for years. And if the feds were to not come thru, there are other funding options. One would be for the State to direct part of the TAT to the county to make up the diference. This would mean the tourists are paying for the shortfall, not the residents. But eveything the FEDs and our Congressioanl delegation have said seems to indicate the fed funding will come thru. And with Dems poised to retain their control of the House, and possibly take the White House, the odds are very good (Both Obama and Hillary have said they support rail in Hawaii).
Personally I hope the feds insist that the route go thru the airport and force City Council to grow a spine. Or maybe someone with a bigger vision will beat Cachola in a few months here....but the longer we wait to start building, the longer and more expensive this project is going to be....

"breakneck speed...a reckless rush...a mad dash through vital decisions!" Really, Dave, you have to be kidding?

This thing has been dragging on and debated to death for twenty years. In '92if it wasn't for one marginal Councilperson (who later did jail time) we would be riding a mass transit system today that would have cost us close to two $billion less!!!

That's all the butt-draggers and nay sayers (whose ranks you've obviously joined) have accomplished so far.

I'm getting tired of reading stuff like it COULD cost taxpayers blah blah blah IF blah blah blah... breakneck speed? spare me..the decisions have been so long in coming...probably about 30 years...the council approved the project in 06...this is 08..things are moving along at a pace that they should be. just because it takes a panel of experts less than a month to reach a decision shouldn't be so alarming...they don't have to play the politics...it's pretty straightforward...they know what they're doing...much better than leaving it at council where they'll dream up all kinds of silly stalling tactics. As the mayor pointed out in the article...the city is working WITH the FTA on the project, and no one has indicated that there's any reason to believe that this is anything other than a good project with an ambitious timetable...the feds can give the go ahead before they give final approval, and that's all that's happening here...if we can build some of it, why wouldn't we? Finally we have a mayor with the political maturity to do the right thing, and a willing council, governor, legislature to go along with the plan...Ride on!

How many of the rail cheerleaders above will actually ride this train regularly once it's built, leaving their vehicles at home? Write back and tell us. I'm betting good money that you're counting on the OTHER guys to ride the train while you continue to tootle along in your car or SUV.

I won't be riding it because this train doesn't go anywhere I do, and I doubt that I can use it effectively for the occasional business errand from downtown to Kapolei. Right now, I see nothing that says it's faster or more efficient than the existing "C" express bus which I can ride with my yearly bus pass, along with all the other routes which serve the entire island, unlike this train.

Trains, buses, rickshaws, bikes -- none of it's going to work to improve traffic conditions unless there are (dis-)incentives for people to stop driving their own vehicles & take public transit. Until that happens, better be prepared to enjoy spending billions of tax dollars AND sitting for endless hours in gridlock.

dis-incentives to stop driving their own vehicles?

filling a gas tank is getting to be one, People are starting to have to choose what part of their budget they give up so they can pay for gas to get to work. It won't get better.

The public also needs to ask why they are paying twice for gridlock. Once for the public transport system to alleviate it and again for subsidized parking for public servants that makes it worse. As the system comes on line, people living within x miles of the system, or all public employees (if we have the political courage) should have to pay full market rate for parking, and not be subsidized. Of course, thanks to genetic engineering, pigs will be flying by then.

On topix.com/honolulu Randy wrote: "For those still wondering "What's the rush, Mayor?" Here's more proof that his principal motive is that HE WANTS HONOLULU TO START DOWN THIS "TRACK OF NO RETURN" BEFORE THE TRUTH COMES OUT. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/... As one can see from the above article, the Dulles Airport project has so much more merit (i.e. higher ridership, goes toDulles airport, etc.) than the Honolulu project, and for about the same cost ($5-billion). And yet, Washington D.C., even with all of it's political power, was turned down because their project failed the benefit-cost test. The truth is that TheMayor knows this and WANTS TO GET THE PROJECT STARTED BEFORE THE ALMOST-CERTAIN FTA REJECTION COMES. TheMayor knows that if he can just get "the first shovel to hit dirt", there is no turning back, even if the FTA refuses to provide the $700-million Honolulu is asking for. At that point, the City will say, "We can't waste all the money we've put into this project, so we'll all have to just dig a little deeper into our pockets and finish this thing." There is no mystery why TheMayor wants to rush."

As the question always comes up, who is going to ride the rail????, the same people who ride the bus??? what will happen to the Bus????

I think that the real reason for pushing rail is the project will provide jobs for a select few for the next 30 - 40 years, high paying jobs, provide money for many of the support providers to design and plan, money for the displaced home/land owners who will give up their land at an inflated premium the rest of the tax payers will pay, money to the select few who will benefit greatly for this project to be pushed through the system. Then factor in the graft and corruption that will follow the project from the plannig stage to "for eva".

Then we have the wonderful aspect of watching the huge number of Employees who will featherbed and goldbrick their way to heaven as the operators and maintenance providers for the system. This, if done properly, will be a text book analysis of how Hawaii took on a “white elephant project” that bankrupted the state that students will be able to study for the future.

This coupled with the normal delays we always see, material shortage, sewage dumps because we find cesspools we need to fill, strikes, finding burial sites that will require the rail to gerrymander through the island, the huge impact on rush hour traffic, twice a day, (for how many years) the rainy season, boy, this project could be a real winner.

The beauty of this plan is the Federal, State, City & County employees who have subsidized parking will still have subsidized and will continue to use their vehicles back and forth to town and work.

Our leadership again shows us just what they think of the taxpayer in Hawaii, and they do it all to benefit us, just like with the education system the Democratic Party is so proud of.

This is truly an alarming development. In the beginning of this mad rush, the Mayor could certainly have been labled "bold, courageous" in his quest to build the rail system.

