Five fixes could help put Honolulu’s rail back on track
Karl Kim, Ph.D., is professor of urban and regional planning at the University of Hawaii, where he is conducting research on averting disasters and building resilient communities.
As a longtime observer and frequent commentator on Honolulu’s rail project, I have come to expect setbacks and shakeups as the system creeps toward completion.
Yet the recent news of it stalling out at Middle Street suggests that we need change in leadership, ownership and commitment or surely the project is destined for failure.
Too often, the most expensive capital project ever built in Hawaii has been driven by political expedience, incompetent planning and management, and lack of integration with land use and transportation infrastructure.
Instead of building a system serving our people, we’ve created an expensive, visually intrusive behemoth, which exacerbates many social inequities.
Politicians and developers have pocketed the lion’s share of the financial resources and political capital of this cash cow funded by a regressive excise tax. The billions poured out by our community could’ve gone to public schools, air conditioning classrooms or improving our hospitals, prisons and basic infrastructure.
It has been a divisive project. Instead of feeling good about this massive public investment, we’ve missed opportunities to build a stronger community and make Honolulu a better, more affordable place.
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Here are five ideas for fixing this mess:
>> Stop the blame game.
The planning and alternatives analysis and engineering up until this point have been flawed. It’s not the best alignment or the right technology, and should’ve started closer to town where densities and needs are greatest. We need to face up to these realities and how best to recover and fix the system with all its warts to make it work.
>> Real leadership and ownership are needed.
There are too many divided camps and they need to be brought together. It’s not just between the city and state, or between the mayor and the Council, or between bus and rail — but also between longstanding opponents and proponents of rail. We need to unify, seek and build consensus, and provide a more inclusive process and outcomes we can all live with. Find the mutual gains and benefits from this project, including reduced congestion, alternative travel modes and reduced pollution.
>> We need a sustainable revenue model.
We must trim bloated management, design and construction costs, and find more resources, securing not just the federal share but more funding to cover growing costs of construction and operating and maintenance expenses.
We’ve not done a good job in leveraging private, philanthropic and development opportunities for financing the system. Why isn’t a share of our tourism revenues linked to this project? Why haven’t the climate-mitigation and disaster-resilience dollars been pledged to transit? Why aren’t businesses and property owners who benefit greatly from the system helping to pay?
>> Focus on social and environmental justice.
How does the massive spending benefit the poorest members of our community? Beyond limited trickle-down effects, how can we ensure that poor, elderly, working families, students and those with limited incomes benefit from public transit? How can it improve job and educational opportunities? What about the impacts on our natural and cultural environments? Why in spite of the billions spent on pouring concrete and paying off mainland consultants, does the plight for many of our people remain so bleak?
>> Fixed-rail must be tied to innovation.
This massive investment needs to be repositioned as the cornerstone of Hawaii’s innovation economy. We need import substitution, when it comes to the planning, engineering, management and operations of rail. We should design new rail vehicles that seamlessly switch from elevated rail to at-grade light rail and other innovations, to lower costs and improve urban transit. We need to better incubate and expand local businesses and entrepreneurs as well as stem the outflow of our best and brightest to mainland communities.
The challenges with getting back on track require all of us to come together. The battle for rail is long over. We need to get over it, roll up our sleeves, sacrifice for the greater good, work as a team, and build a system we can all be proud of. We did, after all, pay for it.
69 responses to “Five fixes could help put Honolulu’s rail back on track”
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Have you ever worked on a rail project, let alone done infrastructure planning and development in general? I have done both. Its bad enough to call for ‘innovative’ design that would cost huge numbers and years to go through testing, development, DOT hoops, etc. But do you have to insult us who pay through the nose in vastly increased property taxes and surcharges to say we have to find even more ways for the public to fund a white elephant?
I don’t doubt you teach urban planning, but I really don’t think you laid hands on this kind of project, let alone try funding one. But OK, here’s how we can get more funds: do the Hong Kong funding model. They permit gambling, like horse racing, but the government gets a huge cut. If I recall, like half. Put the proceeds in a restricted fund solely for infrastructure so we can redevelop water, sewage, transport, etc. I’ll bet we get a large tourism boost and revenues into projects. Or do a lottery. Is that creative enough?
