Ten years ago, the City Council selected its “locally preferred alternative” for high-capacity transit, and then-Mayor Mufi Hannemann signed off on the 2007 law in support of a 24-mile fixed guideway system, stretching from Kapolei to the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
Much has changed since then, of course: the rail project is massively over-budget; its terminus is now slated for Ala Moana Center, 4 miles short of the UH campus; and its latest timeline for operation is December 2025, seven years later than initially envisioned.
Given the seemingly endless setbacks and spending snags, it is premature for rail officials to pursue steps toward preserving the option to someday extend to UH-Manoa, with a separate branch running to the western edge of Waikiki. Although those proposed transit spurs make sense for potential ridership, current sticker shock is draining both public patience and pocketbook.
The city is still waiting for the Federal Transit Administration to approve a staggering $9 billion financial plan to complete the 20-mile, 21-station full rail line to Ala Moana, which is expected to be paid for with a mix of Oahu general excise tax revenues, state hotel room taxes and federal dollars.
Rail’s costs have soared in the past three years — and it’s unclear whether the most recent funding boost will be enough to finish construction. Nine years ago, when city voters frustrated over traffic congestion supported the elevated rail project, it was tagged at $4.28 billion. In addition to the price tag doubling, it’s unclear how the city will pay for rail operations. What is clear is that Oahu taxpayers will be tapped. Indefinitely.
The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation board voted on Friday to allow rail staff to seek approval from the City Council and the mayor to “conduct a study of planning and engineering activities” within a half-mile radius of the proposed Ala Moana Center station to chart future development of the line to UH-Manoa. But city leaders should put that on hold until HART demonstrates improved financial management.
With construction at the halfway mark, and heading into the project’s most challenging urban-core miles, HART must focus on the here and now. Evidence of that needed, sharper focus surfaced last week when the HART board rejected a request to increase a 5-year $46 million engineering contract by nearly $18 million, saying the matter needs more scrutiny.
Rail’s project director said most of the increased costs are tied to HART-initiated changes that have increased the contractor’s workload. In response, Terrence Lee, HART board vice chairman, called on staff to be “hyper diligent” in assessing cost increases. He rightly noted that due to the magnitude of the state’s largest public works project, there’s a temptation to “sort of spend more time on tasks than perhaps is necessarily warranted. … When the contracts are that large, the sense is that there’s a lot of room to really do a lot of extra work.”
Stepped-up diligence is imperative. More-responsible spending and management that shuts the door on the possibility of loose work change orders for millions of dollars must be ongoing goals of HART’s staff and board, including its four new nonvoting members, added by the Legislature to keep an eye on spending.
Twelve years ago, when Hannemann was gathering community momentum for rail, the city issued a contract for nearly $10 million to a firm that sized up transit options from myriad angles: costs, ridership, technology, environment, zoning and more. It mapped 70 possible routes from Kapolei to Manoa.
A fresh look at a route to UH-Manoa from Ala Moana might be worth study in the future, since the one preferred in the city’s 2007 law is no longer viable in one area due to planned Kapiolani high-rises coming up in the path. Whatever is weighed now, though, would likely be outdated when, and if, the UH spur becomes a real discussion.
Before sizable funding is dedicated to envisioning rail service in the future, HART needs to first show it has a good grasp on rail-building in the present.