Now unfortunately the label has shifted to "Reckless".

I'd love to be educated as to why Inouye thinks a $1B sewer upgrade will "Bankrupt the city" whereas Mufi thinks he can go ahead with a $5B rail project without federal funding.

As was mentioned earlier, the federal writing is on the wall: projects like ours are NOT getting funded. If I were Mufi and wanted this trophy on my wall, I wouldn't wait to get rejected either.

Now the only question will be whether the mayor's office will a contested election or a helpless coronation.

To a slug it all looks like a mad rush.

For a good guide in the Democrat party management of a large urban transportation project please look up The Big Dig in Boston Mass.

People are literally dying in the tunnels due to the truly spectacular and total inability of the Democrats to manage anything - let alone 14 Billion (1 Billion= 1 Thousand Million!) Dollars project.

Mayor Mufi could not manage his way out of a wet paper bag, let alone manage a gargantuan project such as rail.

After all he cannot even fill the potholes.

Hey now, guys, what about TheBoat? Now there is a shining example of how well the C&C can execute a transit project! The Train To Nowhere will only cost 1000x more.

What the heck having a rapid train is a good idea... even though the chosen train is not technological savvy, and will be 20y behind the times when it starts... but hey, we Hawai'i-ans never claimed to truly be savvy at anything... we simply want job security for the next 20y... but the train (wish it was a monorail-like system - oh well) is a genuine attempt to reduce traffic, bridge cities, and to save energy...at the cost of a 1 billion dollar plus project in this day and age... Hmmm... Fasi tried. Couldn't do it. Harris tried, too... but Hanneman voted against it. (I wonder what changed his mind? Did he see something as the Mayor that the councilmembers could not see during the Harris administration?)

My son said on Sunday that it took him 2 hours by bus from Makikilo to work near Waikiki. However, I believe that the proposed train will not solve the problem and will end Mufi's career, and perhaps some City Councilman, too.

SRI,
Please remove the word Samoans from your name. You are giving the Samoan community a bad name. Thank you.

Substitute in its place Idiot or some other word that more accurately captures your point of view or your thinking.

Thanks.

As a keiki o ka aina o Manoa and a former resident of Washington D.C., I anxiously await the coming of the Train!
Sure, it will take awhile for completion, and will cause inconvenience while building, but "no pain, no gain". We need this transportation option for our future generations. We cannot afford to pass up on this last opportunity at a transit system as we have done for the last 30 years!! if it was built when Fasi had planned it in the 70's we'd be talking extensions to Mililani and the windward side by now. Let's stop debating and waiting! We need this now!

Dave-
You are correct, sir. Mufi is desperate and he is doing exactly what a desperate person in his position would do under these circumstances.

This is not about the good people of the Leeward coast or about transportation; this is purely and solely about Mufi and his positioning himself for higher office.

John I, Verse I, according to Mufi: "In the beginning there was the word; and the word was with Mufi."

Mufi, take your rail and your "community benefits package" and shove these ...

“A reckless rush through due diligence?!” The City has been doing its due diligence for the past 20 years!! Our biggest gripe with government officials is how long it takes them to take action, and finally we have a Mayor that is moving at private-sector speed and we want him to wait? What are we waiting for? I don’t know a single person that enjoys driving in traffic, and it will only get exponentially worse the longer we take. I’m tired of waiting! Let’s get moving!

Aloha Dave,

Solving Honolulu's traffic congestion will take time, money, commitment and the ability to understand there is no single remedy to such a complex and pervasive problem.

Is Mayor Hannemann pushing hard to make the mass transit project go? Absolutely and he's made more progress in 3 short years and our city has managed in the previous 3 decades. Hannemann has also instituted a commuter ferry system, expanded and enhanced bus service and made expansion of bike lanes and walking paths a priority. It's an integrated transportation system that he's building in order to give people transportation choices that are reliable, predictable and responsive.

Is he doing this for political glory? Come on, read the postings on this blog and you'll see that he's getting a lot more grief than glory, but that's the price Hannemann is willing to pay for exercising leadership.

While he's willing to take the grief, he's not willing to risk federal funding and the feds, along with the members of Hawaii's congressional delegation have been briefed throughout this project about how it's proceeding. This isn't a reckless mad dash, but an effort to bring people relief as soon as possible.

In the interest of full disclosure, I'm writing both as an individual and a member of the project's public involvement team. We've gone island wide listening and talking to people about transit and the bottom line is that the great majority of folks believe this is an idea whose time has come.

Elisa Yadao

Dave- You just have a personal grudge against the Mayor, so why don't you comment about something more direct, stop messing around with our future. Just because you live in Barbra Marshalls district, us Kahuku guys think rail is need for the islands great good. -Nakoa

Two people in this string noted that the Dulles Corridor in Washington has received an unfavorable review from the Federal Transit Administration and gave their opinion that the Honolulu transit project will suffer the same fate. If they only took the time to carefully read the reports on the Dulles situation, they wold learn that the Feds warned the project would receive a low rating. They would also learn that in Honolulu the Feds are saying that this project will receive a high rating. Take the time to learn the facts.

Dave- Why keep on making waves for rail, I am guessing you are not a fan of rail. You most likely don't deal with traffic issues. I know you don't drive so how can you speak for the community at large if you never need to deal with the burdens of working all day and then driving thru traffic. I would like to have all avaiable options that are possible for me to take while traffic worsens. Dave please stop knocking rail. -John

Dave- I agree with many of your blogs and love to read your ideas, but as a resident of the Leeward community, that travels via the bus or carpool into town. I got to say; "Please leave the rail issue alone." I and many of my friends are really looking forward to the rapid transit system being in place. Do you know how trouble some things are now? Take a ride with me sometime. I think you'll change your mind.-Nicky

The mayor IS moving ahead at a much faster rate than most projects of this size - true. But, it is in no way reckless. The mayor is simply doing as the FTA recommends – SHOW us YOUR commitment.