Funding innovation also can be found in, for example, the Transbay project in San Francisco. In Hong Kong, by the way, the transit authority even owns property along the rail alignment and actually turns a profit. I do not, however, believe that a change in technology would set us back years and wind up costing more. Conversion to urban magnetic levitation (maglev) can be done smoothly and efficiently, keep the project within its budget and timelines, and also meet the terms of the FFGA. That document was brought up as “untouchable” whenever any type of change was recommended in the past but now, according to HART Chair Hanabusa, can be negotiated with FTA to redefine the minimum operable segment. If the city is ready to change, it is time to do it right and implement 21st Century urban maglev with the help of American engineering expertise.
“We must” … “find more resources, securing not just the federal share but more funding to cover growing costs of construction and operating and maintenance expenses.” And herein lies the fundamental problem. There is no money! Both the state and the city/county are up to their ears in debt from excessive borrowing through issuance of general obligation bonds and failure to fund both the pubic employees pension fund (ERS) and the post employment benefit fund (EUTF). Both governments’ are technically insolvent vis-à-vis their government activities accounts. More specifically, their liabilities exceed their assets. I would suggest that Carl Kim, Ph.D., professor of urban and regional planning stroll over to the Accounting Department and have one of their professors go over the numbers in the latest comprehensive annual financial reports of both the state and city/county. With regard to the HTA funding the rail, legislation passed in 2012 mandates that the city/county share will go to fund the ERS and EUTF if they fail to make their annual required contributions to these trust funds. As for the developers coughing up funds, good luck. The barn door has been open for quite some time and all the horses have already left the barn (with the feed buckets on their backside). Concerning social justice, the taxpayers are already highly invested in that theme. Public transportation is highly subsidized through transfers out of the city county’s general fund and highway fund. Last fiscal year public transportation passengers paid $56.7 million of the $251.9 million in operating expenses. The taxpayers picked up the social justice tab for the remaining $193.6 million, the bulk of which came from the highway fund.
Brilliant post as usual. The good prof took a lot of space to say not much other than take the money from other programs without any effort at quantifying and “why can’t we all get along”, to borrow from Rodney King. Hard to see a sane outcome. Think I’ll just tip-toe out of the state.
Not really. Legalized gambling? Seems as if that has been offered as the cure for everything from government waste to smoker’s cough.
Ending rail at Middle St or AMC makes no difference; most commuters still have to catch a bus to their final destinations. The final destination must be UH Manoa. Discussions on terminating the rail at Middle or AMC are just distractions.
Meanwhile, the incompetent rail building must stop NOW while the ultimate solution using any mode of transportation to UH Manoa is found.
“HART hasn’t yet issued the two big contracts to complete rail’s final 10 miles”.
The first 10 miles ends at Aloha Stadium. The rail, if kept, should end at Aloha Stadium where there are enough open parking spaces for a major Bus transit center and for many passenger cars (for commuter transfers to/from the buses/rail) during the week day when the stadium parking are unused.
The practical and best option is to convert the rail guide way to a reversible 2-lane HOV(2) Reversible freeway from Kapolei to Aloha Stadium for less than $4 Billion already collected via GET.
The year 2030 downtown-bound commuter demand will be 15,000 commuters per hour above the existing highway capacity, according to the city’s Alternative Traffic analysis. The reversible can carry up to 17,000 commuters per hour (200 express buses and 3800 vehicles per hour) versus 3,000 RAIL commuters per hour. Rail will NOT eliminate traffic gridlock at the H-1/H-2 merge. New buses are 80% funded by the Feds and would cost the city about $200,000 per bus or $40 million for 200 new buses. HART plans to purchase 80 rail cars at $1.2 million each for $96 million (Oahu Taxpayer funded).
The guide way can carry most vehicles except heavy construction vehicles such as concrete batch trucks and 18 wheeler trucks. Freeway on/off ramps can be constructed at about 5 mile intervals (Kapolei, Farrington/Ft. Weaver, H-1/H-2, Aloha Stadium). This Reversible HOV(2) freeway option deletes rail functions such as rail stations, rail cars, utilities relocation, land/building acquisitions, rail security, rail power plant, rail O&M (100 million per year), etc.
Rail = Biggest construction and financial debacle ever for the Nei. Makes H3 look like chump change.
Excellent post! Another option would be to continue the vehicle guideway to Middle Street, with all POV traffic terminated at the stadium. The stadium would serve as the island’s major intermodal hub with spokes reaching throughout the island with the Middle Street-Stadium guideway being used only for public and commercial feeder buses to/from any number of destinations. Commercial buses would pay to play as a means by which the costs could be mitigated.
