Airport route in the lead despite procedural delay - News

Just pick a spot about midway in all the proposed routes and start building. It does not really matter where it starts or ends since virtually no one will be riding it anyway but the longer they postpone building it the more it will cost...plus, they will be able to mothball it years earlier if they can finish it sooner.

If federal funding is refused , the whole project is sunk. In the current economic crisis , some office in Washington D.C. is going to go looking for stupid pork barrel projects that are not started yet and deliver the bad news. It would have been a big eyesore anyway , all that concrete up in the air for mile after mile.

It's way to late to cry now.

You got what you voted for so eat it.:)

Probably the action which proves that this whole project is poorly planned and which little is said about, is the plan to start building the project from Kapolei. The rail will be useless until it is completed into the City and UH. Who will ride the rail from Kapolei to Waipahu or Pearl City or Kalihi and then go back to surface transportation to finish the trip? Traffic congestion is a minor irratant compared to hours wasted waiting for a bus.
If the project begins in the City and works it's way outward at least people can park on the outskirts and ride it into the City as construction continues towards the Leeward Side.

Nobama has promised a spur on every street.

Just in time congestion is about to disappear. Car sales drop. No tourists. Higher unemployment means fewer people going to work. Foreclosures leave Leeward homes vacant and unsold. Colleges forced to cap enrollment, raise tuition leading to smaller enrollment. Gasoline prices go up again. Roads are empty.

Rail completion moved 15 years out by empty tax revenue pot. Scrap thieves discover money in rail steel. We get what we wished for and deserve.

Scale down the rail plan and lay the tracks to go one block. From City Hall to cemetery across street (where rail papers will be buried).

A half dozen grumbling Salt Lake residents does not an uproar make.

The Airport Route has many destinations and also an origin.
Usage:
1) Airline passengers going to or leaving the airport.
2) People working at HNL airport.
3) Civilians from elsewhere working at Pearl Harbor or Hickam bases.
4) People visiting Pearl Harbor tourist areas.
5) Military living on Pearl Harbor or Hickam bases needing to go elsewhere.
6) People working at Airport Post Office
7) People working at Mapunapuna or Airport Industrial Areas.

The Salt Lake Route is primarily an origin for its residents.
Usage:
1) People living in Salt Lake going to or from work.
2) People living in Salt Lake needing to go elsewhere.
3) People from elsewhere working or shopping in Salt Lake shopping center.

Based on the above, the Airport route is probably the better route because it will serve more people from all over. But we should not let the overall project get jeopardized by politics over this issue.

It is OK that the route is still being debated. The City Council has discretion to make revisions as needed to produce the best result. Originally the council majority with Cachola decided that the rail should be built and that it would go through Salt Lake. Then Stop Rail tried to set up a voter initiative that would ban trains on rail. This necessitated the council to propose the steel wheel on steel rail initiative that the voters ultimately approved. Now that the public has supported rail, Djou is willing to support rail. At this point in time, the council majority with Djou decided that it would be better to revise the route to go through the Airport. It should not matter who agreed with what in the past. The final result is not going to please everyone, but it should please the majority. We have to abide by the democratic process. The people voted in the City Council members. The City Council has to consider all factors accumulated as of the present time and make the right decision and that appears to be the airport route. This issue should be resolved quickly as delays will increase the project cost.

It is frustrating that because the rail decision process has not gone through perfectly, there are still rail opponents out there thinking that the project should be stopped. There is an active anti-rail minority that is still trying to argue the merits of the project and looking for an opening to invalidate the decision. However, the democratic process has been followed and the people as well as the elected officials have voted to approve the rail project. We need to move forward now. The majority has spoken that we should build the rail now. We should not delay the project any longer as rail is decades overdue.

i live salt lake. if i knew dat rail would change track, i wood have voted against the rail. my fiend said we got suckered to vote rail. I NO LIKE rail if not going threw salt lake. Us f l i p s like it go OUR wey.

Our economy is tanking , why spend money on rail? The federal government should think again about wasting money in Hawaii.

Hopefully, Obamie pulls the flip flop on Hawaii and that would n't be surprising. I predict federal funding with be withdrawn.

the taxpayers are going to get suckered into this whole scheme that will FAIL. It will cost us big bucks to get out of this mess. We're going to have jacked up property taxes and heavy traffic for years to come. What stupidity...

I still feel that a route to Kauai is the best way to go. I promise to use the rail everyday to go to work and I even got my best friend to agree to use the rail too. With this increase in ridership, the rail should pay for itself by 2999.