The Federal government has been getting smart and they are not going to give money to projects that do not meet their high standards of ridership and cost-effectiveness ratings, thus the Dulles problems. And, they are not going to give money to cities that have not made the same great commitment of putting their money where their mouth is. So thank you, Mr. Mayor, for showing the Feds how much we want this project!

More roads are already being built and planned – we need another alternative that doesn’t take up so much space!

Really.., enough is enough!

I read the article in the Advertiser Sunday stating that we're moving ahead without federal funding and that is just not true. As a matter of fact, if not for allocated funds from the federal government, this project probably wouldn't even be on the table. What they are referring to is the Preliminary Engineering phase of the project which will begin using the local excise tax monies, however, once the FTA, which have been involved in the project every step of the way, approve the New Starts Submittal, and approve PE, the source of funding for the project becomes a mixture of local and Federal funds. This is Honolulu's 3rd opportunity to receive Federal Funding for this project and I would hate to see those funds given to another major U.S. City like they were the last two times the project failed on the Island.

It would appear that the use of fear as a motivator is not isolated to the office of the President, that this tactic is now being employed by local Opposing Council Members and opponents of transit, to block a much needed transit project for the people of Oahu is sad and inexcusable.

Why not focus on the jobs that will be created, not just during construction, but to operate and maintain the system once it is in place. If the Opposing City Council members were really focused on what's best for Oahu, they'd be more interested in getting locals trained to take the positions that this transit system will create, not dogging a much needed transit alternative.

In the interest of Full Disclosure, I came here to work on this project and for the first 5 months, live in Ewa Beach. The traffic is deplorable and I feel sorry for people who have no Alternative for getting to Honolulu everyday. I no longer live in Ewa, and now only walk 6 blocks to work. If you don't think getting out of gridlock traffic, whether on a bus or in a car, can improve your quality of life, you'll think differently when you have an extra 2 hours in your day and you're not stressed by sitting in gridlock traffic.

Oh, and if you think a Bus way or Monorail is the answer to this transit dilemma, that's another blog all together.

Marcus W. Johnson

We've debated rail for over 30 years. And we've done nothing. And where has that got us? Traffic is worse today than it was in 1992 when rail was cancelled the second time! And it will be much worse in 20 years if we sit on our hands and do nothing. I give the Mayor Mufi credit for coming up with action, rather than excuses. And once the Feds see that Honolulu is finally serious and making progress with rail transit, they will be on board.

Several comments on this string have come in from different pseudonyms on the City Hall server arguing that we've been studying this for more than 20 years and it's time for action.

While it's true that it's been under political consideration for a long time, it's nonsense to suggest that that we've already done our due diligence.

Past attempts to approve transit didn't include detailed studies on the issues of routes, technology, station location and development policy, environmental impact and other nuts-and-bolts matters we're dealing with now. It would be foolhardy to rely on 20-year-old information instead of taking a fresh look.

My point is that we're going to have to live with the decisions we're making now — and pay for them — for a very long time. Doesn't it make sense to take the time to make the right choices instead of rushing through the process like our pants are on fire?

The persistent employment of bullying to quell discussion and brand anybody who asks questions as anti-transit and anti-mayor is most troubling.

And John, I do drive and deal with traffic like anybody else.

Dave

Dave- Your personal attacks on the mayor is not only not classy but plain stupid. I can see you really don't like the MAyor, you must have supported Duke B. for mayor. Get lover it he lost, and he isn't coming back. The mayor had inherited a sh@* storm of problems, but he has comeback and delivered us viable and sustainable solutions for all those problems. It is easy to sit on the sidelines commenting about things, but the Mayor is getting them done. If your so unhappy quit your day job and run for office. Otherwise keep your negative comment to yourself. -Robin

More study? The project needs more study?? Paralysis thru analysis! We don't need more study...we need an alternative to the growing traffic congestion that everyone recognizes is choking our quality of life. The mayor has faced the issue head-on; he's listened to the studies, worked with the city council to bring together a panel of technology experts that say that steel wheel on steel rail is the way to go. That's the technology used by transit systems in the world's greatest cities, and we should not ignore that fact. The mayor is doing something! Let's get behind him and get this system underway; otherwise we'll find ourselves another 15 years down the road wishing that we had done something now, just as we wish now that we had done something 15 years ago.

More study? The project needs more study?? Paralysis thru analysis! We don't need more study...we need an alternative to the growing traffic congestion that everyone recognizes is choking our quality of life. The mayor has faced the issue head-on; he's listened to the studies, worked with the city council to bring together a panel of technology experts that say that steel wheel on steel rail is the way to go. That's the technology used by transit systems in the world's greatest cities, and we should not ignore that fact. The mayor is doing something! Let's get behind him and get this system underway; otherwise we'll find ourselves another 15 years down the road wishing that we had done something now, just as we wish now that we had done something 15 years ago.

Sorry...in case you're wondering, my system is soooo slooowwww that I resent, 'cause I didn't think the first one got thru.

waikikijim,

Thanks for the explanation, but I can't help but notice that the pseudonyms waikikijim and bigtuna both trace to an e-mail address associated with Parsons Brinckerhoff, the city's main rail contractor.

Dave

I lived in Maryland and it cost me $8 to commute via Metro Rail to DC and another $8 to go back to Maryland. Each day, I spent $16/day to ride the Metro.

The distance I traveled daily from Maryland to DC is comparable to the distance from Kapolei to Honolulu, and this was back in 1999. Today, with the increase in fuel prices, etc., it must be about $10 each way for the same commute.