Absolutely, hybrid1 has the right answer – BINGO – STOP THE RUSTING RAIL PROJECT AND STOP THE GUIDE WAY AT THE STADIUM. turn it into a reversible highway Ewa Bound Evenings and town bound in the Mornings. We the people save Billions and are not strapped with future overhead Union wages as the City tries to figure out how to run the choo choo. they also save on the power plant that was needed to run it + the costs of supplying it with electricity. Millions per month ion savings. It will help alleviate traffic and move 1000’s more people in the desired directions and will bne used by everybody instead of only da Bus riders. sooo GREAT IDEA hybrid1
At least this guy sis telling the truth for once. And sticking his neck out there to point out some ways we could make do with what we have been sold. I’d expect all of you roosters to crow about how right on this guys is but, nothing but criticism from the coop. (o:
Should have started in Town, at least people could use it slow by slow, but we know why they started in Kapolei. It was never done right. If we know the management is poor, analysis and planning is incompetent, construction costs are bloated…If we know this and we’ve known it, why would anything change now? Whereas, I agree with the opinion on the problems of rail, I find it ridiculous to think that the same people who have leading us astray (who allowed incompetent planning and bloated construction costs, who started in Kapolei because it was politically expedient) would suddenly decide to do it right. Thus, the extreme loathing for the project and those who continue to urinate on our backs and tell us it is raining. And if anyone in Caldwell’s campaign is reading this, all I see when I see your ads at the top of the Advertiser’s web edition is “On budget, on time.” You should drop out of the race and let Djou and Carlisle battle it out. Do the honorable thing and fall on your sword.
They could NOT have started in town. The current oversized train track and support columns WILL NOT FIT in urban Honolulu and will require exrensive relocation of elecrtricall, water, gas and sewage infrastructure and major loss of in town road access and loss of many small businesses all along the route. AND the traffic jam created by such in town rail construction would turn all of Honolulu into one big parking lot. That is NOT an exaggeration.
Inverse: Many of your comments in the past made sense but your comment today should be reevaluated because it doesn’t show that you’ve put much thought into it. Regardless if the construction ended in town or started in town, it would have still created the same problems that you’ve mentioned. Wouldn’t be able to avoid all that you’ve mentioned because the rail was planned to go through town.
The only reason it was started in booney land is because Mufi mafia didn’t want it killed immediately when urban plans and congestion cause great difficulty. His strategy was to build it fast enough so we get pot committed and play the cards dealt. The risk in doing that is its easier to kill if it is only in the countryside, so speed into town is essential.
Yes, the rail should have started at UH Manoa and when the 8 billion ran out, at least people could ride from Ala Moana to UH. That’s probably all we would have gotten for 8 billion in town.
I agree that management and planning has been as poor as you can get.
Time to oust Caldwell, grabauskas and the HART board.
Hawaii politicians…”honorable”…HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
It started in Kapolei, the land Cayetano touted as The Second City.
The same land that the city kept approving housing developments without requiring the developers to provide infrastructure improvements or building office space so jobs can be moved from town to Kapolei.
All very good points! We need all the great minds in the State to contribute their ideas. I feel the Mayor and the HART Board should have a symposium to hear what local experts have to say.
I read lots of “what if’s”, questions, and conjecture, but no sound answers to support continued rail development.
That’s because the answers are obvious and do NOT include graft, kickbacks,Unions, developers and owners of Ala Moana Center. Only they are driving this project and since its based on taxes which the Dem Gestapo can increase as much and as often as desired 20 billion$$ is fine, with them!
P.S. you all should be watching Puerto Rico as an example of what can happen if someone does not control the spending.
wow- THE RUSTING HATED SCREECHING RAIL HAS REARED ITS HEAD AGAIN & AGAIN & AGAIN & AGAIN. WAKE UP HONOLULU AND READ hybrid1’s thoughts above and lets do the right thing for all of us and the futures of our children. Yes we need a real Mayor
so do not vote for Caldwell or Carlier as they have both proven to be union pawns
and dance to the music of PRP and the Unions who strangle Hawaii. SO FAR VOTE FOR DJOU.
DJOU is a republican that will vote for trump. Really? We don’t need that. And don’t listen to someone who SCREAMS.
DPK: Agree! We need, must, should’ve, aren’t and did were mentioned and no sound answers or solutions. On many occasions, people with a lot of education tend to lack “common sense.”
Unfortunately, we had one chance to do this right.
