Rail Transit

[TuNnL]

Re: Rail Transit

the Feds ain't happy... http://www.civilbeat.org/2016/06/har...lion/#comments

Just two months ago, the Honolulu City Council CAPPED the cost of rail at $6.8 billion. This is not just short, it’s WAY short of what it would cost to build the CHEAPEST scenario discussed in the Civil Beat article.

They really just need to STOP at the Middle Street station and save the rest as a “one day, maybe” option. Meanwhile, HART and HECO still don’t have anything in writing as to how workers will relocate utilities that have been, are currently and will in the future be displaced.

Bravo.

[mel]

Re: Rail Transit

The rail system was never about moving people from one place to another, at best it was seen as an incidental. Taking 1 out of 50 cars off the road won't achieve jack shit.

It was all about the PRP rail contractors making a killing and then spending millions on smear ads to put scumbag Caldwell in office.

$10 billion, $11 billion, more? No one knows for sure how much the annual maintenance will be. The funding for that will be taken out of property taxes, which will drive real estate prices, mortgages and yes, RENTS even higher. Rail is one of the many things that is making Hawaii more and more UNAFFORDABLE!

Biggest mistake of the 21st Century!

Time to stop the rail is now!!!!!!!

[AlohaKine]

Re: Rail Transit

The rail system was never about moving people from one place to another, at best it was seen as an incidental. Taking 1 out of 50 cars off the road won't achieve jack shit.

It was all about the PRP rail contractors making a killing and then spending millions on smear ads to put scumbag Caldwell in office.

It would have been easier on folks if the billions got spent on a giant bronze statue of Mr. Play-for-Play Mayor Jerk Caldwell that didn't disrupt our lives like rail construction does. Said statue would be almost equally effective in lowering traffic jams.

[alohafinch]

Re: Rail Transit

Reminds me of the BART system in the San Francisco Bay Area.

[Ron Whitfield]

Re: Rail Transit

the Feds ain't happy... http://www.civilbeat.org/2016/06/har...lion/#comments

[Ron Whitfield]

Re: Rail Transit

$10 Billion so far...

[Ron Whitfield]

Re: Rail Transit

this miserable thing thanx to it's dreamers has now become the most expensive transit project per capita in all of America http://nvs24.com/news/us/Per-capita-...n-1622942.html

$4,000 per head and counting!

[mel]

Re: Rail Transit

Stupid thing should not even be built given all the cost overruns at 10% completion. Rail is the biggest mistake hurled upon the taxpayers of Honolulu and Hawaii this century.

[Walkoff Balk]

Re: Rail Transit

Of course, after all the reassurances that the construction is safe, a few days later, cracked concrete along the rail line is the talk of the town:

Who's still getting paid?

[pzarquon]

Re: Rail Transit

As one of thousands of commuters that pass through the Waiawa Interchange (where H-1 and H-2 meet), it's hard not to marvel at the massive rail columns towering overhead (and reaching further and further overhead). I enjoyed this story on KHON about the structures:

http://khon2.com/2015/04/15/hart-say...looming-above/

Of course, after all the reassurances that the construction is safe, a few days later, cracked concrete along the rail line is the talk of the town:

http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/story/2...long-rail-line

http://khon2.com/2015/04/16/hart-to-...k-in-concrete/

Maybe I won't be so eager to drive under these things.

[Ron Whitfield]

Re: Rail Transit

There's no justification for rail as we know it currently. It won't serve the population of Oahu but a fraction of one lick, but it'll destroy so much.
Thanx, Mufi!
Disney's concept would have been a great refference point for Oahu rail way back in the '50s.

[Amati]

Re: Rail Transit

Will the rail ever be built? Will it be planned so that it provides transportation to one of the main needs on Oahu (UH Manoa campus)? Has the window of opportunity passed now due to our losing Sen. Inouye? Is this latest criticism by a federal judge "very good news" to those oppose the rail?

SA breaking news (so the link won't last long):

A federal judge wrote a scathing letter this week criticizing the direction of Honolulu’s rail project and saying rail officials have failed to follow a federal court order. Chief U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway contends that the route transit officials chose, ending at Ala Moana Center, fails to meet the project’s original expressed purpose because it doesn’t serve the University of Hawaii’s Manoa campus, and the thousands of students, professors and employees who gather there.

“In fact, given the economy, sequestration, the loss of Senator (Daniel) Inouyes’ influence, and other intervening factors, it is realistic to question whether the extension to UH Manoa will ever be built.”

[mel]

Re: Rail Transit

RAIL - The Biggest Mistake of the 21st Century.

[Menehune Man]

Re: Rail Transit

Full Funding Grant Agreement Vote for Rail Honolulu City Council
The last votes on rail -2012.

[Ron Whitfield]

Re: Rail Transit

Bus Rapid Transit truly does make more sense and be a better investment in Oahu's need than RAIL.

Which begs the question why is The Bus doing what everybody agrees is a psych move on the masses to exert a more favorable attitude for rail by maximizing riders per bus so many are frequently standing? They've been in cahoots with pro-rail all along and not only are they pissing off the public they're losing veteran drivers to all the route changes and internal grumbles that have them fed up. Talk to a bus driver/s, it's pretty interesting.