If rail were built, there is no way Hawaii could afford to offer riders from Leeward Oahu with fares below $8, total, for the ride to and from Honolulu, even with a heavy subsidy from the state or feds.

Do the riders really know that in addition to the $7 billion it will cost all of us to build this foolish rail that it will also cost them more than $5 each way or more than $10/day to ride the rail.

Any politician who tells you it will cost you less than $10/day to ride the rail to and from Honolulu is telling you a bald faced lie.

Hey, watch out! If Dave disagrees with you he'll trace your address! He may expose you to the whole world as someone who may have a REASON to disagree with him!
Only ideas from Dave's fake friends from out-of-town are given credibility here!

I say SPEED UP this project before the State Legislators steal the money.

I see the start of the rail only good for our economy. Jobs created for our local people now, rather than later. And also, it seems that route increases accessibility for our keiki to achieve a higher education; further betterment for our economy - an investment in our future.

Whether Mufi is pushing his weight around for selfish reasons, I don't care. There are people that see through that, take note and hope for a better candidate to vote for in the future, so can you.

We've argued whether the system should or should not come - to death. It's coming...let's get it done now.

Hey, watch out! If Dave disagrees with you he'll trace your address! He may expose you to the whole world as someone who may have a REASON to disagree with him!
Only ideas from Dave's fake friends from out-of-town are given credibility here!

Bob,

You know who I am and regularly question my motives. Why so shy about folks knowing who you are and where your bread is buttered so your motives can also be examined?

As to your other point, the Legislature is already stealing 10 percent of the money to pay for nonexistent tax collection costs and I haven't heard a peep of protest from City Hall.

Dave

I think your last comment is not quite true. The Mayor has exprssed his beleif that the State should only be taking the amount nesscesarry to actually collect the tax. The rest should go strictly to the transit project. The Mayor has not let any funds convayed to the City go to non-mass transit needs, but obviously the State is using their cut to do more than collect the .5 increase. Mufi is not being belleignerent about this (ala Lingle and teacher drug testing), because he knows that building rail is the overiding important thing.
This colum seemed to insinuate that fed funding is in jeoprday. Yet our entire COngressioanl delegation is behind it, as was Ed Case in his failed 2006 bid. And this year, the top two leading presidential candidates (Obama/Clinton) have said they support Honolulu's efforts to build rail. Both Mayoral candidates in 2004 said they supported rail. Hell our Republician Gov supports rail! So Dave, it seems to me that you make the small anti-rail minority seem to be much larger than they truly are. Trust me, if they were anywhere near 50 percent a oppourtunistic politicain would seize upon it and run against Mufi. And all indications are that the Federal funding will come thru as long as the feds don't think we are having second thoughts about building it....again.

When the manikin came the next day, she began with caspar, melchior, balthazar, and said all the names she knew, one after another, but to every one the little man said, that is not my name. On the second day she had inquiries made in the neighborhood as to the names of the people there, and she
repeated to the manikin the most uncommon and curious. Perhaps your name is shortribs, or sheepshanks, or laceleg, but he always answered, that is not my name.

Dave~
Thanks for pointing out the posts that come from servers of interested parties including the City and Parsons Brinckerhoff. It does help to know where the emails come from.

Seeing as how there are different opinions on Hawaii's largest public works project, here's a crazy idea: LET'S VOTE ON IT.

from Elisa Yadao:
"In the interest of full disclosure, I'm writing both as an individual and a member of the project's public involvement team. We've gone island wide listening and talking to people about transit and the bottom line is that the great majority of folks believe this is an idea whose time has come."
------------------------------

Ms Yadao:
I got no personal issue with your boss but what he has proposed with his rail system and using unbiased/ objective measures to assess all pros and cons for all of us on the Island of Oahu points out the fact that it will be MUCH more of a liability rather than an advantage for Oahu residents now and in the future. Can you directly address these following issues:

1) The rail starts in Kapolei and ends in Ala Moana so riders almost all Ewa Plains and Leeward residents will have to fight current gridlock traffic via car or bus to get to the Kapolei station AND when they get off at the Ala Moana station will have to get on another bus and probably walk to reach their final destination.

2) The Mayor's train has stops every mile and they estimate each station stop to be only 20 sec YET how is that possible when supposedly hundreds of commuters will be simultaneously getting on and off and that the terminal stations in Kapolei and Ala Moana? What about the the very young and very old who need more than 20 seconds to board/deboard? You guys going to just close the doors regardless if people where unable to board/deboard. In other words, REAL WORLD conditions means stops can and will take more than 20 sec and the total time for just the train leg will be close to an hour or more depending on number of riders.

3) The Mayor's train BYPASSES Pearl Harbor, Airport, Sand Island area, the piers, Aloha Tower (where cruise lines, Superferry and the Boat (when they are not undergoing repairs) dock, the Kakaako Waterfront area (home of the UH Med School/Life Sciences, OHA site, etc) AND UH. These key locations are vital to address Leeward, Military and Visitor commuters an NOT Salt Lake residents who already live in Honolulu and travel by car is far superior than what the rail would provide them.

4) It was stated, among others that the reason not to go to the airport or UH was cost considerations. If we cannot afford to build these legs what makes us think in the future we have some massive increase in revenue collection that will pay for these additions? Also realistically once you go via Salt Lake is it appropriate to spend billions of dollars of taxpayer monies to build a parallel airport branch? If it is a branch do you realize that would double the transit time unless you double the number of trains. Is this reasonable?