Unfortunately greed and incompetence ruled the day and even today, the feeding frenzy on struggling families meager savings continues.
Getting together with Mayor Caldwell is a waste, as he already promised to “build rail better” and bring rail in “on time and on budget.” Obviously, he has no interest beyond spending rail contractors massive political contributions on his reelection campaign. If you want his attention, you will need to either out spend PRP, or control more votes than the construction Union voting blocs. Neither is likely to happen.
Get together with HART? Can you Hank of anything at has come out of HART that has been true and accurate? I can’t.
The State legislature and the Governor? They are skimming 10% straight off he top of all rail collections and their calculations and delivery of rail money has been… Inconsistent. Like everyone else taking money here, they benefit from the waste and the status quo.
So who does that leave? City council? Some received improper gifts and political contributions to their campaigns totaling 70-80% from rail interests and members of PRP. Does anyone really expect them to rein in their political masters.
The FTA is being treated like the Oahu public and being jerked around. Unlike the Oahu public, they apparently have the ability to withhold funds in the face of poor performance. Currently they are withholding about half a billion dollars unlike Mayor Caldwell and HART get their act together. Five years ago, this would have ended with a terse call from Senator Inouye threatening their funding but those days are long gone and some other ancient senator is arm twisting on behalf of some other state now. We’ll see if they have the will to shut them down or rein them in, but I think in the end, they’ll supply the $1.5 billion that Senator Inouye forced them to, and then wash their hands of the whole sordid mess.
It would be nice if non-construction voters showed up in force and voted these characters out of office, but we all saw what happened last election with PRP’s well funded smear campaign and “not enough ballots.”
Which means, well, nothing’s going to change.
“Why isn’t a share of our tourism revenues linked to this project?” They are. 30% of the GET surcharge comes from what the tourists spend on the island. (So we are told).
Why aren’t businesses and property owners who benefit greatly from the system helping to pay? Because no one asked them, nor wanted to.
Rather than stopping at Middle Street, any chance they could switch to at-grade once they reach Chinatown? Take the money that it would have cost to build the elevated track and stations to Ala Moana then run the route all the way to UH?
etalavera: Sounds good but your suggestion also needs a solution. Where would it travel through town to get to UH especially at-grade level.
Seattle’s successful LINK light rail system is a good example of rail rapid transit that can operate on exclusive elevated structure guideway then travel at-grade in the middle of surface streets. (It also utilizes some subway which would probably not be in our discussion). At-grade rail would be nice for us from Middle Street to downtown if the trains can run on a right-of-way alignment that would allow a reasonably fast speed and not increase trip times significantly over the all-elevated estimates. This would be especially challenging on Dillingham Boulevard which would need a fenced in right-of-way and the train would also have green light priority as it approaches cross-street intersections. Education on pedestrian safety would be essential for the surface rail to be effective. This would be a good compromise if the rail cost can be reduced substantially. At-grade rail would be nice in town however it needs to be an improvement over city buses so that trip elapsed times are still reasonable for commuters coming from the far west side.
Fire Grabauskas now!
Seattle’s “successful” rail project? You don’t know it very well
It cost those people a ton more than promised, isn’t as efficient as they think (you cant park a car at most stations – meaning user of the system have to walk or ride bikes to the stations- in the winter – in the cold non Hawaii RAIN!), and it isn’t used anywhere near as much as the promoters said – meaning forever LARGE losses- forever!
its a fiasco there and forced upon the local residents that actually voted it down three times!
please don’t be the seattle mess!!
Seattle has more than half a million tax payers as well. The rail is squeezing the life out of some of Oahu’s citizens.
UKU: “At-grade rail would be nice in town however it needs to be an improvement over city buses so that trip elapsed times are still reasonable for commuters coming from the far west side.”
Hilarious. Why not apply this logic to the elevated portion too? If rail does not improve the current express bus commute, it should not be built. Common sense, right? Total commute time this morning: 35 minutes total via Mililani Express. Rail can’t touch that.
Ukuleleblue, you keep bringing up and trying to compare Seattle’s Link light rail to what Oahu is building, yet you keep failing to mention that Link light rail is mostly ground level and the major fact that it also serves 3 counties that have a population of over 3 million people yet has a daily ridership of just under 64,000 daily riders.
How about instead of still trying to sell us on how rail is needed for Oahu, why don’t you tell us where on the mainland you live and how you’re connected to this ill-conceived project that is called rail.
