Hawai'i Superferry - Chapter 5

[joshuatree]

Re: Hawai'i Superferry - Chapter 5

I always felt people who brought their own cars would actually be for the most part, better drivers. When renting a car, you know the car's not yours, people tend to mess with the car for fun. I know, I have friends who did that and have friends who worked for car rentals back in high school and has all kinds of stories to share about cars that were returned.

So what if this service wasn't a ferry, but a super plane? A cargo plane for cars to roll on and off with pax? Wonder if the EIS thing be any different?

[dick]

Re: Hawai'i Superferry - Chapter 5

craigwatanabe -

So, what you were saying is that "the car" is the root of all evil. And bringing one's own car to a neighbor island is (ahem) bad, because with it one brings an "ego."

You brought stickers plastered to windshields, you wax moody and retrospective of the warmth of the Young Brothers barges (did you skip my post on what a farce it is to ship a car with them? Or the the whole coqui frog thing?), and you "integrated as a Big Islander." Sounds like you may have had an ego problem... but don't extrapolate that on others. Please.

Have you heard? I'm from Maui.

Face it, this is a state. I pay taxes for roadways on other islands, and so help me I'm going to use them. With my own car.

Sorry, but I don't use my tags as "badges of honor." I use them as required by law (except that time a few years back when I got busted for not having a front plate on my car -- but that's another story -- hey gotta have full disclosure, right?).

I grew up on Maui fercrissakes. You're telling me I can't go back there with my own car because I live on Oahu? And thus by extension, have an "ego?"

You're saying that someone from Oahu can't use his/her own car to go to Hana, but it's okay if they use a rental? Because that's what hundreds of people do every day. They traipse out to Hana, creating traffic, filling black sand beaches, blah blah blah. They traipse up to Haleakala, riding those bike tours, trampling silverswords (yeah, I've seen it with my own eyes), running over nene. The list goes on. This has been happening DAILY since long before I was born, and nobody gave a rip.

Then a ferry comes along with a few hundred folks from Oahu who bring their own cars and suddenly it's armageddon.

Perhaps there's been a run on Guri-Guri or manju? God forbid those Honolulu folks find out about Komoda Bakery and drive up to Makawao with their own cars!

This whole thing is absolutely wacky.

[Composite 2992]

Re: Hawai'i Superferry - Chapter 5

It could change the island. It's to be feared.

Those who fear change should leave it in the cup next to the cash register...

[GeckoGeek]

If these protesting clowns were for real, they would go after the true source of polution and traffic. Why not suggest a 500 vehicle registration fee for 1 vehicle and a 2000 fee for the second registered to the same person???

Clue me in. How does someone owning two cars instead of one increase the amount of pollution and traffic? They can only drive them one at a time!

In fact owning multiple may HELP the situation. Why? What if they own a economy car and a big SUV. The econo car is to travel to work. The SUV is for the weekend fun. If forced to choose, they'd end up driving the SUV to work.

If all drivers can only own one vehicle, then that vehicle has to do it all. That's why you see so many big cars stuck in the workday rush hour with only one person in them. It's because a tiny little two seater won't work for everything they need to do.

A bunch of idiots put themselves in harm's way, in defiance of federal law and all common sense, and the solution is to tell the "harm" to stop?

It's quite disturbing to see that the "powers that be" are completely unable to enforce the law when the time and place are known and the lawlessness is out in the open. Isn't that one of the core reasons for government to exist - for common protection?

I sure as heck hope that Lingle has a plan when she asked HSF to suspend operations. A plan that needed some time to work.

They are mad. Period.

Out of all the reasons speculated on, I think the underlying one is anti-change. The people on the neighbor islands are there because they like what they have. The like the status quo. They see HSF brining "Oahu" to their islands. If they liked Oahu, they've have moved to Oahu. But they haven't.

Yes, the airlines and barges bring more. But this is something new. It could change the island. It's to be feared.

At least that's what I think is going on in their minds.

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Hawai'i Superferry - Chapter 5

So it looks as if the legacy of Kamehameha's vision of unity is unravelling as residents of each island proclaim their desire to keep one island from overwhelming another.

That said I wonder how the protesters would have felt if the Super Ferry were to make trips only between Maui and Kauai and left out Oahu. Would each island still have displayed their resistance towards another knowing that Oahu wasn't involved?

I think the real issue is how Oahu's dominant population will overshadow the neighbor islands making each neighbor island port of call an extension of Oahu.

Neighbor islands would fear the loss of identity as Oahu bridges the ocean and connects it's demographic strength across all islands. Flying or boating in isn't the issue here, it's that now you can literally drive to another island. That notion gives rise to the fact that there is no physical separation that keeps each island unique and a joy to visit. A drive to Hana to someone from Oahu has become like a drive to the North Shore.

From that perspective and the fact that I've now made the Big Island my home (expatriate from Honolulu) I can see why the neighbor islands feel that the SF has become an intrusion to a way of life.

The automobile itself has become the point of contention not so much it's environmental impact on each island. The car represents an extension of our own ego's. Traditionally when we depart an island to go to another, we leave that extended ego in the parking lot and embark on an adventure.

Now we can take it with us.

My wife is working back on Oahu while the family is here on the Big Island. When she needed a reliable car to drive from Mililani to Downtown Honolulu everyday, I sent back our Astrovan for her to use. This van originated in Honolulu when our family lived in Kaimuki. She tells me driving the van back on Oahu made her feel less anxious about being isolated from her family because the familiar smell of the car and the memories.

Think about it for a while...if the Super Ferry never carried automobiles the whole issue of resistance would never have occured. The environmental impact is just an excuse because we all know YB has been shipping cars for decades. YB itself reminds us that they are the "lifeline" of the islands. There's no environmental impact from invasive species from their shipment of goods.

When NCL docks in any harbor their impact can only be greater than the SF but there's no environmental impact there either...at least none that warrants protest.

It's the car...or more precisely, that extended ego that is driving on another island now. When I first came to the Big Island to live permantly, my cars bore Honolulu license plates and Kamehameha School Kapalama Campus parking decals. These were badges of honor so to speak of where I came from. It was me saying, "look at me I'm from Honolulu and you're not".

Eventually as I integrated as Big Islander, I removed those badges and when other newly transplanted residents from Honolulu would tell me, "Well in Honolulu it's like this..." I would tell them, "That's right...in Honolulu, but you're in Hilo now so leave your Honolulu attitude back on Oahu and enjoy your visit to the Big Island where we do things differently".

It's the car...or more bluntly...it's Oahu cars that the neighbor islanders are anxious about, because I can almost guarantee that if the first SF trip originated from Kauai and ended up in Maui, there wouldn't have been as much of a fuss. It's all about Oahu...cars that is.