5) What about the issue of providing tax credits to "rail related" development. By providing such tax shelters to developers, specifically the proposed Kapolei development written in the news, the Mayor's project is actually exacerbating increased gridlock traffic on the Leeward side, taxing water, sewage and electrical infrastructure with their massive 10,000-15,000 home/commercial development. Given our current national and local decline in our economy, would the developers be in such a rush to build such a massive project at the present time. If you haven't noticed number of homes being sold on Oahu has greatly decreased and this won't change in the near future.
One of the main selling point with the Mayor was that by building the rail, urban sprawl would be reduced but success of this rail is based on further urban sprawl in Kapolei.

6) What about the issue of basing this rail on rail station "meccas". By doing so you are having taxpayers subsidize wholesale changes in an attempt at redevelopment of Honolulu and burden taxpayers with all the financial risks that this entails yet private contractors, developers and landowners reap the benefit with tax breaks. What about the concept of building the rail with the SOLE purpose of providing superior transportation to auto commuters to get them out of their cars AND not use the rail as an attempt as some economic engine? That would save taxpayers literally billions of dollars and would not have anything to do with providing an inferior or "cheap" rail system. If the mayor took that approach the cost for the initial route that goes over/along established roads like Nimitz, Ala Moana, behind Conv center, along Ala Wai up Univ Ave would include UH an on the East side the Ewa plains past Kapolei.

7) What about the issue of upcoming improvements in car technology where cars are powered solely by electricity or hydrogen? Auto manufacturers/researchers have already developed viable prototypes and possibly in 10 yrs time the might be widely available to all of us. In that case that argument that people would use a completely flawed rail system because would be just to expensive in the future would then become irrelevant. Therefore regardless of rail or no rail, City and State officials can address Oahu's current road/highway infrastructure and adjust and/or modify key choke points (ie Nimitz hwy/Sand Island Rd, etc) for improved vehicular traffic, whether currently powered by gas or in the future hydrogen or electricity.

Given all this why is it appropriate for the Mayor to rush this project to construction by next year? Inflation? As I mentioned above inflation is NOT the only factor that should be considered and is insufficient justification to force this obviously flawed multi-billion dollar project, paid with Hawaii taxpayer's monies to be allowed to proceed at this point in time.

I think if dave were fair, and goodness knows he's not, he'd let us all know who's from Parsons Brinckerhoff and where everyone else is from. there's no more bullying from one side or the other...in fact, he's the only one to use the word. a spirited discussion maybe, and why wouldn't people on both sides of the issue be in on it? dave's wrong to say that Past attempts to approve transit didn't include detailed studies on the issues of routes, technology, station location and development policy, environmental impact and other nuts-and-bolts matters we're dealing with now. Anbd the fresh look he wants taken is being done as he writes. As was stated earlier, besides the fact that this project is long overdue, it is already 2008...for a project that was approved in 2006...it is proceeding in a reasonable and logical matter according to a timetable...period

keepin it real,

I offer my opinions under my own name and when you call me unfair, as you are welcome to do, people know who I am and can judge for themselves.

By the same token, I think it's quite fair to point out that you are writing under a pseudonym from the City Hall IP address so that readers can also have some idea of who you are and whether you have a vested interest that might be relevant to their judgment of your own fairness.

Dave

Did a Google search with the terms [Parsons Brinckerhoff and Bombardier]cause from my limited knowledge I was thinking Parsons always hires Bombardier(?) (ie San Francisco AirTrain, Las Vegas Monorail, ?) and the results popped out an interesting article from the Nevada Journal, titled "The Moolah Rail" by Steven Miller

http://nj.npri.org/nj00/03/moolahrail.htm

Never read it before in my life until now but what happened in Las Vegas sounds EERILY familiar to what is now happening in Honolulu:


Excerpts:
...
"Gresham's Law II

As in so many other cases when special government-granted privileges operate, many of the incentives are wrong in the publicly subsidized mass transit industry, and hence destructive. Politicians, for example, do not risk their own money when they approve these projects and thus rarely suffer financially when their boondoggles turn out to burden the public. It is easy to posture as a visionary when it is someone else's money. And if it all turns into a problem for the lowly taxpayer, the problems can easily be blamed on someone else.

The consequence is that in public transit there is significantly less appetite for the kind of realistic, candid analysis that intelligent private investors always demand before risking their own capital. A kind of Gresham's Law often tends to operate instead—but rather than bad money driving out good, junk analysis tends to displace the accurate and rigorous. When it is clear that powerful patrons want government assistance for a "public" transit project, unrealistic (but expensive) reports soon appear. They dispense exaggerated accounts of the need for the project and its supposed benefits, then proceed to coolly offer just the ridership forecasts necessary to justify the project."

....
"Promoters of the monorail project, as currently structured, seek to justify its balance of public and private benefits with the tired line about how the Strip hotel resorts are the goose that lays the golden egg. They conveniently forget that certain major members of the Strip fraternity have long considered this particular egg a bad one. For years, Mandalay Resort Group executive Mike Sloan has quietly argued that both the RTC and resort-corridor monorail schemes have the makings of huge government blunders—ineffective for actually resolving local traffic and pollution concerns, but all-too-likely to trigger higher local taxes on the gaming industry itself.

It is easy to see how that could come to pass, given the likely consequences of a monorail default: big front-page headlines, stories on the real beneficiaries of the project, and Southern Nevada taxpayers deducing they were supposed to be the "rubes" in the hustle. With each passing year voter deference to the casino industry's political muscle declines, and an angry electorate in Southern Nevada could easily turn and seek its own pound of flesh.

The jovial, winking commingling of public authority and private benefit is an old, old story in Las Vegas. Some would even call it the city's unique style or tradition. But in fact it's just a left-over from the dusty, early days when sad scams—bootlegging, turning tricks or fleecing the passing-through rubes—were the only ways people could think of to keep themselves alive under the broiling Mojave sun.