Obviously you don’t know anything about Link Light Rai. I worked with Sound Transit, the agency that operates it. Most of it is underground from the International District station, under downtown Seattle and Capitol Hill to UW. There’s also a portion that’s under Beacon Hill. The next longest stretch is elevated from Rainier Valley to Seatac Airport. A portion of Rainier Valley is at grade, as is the portion in SoDo that goes by Safeco and Century Link fields between Beacon Hill and the International District.
Sound Transit operates a commuter rail (Sounder Rail) and an Express Bus Service that serves Pierce, Snohomish and King counties, But Link Light Rail only operates in King County, primarily within Seattle, which has a smaller population (662,400) than the City and County of Honolulu (953,207). While the ridership is ahead of what was estimated for the project, it’s important to remember that it’s light rail, which means it’s NOT high capacity, like the trains that will run on our system. The Seattle trains only hold half as many passengers as ours will.
Nevertheless, the system has been highly successful and voters have extended it twice: once from downtown to UW and now from UW to Northgate Mall. Other extensions are also in the works, having been approved.
“”Nevertheless, the system has been highly successful””
So obviously it’s not a good comparison with the Oahu rail project.
Au contraire. Even though it doesn’t have the same capabilities as our system, it has done very well. Ours will be better. But the point of my post was to show that polekasta’s comparison with Seattle’s Link LR system is completely inaccurate.
PoleKasta wants to ignore the truth. He lies.
I think he was talking about the Portland system, not Seattle.
Link light rail serves King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties, does it not?
Population for those counties, King-2.2million, Pierce-843,000 and Snohomish-772,000.
Now, whether it’s underground or ground level, you keep trying to compare it to what Honolulu is building, but it’s not the same. Like I stated earlier, Link serves 3 counties, yet only has daily ridership of under 65,000 riders. Some kind of success there. So it seems you’re the one who doesn’t know much about Link.
As for you wiliki, You keep talking about truth, yet you can never back up any of your statements. “Rail is paid for and Rail’s financial plan is solid” are just 2 of the many statements you kept repeating, yet the reports say otherwise, so it’s you who is the liar here.
I’ve ridden the Seattle system. Honolulu’s rail be better. Elevated rail is the only way to go.
But you’re a liar so why would anyone believe you?
This article is nothing more than a whole bunch of platitudes strung together. The ONLY solution for Oahu residents and taxpayers is to completely shut down the train project and leave the rail columns and track unfinished so that contractors and HART cannot rip off taxpayers a second time and maybe decades from now an elevated train CAN be done right but NOT with the current steel on steel, oversized and obsolete train that was a failure from day one and NOT with Grabby, Kirk, HART and the current contractors. If the right train and technology the resulting lighter train, narrower width track and much thinner columns with greater spacing betwen colums will require much less intrustion and cost in running the train in downtown Honolulu. The train only has to carry people and NOT coal, ore, lumber, etc. The Oahu train project is like the Titanic after hitting the iceberg or the Hawaii Health Connector where NOTHING can be done to ever make it work. To continue, all taxpayers would be doing is waste BILLIONS on a failed make work project that is actually HINDERING real traffic solutions for Oahu commuters.
Absolutely. Article’s suggestions makes no sense to me, and I actually worked in infrastructure planning and development although a decent lead up in it. The roots of the failure lie in poor planning, and in this game you better get it right the first time. I’ve said before in posts, a major infrastructure project has an average gestation of 10 years. Mufi and his mafia troops got what amounted to a high school term paper done and approved much too quickly. Look at the results. Every classic mistake shows up and costs go up like a North Korea rocket. We haven’t even hit the O&M side fully. The city has no clue what it’s like to maintain a unique customized system, and this PhD is talking about innovative design? Changing to an even more unique design than it already is is a huge bump in operating costs, especially in life cycle maintenance. Try custom fabrication of parts and see how pricey it gets versus off the shelf variety. We already got surfboard carrying stuff Quirky was so proud of. Let unique items end as it already exists.
This rail system has had more than 1000 public meetings. Thats planning enough for me.
You obviously ignore all the gross planning errors apparent to everyone, just like those public hearings led by idiots pushing a politically driven done deal I went to. My comments before all this disaster went by the wayside at those hearings. I stand by my project experience and management history.
They aren’t gross planing issues. What comes out of those meetings is part of the political process.
Of course, the original plan is to Manoa. But Waikiki interests want it to serve their workers who live out on the cheaper west side of the island.
