I usually agree with David Shapiro. Not here (“Rail has run the mayor flat broke in credibility,” Star-Advertiser, Volcanic Ash, Sept. 3).

I’m sure his reporting is accurate. His take bothers me.

Our mayor made mistakes in budget changes to Honolulu’s rail transit project. So has everyone who has had anything to do with this project since its birth.

If state Rep. Sylvia Luke used the word “idiot” to describe the mayor, she has no place in a professional meeting. As chairwoman of the House Finance Committee, she should understand the difficulty in providing an accurate updated budget of the remaining work.

It’s understandable that emotions run high, but acting like junior high bullies is not.

When I was about 12 years old, I was catching the hardest-throwing pitcher in our league for the first time and making a mess of it. A kid in the stands behind me was letting me have it. Another pitch got by me, I walked back to the ball, and offered my mitt. Silence.

Mistakes made, yes. Dishonesty? Are you kidding me?

George Burge

Moiliili

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Better transportation network possible

Decisions about Honolulu’s rail transit system continue to be made on both sides of Punchbowl Street, without validating the real problem, true constituent needs or proper program accountability.

It’s time to stop this foolishness and pursue common-sense solutions.

I suggest: Stop the train in its tracks at Aloha Stadium; create a hub-and-spoke ground network with carpool options and Zip lane access; create an elevated pedestrian walkway to the Arizona Visitors Center; reduce the number of H-1 on and off ramps by 50 percent between Middle and Punahou streets during rush hour; extend service a half-mile from the Kroc Center to ground level at the Ka Makana Ali‘i mall; use the Oahu Railway right-of-way to add limited access service for our Waianae Coast neighbors and; have the University of Hawaii conduct modeling and simulation analysis.

Chris K. Neff

Mililani

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Gasoline shortage would ease traffic

Back in the 1970s, there was a global shortage of gasoline. People had to line up at the gas station early in the morning to purchase five gallons of gas, which was the limit, based on odd- or even-numbered license plates. People were forced to carpool to work or to school.

Driving on the freeway and roadways was a breeze then. Today you see a great majority of cars on the road with only one occupant. Perhaps we should have another gasoline shortage in order to force people into carpooling again.

Ray Lau

Kailua

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North Korea test threatens China

Thank you for your newpaper’s coverage of the issues related to North Korea’s latest nuclear test.

China can no longer avoid taking some steps to protect its citizens from nuclear fallout. The seismic results of the latest nuclear blast were felt in China and there are concerns that actual fallout will occur, given that the latest nuclear test was close to Beijing and bordering Chinese populations.

This was a direct show of force against China and the people of China should acknowledge it.

Jay Pineda

Waikiki

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Officials can’t ignore climate change

Hurricane Harvey, and other extreme weather events around the globe, are made worse by climate change.

Yet the media continues to largely ignore climate change impacts and their political solutions.

Climate change is causing sea-level rise, which worsens storm surges; increasing air temperatures increase rainfall and boost water temperatures, all of which make storms more severe. Harvey jumped to a Category 4 hurricane just hours before making landfall.

Harvey was an unnatural disaster fueled by fossil fuels and climate denial. President Donald Trump has prioritized fossil-fuel projects, slashed environmental reviews and rolled back climate protections. Hawaii already suffers from climate change through beach loss, dying coral reefs, higher temperatures and many other ills. A big hurricane hit is just a matter of time.

Now more than ever, the media and public officials must stand up to climate denial and demand long-term climate action.

Brodie Lockard

Kailua

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Let homeless build their own homes

The catchphrase “public-private partnership” is often used in rail-related financing. What about a public-private-homeless partnership in resolving the homeless problem?

Photos that appear in your newspaper of structures built by the homeless show that there are some homeless people who are skilled builders. Why not support their efforts by providing basic infrastructure for their use to build on rather than force them to build, break down, move and start over?

Instead of building structures for them, help them by providing permanent “homestead” land, slabs and utility connections on state or city-owned land and have them build their homes themselves. Cooperation of the homeless with government agencies and pro bono support from the building industry would go a long way to solving the homeless problem.

It could be a win-win solution even for the building industry, whose help would reduce the problem of encampments in front of its million-dollar condominiums.

Stuart Shimazu

Diamond Head