That is not today's emerging world-class Las Vegas. And with the city now in the eye of people throughout the world, this is not the kind of story it and the state should be working to generate."

and all i'm askin' for you to do Dave is tell all of us where, for instance, Concerned Citizen is writing from, or Mr Richards, or ccp2, so that we can all know who has what interests and whether they're fair...you only seem to mention the city hall and parsons people. why?

I for one, am not paying keeping it real and other city employees to be responding to this blog on city time. An investigation should be started to identify the personel doing this. Not only is city work not being done because of these people, but their co-workers are having to pick up their slack. When I worked for the city, I would have been written up and suspended for doing personal stuff on a city computer on city time. Even if they are responding on their break time, they are using a city computer and server and this should not be allowed. If their job is to monitor bad press and respond covertly without identifying themselves, we taxpayers should know about this. (Please don't give me that song and dance about you paying taxes to pay your salary too. Your portion of taxes to pay your salary is miniscule).

Did anyone consider that the City employees and Parsons Brinckerhoff employees may have a sliver more knowledge on the topic than any of us? Perhaps we need to hear MORE of their information since they actually work on this stuff all day long. - again - thanks to them for working to make MY life easier!

No Mililani Mom, they don't have any more knowledge than the rest of us, but they do have a vested interest in making this project happen. Billions of vested interests.
Maybe you should do your own research rather than listening to a prejudiced point of view. Remember, Parsons Brinckerhoff has already screwed up other projects and gone way over budget. Other than giving money to the mayor, why were they chosen to do these studies?

Hey there keepin' it real:

Mr. Shapiro can verify that my emails come from a residential home address.

And I can absolutely attest that unlike Ms. Yadao, Parsons, and City employees that have posted on this blog, I have absolutely nothing personal to gain whatsoever either way rail goes, other than the fact that now the city takes more money out of my pocket than ever before and perhaps stopping rail will result in me keeping more of what I earn.

I'm also not paid by anyone to put forth my position.

And that position is rather clear:

This rail project is financially reckless.

It will not result in reducing congestion (according to the Mayor's own reports).

The Alternatives Analysis "Managed Lanes" were purposely crippled by removing the zipper lane and dumping all traffic on Nimitz instead of spreading it out on multiple exits.

HOTlanes will deliver superior Mass Transit (bus) performance at far lower cost and will not require a GET increase, yet Mufi refuses to consider this in any way.

The Expert Panel was constructed and guided in such a way that steel on steel would be the only "expert opinion".

This thing stinks in every possible way. It was done wrong from every which way. And it's because Mufi wants a trophy with his name embedded in concrete so he can show everyone in DC that he can get big public works projects done, regardless what people really want.

What's especially sickening is that I have spent so much personal time in researching this project to speak out against it. I shouldn't have to do this. But I do.

Unlike you, I'm not paid to write this. I'm not doing it on company time. I'm doing it for one and only one reason: because stopping this ill-conceived project and instead doing something which will benefit everyone that uses our public roads is just THE RIGHT THING TO DO.

You are guided by money and your boss. I am guided by Ua Mau Ke Ea o Ka Aina.

keepin it real,

I personally have no problem with city and contractor employees commenting on news and opinion on work time. In some cases, I suspect it's part of the job to monitor criticism of the administration and defend.

That's why when I see so many comments under different pseudonyms saying essentially the same thing and coming from the same place with the same vested interest, I start to suspect an orchestrated effort that is worth noting.

Elisa Yadao and Marcus W. Johnson from the transit project posted under their real names and disclosed their official positions. To me, that's the straightforward way to do it.

Dave

Hey Concerned Citizen (john).. Your position is your position, "This rail project is financially reckless" but that position is incorrect. According to the city's (not the Mayor's) own reports there'll be less congestion with transit than without it, and less congestion with transit than any other alternative...In other words, given the fact that traffic will grow over the next couple decades, it is the best solution. HOT lanes are inferior, and were not chosen as the locally preferred alternative by a vast majority of the honolulu city council. The mayor needs no trophy...He only wants to do the right thing, looking to the future, which apparetnly, a lot of people are unable to see. By the way, I am not guided by money...only the truth, which will set you free to, if you allow it. How's the newly paved Ala Wai Boulevard?

Dear ccd2,

Thank you for your comments. I hope the following responses provide you with the details you need to stay informed with accurate information. Sorry not to get back to you yesterday.

1) The First Project, which starts in East Kapolei and ends at Ala Moana Center will serve a great deal of the ridership projected for the beginning of the system. By the time the system is built, North-South Road will be in operation (it is under construction now) and the residents of the Ewa plain will have a new major road artery to use that directly connects to the transit system stations. While there are many people who will enjoy the full route as planned to the UH and into Waikiki, there are also many people who work in the Central Business District, in the State and City offices, and other businesses along the planned route for whom the First Project will provide welcome relief from sitting in traffic congestion.

2) Station spacing of 1 mile is common for rail transit systems and our hope it will work perfectly for Honolulu as well. The stations allow people to get on and off the train at spots that are convenient to their needs. And, the stations will be located near dense locations of potential riders. A station dwell time of 20 seconds is also a standard planning figure, as it is for this system. Trains will pass by each station every 3 minutes during the rush hour -- 20 trains per hour. That means that people can be standing by the doors waiting to enter the train, as they wait to enter a bus. Only, unlike a bus, there will be multiple doors that are wide enough to allow many people to board at once. If a passenger requires more time to board, the doors will remain open until that person boards. Modern electronic systems prevent doors from closing too soon. The actual station dwell time will be refined as the ridership increases and demand is assessed. A 20 second dwell time works in all other areas that have service as frequent as we are planning.

