Question: How will HART keep the train cars from being covered with graffiti? The same question could be asked about the rail columns too. Graffiti tagging seems to getting worse all over the island.
Answer: Several methods to deter graffiti are being integrated into the rail-transit system’s design and construction, and contractors also are tasked with immediately fixing any such vandalism that does occur, according to the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation, the agency overseeing the construction and eventual operation of Oahu’s rail-transit system.
“HART recognizes that graffiti may certainly be a problem, as it is for nearly all transit agencies spanning the globe,” said HART spokesman Bill Brennan, explaining that contractor Ansaldo Honolulu Joint Venture will follow the transit industry’s “best practices” to prevent and eliminate the problem.
This includes using anti-graffiti material in the rail cars (such as graffiti-resistant paint, upholstery and window films), installing electronic security monitors and partnering with community outreach programs and law enforcement agencies.
“All of these efforts working together with a robust field presence and CCTV network act as a ‘force multiplier’ to help combat vandalism and graffiti events,” he said.
Ansaldo Honolulu JV also is equipped to quickly eliminate graffiti from rail cars, columns or other transit structures when it does appear, he said.
HART’s maintenance contract insists that graffiti be corrected within 24 hours of being reported, a typical requirement for most modern transit agencies, he said. Graffiti would either be cleaned off or painted over.
“Patrons utilizing our system have a right to have stations and trains clean and in the best working order; it will be our mission to achieve and maintain this level of service and cleanliness,” Brennan said.
The first of 20 four-car, driverless trains that will traverse the rail-transit route from Kapolei to Ala Moana Center was unveiled on the island earlier this month.
Annual food drive
“Stamp Out Hunger” on Saturday with the help of mail carriers, who make it easy for people to donate to local food banks. Place canned goods and other nonperishable food products next to your mailbox on Saturday, before the usual delivery time; plastic carrying bags promoting the event were delivered earlier for this purpose. Mail carriers will pick up the donations, sort them and deliver them to the Hawaii Foodbank.
This is the 24th year for the annual National Association of Letter Carriers’ Food Drive, which is the nation’s largest one-day effort to combat hunger. In Hawaii last year, mail carriers collected more than 533,000 pounds of food, led by the 44,198 pounds collected by the Pearl City Post Office, according to a news release from the U.S. Postal Service.
“The NALC Food Drive is a big help because it always results in a lot of canned protein items, which are our ‘most wanted’ items,” said Stan Markle, Hawaii Foodbank director of product donations.
The list of most-wanted items includes canned meat or tuna, canned meals such as chili, stew or spaghetti, canned soups and canned fruits and vegetables.
Auwe and Mahalo
Auwe! to the driver of a small, four-door sedan. On May 5 at about 4:20 p.m., I was traveling on Young Street (Ewa bound) past Piikoi Street. I had come to a stop in traffic when you sped out of a store parking lot and clipped my truck! You knew what you had done and you sped away as fast as you could. Mahalo to L, a good Samaritan on a moped, who recorded your license-plate number and volunteered to be a witness. Thank you so much, L! — G.T.
Mahalo
I’d like to say a big thank you to the Keeaumoku Walmart personnel or customer who found my purse in the bathroom on April 30 and turned it in to a courtesy desk. … I am from Kauai and would have been lost without my purse. God bless you and thank you. — Grateful shopper
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Write to “Kokua Line” at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