Rail is much better wrote:

It is OK that the route is still being debated. The City Council has discretion to make revisions as needed to produce the best result. Originally the council majority with Cachola decided that the rail should be built and that it would go through Salt Lake. Then Stop Rail tried to set up a voter initiative that would ban trains on rail. This necessitated the council to propose the steel wheel on steel rail initiative that the voters ultimately approved. Now that the public has supported rail, Djou is willing to support rail. At this point in time, the council majority with Djou decided that it would be better to revise the route to go through the Airport. It should not matter who agreed with what in the past. The final result is not going to please everyone, but it should please the majority. We have to abide by the democratic process. The people voted in the City Council members. The City Council has to consider all factors accumulated as of the present time and make the right decision and that appears to be the airport route. This issue should be resolved quickly as delays will increase the project cost.
It is frustrating that because the rail decision process has not gone through perfectly, there are still rail opponents out there thinking that the project should be stopped. There is an active anti-rail minority that is still trying to argue the merits of the project and looking for an opening to invalidate the decision. However, the democratic process has been followed and the people as well as the elected officials have voted to approve the rail project. We need to move forward now. The majority has spoken that we should build the rail now. We should not delay the project any longer as rail is decades overdue.

Think about it... Obama is pulling the flip flop now with his nomination of the same old cast of characters for his cabinet. What happen to "change". Tell you what, he is going to pull a good one on Hawaii. Probably pull the funding out of Hawaii and the taxpayers of this state will be holding the bag. Nothing new with a flip flopper. Watch and see. The rail to nowhere is going to fail because there were people of this State that are ignorant.

Rail is much better wrote:

The Airport Route has many destinations and also an origin.
Usage:
1) Airline passengers don't have to walk too far to use the toilet.
2) People working at SNL can invite Sarah Palin.
3) Civilians like to eat on Pearl Harbor or Hickam bases.
4) People dont like visiting Pearl Harbor tourist areas.
5) Military living on Pearl Harbor or Hickam bases don't need to use the toilet much.
6) People eating in the Airport Post Office
7) People like to eat Manapua in the morning.
The Salt Lake Route is primarily an origin for its residents.
Usage:
1) People living in Salt Lake don't like pork.
2) People living in Salt Lake needing to go to t the toilet all the time.
3) People from Mars can visit without a visa.
Based on the above, the Airport route is probably the better route because it will romy cachola cry like a baby and he's soooo funny to watch.

Thank you very much!

A majority of the City Council members still expressed their support for the airport route - Why now and not back when all this started? Had to make a deal with Cachola.

The airport alternative is expected to generate higher ridership, according to the city's report, but will cost about $200 million more in construction.- Wouldn't it make more sense to select the route with the highest ridership? Had to make a deal with Cachola.

Mufi Hannemann has long favored the airport alignment, but compromised for the Salt Lake stop to gain the support of Councilman Romy Cachola.
"We see that the airport alignment does have more benefit," Yoshioka said. " - Bend over, Cachola.

I found this Pork barrel spending list for funding on other new rail projects....
The first 9 state projects total over $909 million dollars for this year, yet the amount Honolulu must apply & request for our short 20 mile rail project is $1.2 billion up to $1.4 billion in needed Fed funding.

Earmarks list: FTA; New Starts funding- Fiscal Year 2008

#1.New York- Long Island Rail Road East Side Access=$210,700,000
2.New York- Second Avenue Subway Phase 1=$167,810,300
3.Phoenix, Arizona- Central Phoenix/East Valley Light Rail=$88,200,000
4.Dallas,Texas- NW/SE LRT MOS=$84,525,000
5. Portland, Oregon- I-205/Portland Mall Light Rail=$78,400,000
6. Los Angeles, CA- Metro Gold Line Eastside Extension=$78,400,000
7. Utah- Weber County to Salt Lake City Commuter Rail=$78,400,000
8.Seattle, WA- Central Link Initial Segment=$68,600,000
9. New Jersey- MOS2 of the Hudson Bergen Light Rail=$54,089,135

This totals $909 Million dollars.

Way down the list is....
#21- Honolulu, Hawaii - Transit Corridor Project= only $15.2 million (FY'08)
Wow! We now only need $1.184 Billion more in fed funding...(+$4.2 billion to $5.2 billion more from the local GET just to build the first 20 mile section)
(-Waikiki, UHManoa, & Kalaeloa rail spur extensions will cost multi-billions more, but the mayor and his transit experts team,(who are paid to do this for a living), won't disclose to the public how much rail will actually cost the local Oahu residents)

http://www.legistorm.com/earmarks/bills/3-3-1...

Who thinks the completion of the first 20 miles of rail will be ready for use in 9-10 years, by year 2018?

George wrote:

Rail=Fail
hmmmm the only difference isn't just the R and F.
the other difference is your 5 billion hard earned tax dollars and what it gets spent on.

Your forgetting the fed money and the tourist GET money.
People voted for rail, so lets get off that subject. Its now about Salt Lake vs. airport. Airport clearly has more advanatges, including redership and TOD. I wish the State wold step up, say will cover that 200 million, and put this baby to bed!

let's just sue the coucil and the mayor for misleading the public which led to the vote. that should hold up the rail another few years and get mufi's cronies the union boys upset

Looks like Romy got the council by the Cacholas, eh?