3) The route for the train does NOT by-pass any of the areas you noted. Pearl Harbor and the Airport will be served by a future extension, since the First Project goes via Salt Lake. The route goes by Sand Island, there is a station at Aloha Tower, and the route passes directly through the center of Kakaako along Halekauwila Street. The route was determined by a detailed analysis of where people actually go. Island-wide and corridor specific travel patterns were analyzed to find the places with the highest density of travel destinations. The route is aligned with these patterns. In fact, the technical name for the route is the “alignment” – it is aligned with the needs existing and future travel patterns.

4) The First Project can be built within the reasonable expectation of current funds. Future extensions will be added once the First Project is built and operating and the ridership demands the extensions, as has happened with every major new transit system that has been built in the US in the past ten years. And, yes, it is absolutely reasonable to have parallel routes to Salt Lake and the Airport. There are two areas that both need to have access destinations ewa and kokohead of them. This is commonly handled by alternating the routes that the trains will take, one train will go via Salt Lake, the next one (3 minutes later) will go via the Airport. The number of trains does not double… unless of course there are enough riders to support that frequency of service.

5) The purpose of the rail related development is to focus the growth to optimize the use of the transit system. Supporting the efforts of developers for this will, in fact, reduce the number of cars needed because people will be able to live, work and play all in a walkable area. This is called Transit Oriented Development (TOD) and has been proven in many other mainland cities, and other areas world wide that are concerned about preserving the green space in their environment. It will work here and the mayor is creating policies that will support it.

6) TOD is a benefit of the transit system, it is not the cause or purpose. The purpose of the system is to provide a viable transportation alternative for travelers in the corridor. The system that is planned connects the most highly used points as based on the island-wide and corridor specific travel characteristics assessment.

7) Rail transit is our single best alternative when it comes to traffic congestion, but this is a challenge that requires a whole series of solutions. As our population continues to grow and the use of cars also increases, the problem becomes harder and harder to solve.

Major developments in personal automobile transportation could also improve the negative environmental impacts associated with automobiles. However, those advances, will not remove the number of cars on the road, hence the need for an integrated, multi-modal transportation system that includes TheBus, TheBoat, carpooling, bikes lanes, walking paths and the coming rail transit.

Note that ore than $3.1 billion in highway improvements are included in the Oahu Regional Transportation Plan which will increase highway capacity, improve chokepoints and increase overall movement of vehicles, but even with all of these improvements growth of traffic congestion will only be moderated. Should we choose to do nothing, imagine the negative impact on quality of life here.

It is important to keep this project moving forward because traffic congestion is not going to get any better and people deserve need relief as fast as possible.

"It is important to keep this project moving forward because traffic congestion is not going to get any better and people deserve need relief as fast as possible."
----------------------------

Ms Yadao:
Thanks for your response. Very detailed, however the bottom line is the "people" you describe that need relief WILL NOT be addressed by the Mayor's multi-billion dollar rail project.

I don't care how much money was spent on "analysis" for this project, all of us who live on Oahu and have had to actually fight the Ewa/Central Oahu to Honolulu weekly commute know no one certainty: When school is out for private and public schools, barring a major accident, the traffic commute is manageable. Unlike the rest of the nation, Hawaii has one of the highest rates of private school attendance in addition to students/faculty/staff at all of the private/public universities. Their purpose is NOT to go to Salt Lake, "Kakaako along Halekauwila Street" or anywhere else you describe as identified in the "analysis".

No matter how well you explain the Mayor's proposed project, barring a major accident on H1, most commuters in a car can get to their final destination FASTER than driving/taking a bus to the Kapolei station, ride the rail for twenty miles with a stop every mile, get off at Ala Moana shopping ctr an take another bus and possibly walk to reach their final destination. Besides having done that rush hour commute myself, on occasion I watch the morning Ch 9 news and on a real-time basis they give estimated drive times from Kapolei to Honolulu, Central Oahu to Honolulu, Windward Oahu to Hon, etc. Depending on time of the morning the Kapolei to Hon. commute might be anywhere from 45 min. to 90+ minutes and from experience these numbers are generally accurate. The time on the rail "leg" is fixed at about an hour an when you add the time needed to fight gridlock traffic/park their car to get to the Kapolei station and then take a bus in the same gridlock traffic/walk from the Ala Moana station more times than not the car will provide a faster and more flexible (ie superior) means of transportation than the Mayor's multi-billion dollar bus/rail/bus(-walk) solution

Have your read the news lately, car sales in Hawaii are on the decline due to negative economic forces so if the rail is NOT built and no tax breaks given to developers/landowners then there is no incentive for them to accelerate growth on the Leeward plains. Commute times, "bad" as they are will not get appreciably worse if normal economic forces slow down growth of more homes/businesses on Oahu. Solutions exist NOW to greatly reduce rush hour drive commute times by adjusting/realigning/modifying key Oahu choke points. For example if there was a flyover for Nimitz Ewa bound to Sand Island road, the bottleneck of East bound Nimitz traffic coming off the viaduct would be greatly reduced. Further reduce Nimitz cross traffic and current car/bus commute times would be greatly reduced. With such modifications you can now eliminate the eastbound Viaduct traffic that merges back onto the H1 Lunalilo freeway near Loves Bakery(?) during morning rush hour commute times. With Nimitz “free-flowing” all car/buses coming off the viaduct must either get off Dillingham or Nimitz which would greatly improve eastboun H1 Lunalilo freeway traffic flow.

These type of solutions will not cost multi-billion dollars but will provide immediate relief and regardless of the rail should have been analyzed by BOTH city an state transportation officials PRIOR to rail construction.
I understand these type of immediate and cost effective solutions ares not desired by the real estate developers and the construction industry and require the City and State to work together, but for a "leader" to truly address appropriate long-term planning for residents, military and visitors of Oahu, there has to be simultaneous discussion of addressing ALL aspects of short and long-term solutions and not just build a multi-billion dollar rail and “hope” everything will fall into place.

The Mayor's rail solution, taken in totality including the initial and perpetual costs to taxpayers, the actual number and type of riders it will TRULY service, the positive AND all of the negative consequences that will be associate with this rail, then I think any objective Oahu resident without a vested interest in the rail project will come to the conclusion rail should NOT start construction in 2009. Yes, the Mayor is our elected city leader, but if it can be shown the MAJORITY of Oahu residents do NOT want rail to begin construction in 2009, then he should abide by the will of the majority and back down on attempting to fast track construction of this project.

Who knew Honolulu had so many transit and transportation experts, not to mention incisive political analysts?

A lot of these know-it-alls, including Mr. Shapiro, don't really know what is actually happening, and are just blasting out their projections of what they imagine is happening. They need to actually do investigative journalism, going out and talking story with the people in the trenches.

Who cares if Mufi is politically motivated? News flash: Politicians think about the next office they are going to run for!!! What is important is that he is leading the charge for something a lot of us think is way overdue - a transit system that gives folks on the Leeward side an alternative to driving their car into Honolulu.

If you want to drive, fine, sit in traffic, but let those who are willing to use transit, or need to use transit because they can't afford a car, have a system that is independent of what is happening on the highways.

Mr. Shapiro, blogging away, draws feedback from bloggers who disagree with his take and outs them as being from PB Hawaii. Very conveniently that allows him to distract from the solid points that are being made. He seems unconcerned with whether it is really ethical to invite blog comments which seem to promise some anonymity and then rip that away to score points.

It is not news that the Mayor intended to start from Kapolei and build in to the downtown Honolulu instead of build out from downtown to Kapolei. That information was put out in public meetings I attended over a year ago. I know because I asked the question about what was the sequence that woulud be followed. I was given the explanation that those areas were the easiest places to start in, giving more time to do detailed engineering and survey work for the more difficult sites in the more developed areas along the train route.

And the Mayor and his team have been saying for over a year that they intended to start building using the local share of funding before the Federal funding kicked in. They saw that as demonstrating to the doubters in Washington that Honolulu was not going to go up to the edge and then back out again. I heard the Mayor say that at a meeting over a year ago. Where were you and your colleagues in the press when those outreach meetings were held?

The idea that this process is rushing pell mell forward without attention to the myriad details necessary to get Federal approval is ridiculous. It is moving forward expeditiously, but they are working hard to dot all the i's and cross all the t's.

We look to the press to bring some clarity and understanding to these issues. I would hope this blog could be a place where the various parties might identify the issues that are in contention, gain agreement on what the facts are, and talk about why the community cannot find consensus. But maybe that is too hopelessly idealistic even for this blog!!

Hey Lopaka43,

How did an intelligent rational person wander into this blog? You stick out like a sore thumb.

from lopaka43
"It is not news that the Mayor intended to start from Kapolei and build in to the downtown Honolulu instead of build out from downtown to Kapolei. That information was put out in public meetings I attended over a year ago. I know because I asked the question about what was the sequence that woulud be followed. I was given the explanation that those areas were the easiest places to start in, giving more time to do detailed engineering and survey work for the more difficult sites in the more developed areas along the train route."
----------------------------------

Wait a minute? You want to commit all of us into building a $6-$10+ billion dollar rail project with hundreds of millions of dollars in maintenance costs forever and yet you have NOT even done "detailed engineering and survey work for the most difficult sites"? That is completely irresponsible. That is like performing brain surgery but not having the neurosurgeon map out the patients brain and know exactly where to go and what operation to peform PRIOR to opening the guys head up. Or for a construction company to build a massive condominium complex and NOT perform a detailed geological survey on the ground in terms of soil stability, soil/rock makeup, watertable, etc.

It is obvious why Mufi is in such a rush to begin rail construction in open fields because that would have zero impact on current Oahu residents. However, for the Honolulu section of Mufi's rail, it is clear that MANY businesses, residents and automobile traffic will be negatively impacted, including having property taken away from homeowner, via eminent domain if necessary, loss of parking spaces, major traffic ties up during construction, ancestral bones dug up along the route, etc.

It is clear by not presenting the actual Honolulu rail plans to the public or keeping it hidden from the public BEFORE the rails planned construction in 2009 in empty fields might prevent acceleration of the growing resistance to stop Mufi's rail before actual constructions begins. Your strategy of "out of sight out of mind" to Oahu residents is a good one but you underestimate the will of the people AND no matter how hard you try you cannot hide the fact this project will burden all of us with a $6-$10+ billion dollar price tag with the entire local and national economy slowing down and the growing awareness of exactly how much taxpayer monies will be used to pay for special interests groups like the consultant Parsons, real estate developers, land owners who will be involved in Mufi's rail.

By the attacks made by you guys just on this blog, and the fact you are upset cause you got caught by Shapiro, you guys sound worried that the public will actually coalesce and organize to a level that just might stop actual construction in 2009. You should be worried. The rail project is Mufi's Waterloo. If the rail project fails, not only will you guys stand to lose all of those millions of dollars in profits from taxpayers monies but just might end Mufi's political aspirations to a higher office such as the Governorship or to take Inouye's place.

I personally don't know how this is going to turn out but thank God we live in a democracy that helps to prevent citizens from being completely "railroaded" into something that DOES NOT truly benefit us and instead will turn out to be a burden, except the aforementioned special interest groups, in the long run.

That's more like it! A knucklehead that uses all caps so you know he's yelling.