With more accurate cost projection, of course the Manoa terminus will lose out. Kim, as you, ignores to political part of planning. This is his major error. “Planning” without politics is NOT real “planning”. It’s a self contradiction.
At these meetings, planners can explain their rationale, but we really want to hear from the public that wants something else.
Where were you eight years ago when these points might have influenced the design and construction of the rail? It has always been a project looking for a justification for building it, and all of the players (State Legislature, Governor, City Council, and Mayor) are complicit by directly or indirectly approving it and not requiring close scrutiny every step of the way.
kahaluu96744 says: “Where were you eight years ago when these points might have influenced the design and construction of the rail?”
Respectfully, I believe that is an unfair criticism of Mr Kim.
8 years ago they were still having “community input and information meeting where we were asked what shade of blue we would like the canopies.
But for everything else, we were repeatedly told that it was either too late or too early to address any specific concerns.
Mufi was still blasting full steam ahead and had Senator Inouye running interference in DC and Mufi had been convinced by developers and construction interests that slavish devotion to rail was his ticket to the governor’s mansion.
NOTHING and nobody was going to influence this mess if it didn’t directly benefit the Mayor and select city council members like Nestor Garcia.
It is unfair to shift the blame onto well meaning and intentioned citizens like Mr Kim.
Right. I was one of those voices ignored when the fix was in. I got insulted by some paid monkeys trying to defend their bread and butter. That’s about all I got for my efforts. And really, all I was trying to do back then was provide guidance on how to make it work. I gave up and opposed the rail because of obvious errors.
Too many urban planners on this rock. All speaking because of their biases. Look at what a fine job they have done so far.
This article does not provide any concrete and practical solutions to the problem at hand. I would have preferred alternatives and facts to back up the alternatives but all I got was rhetoric. Way too many cooks in the kitchen for this project. Stopping at Middle street with elevated rail and then transition to at grade the rest of the way may be the best option of finishing this project with accompanying conversion of some streets into one way corridors to make up for the loss of lanes along the rail route. At grade rail would reduce re-routing of utilities, solve the overhead electrical relocation due to safety requirements, visually more acceptable, etc. Maybe that’s what Phd. Kim is talking about as far as innovation. This years mayoral election should be very interesting.
Exactly right. Interested in seeing what traffic impact of “at grade” would be.
Hawaii has an “innovation economy”????
believe that is what they are trying to do now with hanabusa. too bad she will have to leave but she has started the ball rolling. what is wrong with your approach, it is too theoretically based, we need pragmatic solutions. general observations don’t cut it, we need answers that say why an approach is better. general solutions are senseless when specifics are lacking.
On balance the professor doesn’t really “damn with faint praise” but, rather with “faint hope.”
To have a credible opinion expressed, SB should publish an article from Panos Prevedouros.
Panos had a good article recently (maybe in CB). He makes a good case for stopping at Middle St and using whatever we save to extend it West so it might be functional. IIRC he also suggested more parking garages. Panos was correct and rail before and I believe he’s correct again.
Karl Kim is right on.
What a bunch of garbage! Another indication that some educators(?), and I use that term very lightly, live in their “ivory towers” and are not realists. Doesn’t Mr Kim realize that it’s too late to change the project? All the cows are out of the barn and you can’t herd them back. Kim’s idiotic proposals should have been thought out during the initial planning stages, not now. Kim is an urban and regional planner at the UH? No wonder UH is, in my opinion, a mediocre source of learning with guys like him.
Mr. Kim needs to take a course on political reality. His suggestions are not very useful.
Professor Kim is good at gradious talk, but short on how to get it done. He contradicts almost everything he proposes. When I read and article by Professor Kim, it is always advice from someone standing on the side telling everyone else how to do their job better…but he never has skin in the game.
I’m not seeing those “contradictions.” Perhaps you could point them out to the rest of us.
Yes, we did pay for it. FOR SOME. The question is whether we should pay ANYMORE. Enough. Stop construction now and just jettison the project. All of those lofty ideas for solutions sound lovely. But, they also sound impossible from a pragamatic and even moderately realistic idealistic standpoint. Enough. The boondoggle has to stop.
True. Stop the blame game ,roll up the sleeves and finish the job. It’s not about the finish line at Ala Moana, it’s about the stops in between.
Why does SA have these miracle pills/medicine quack ads pasted all over the place. Tacky enquirer action.
Lol. Lucky you live Hawaii…
Nice discussion points, but the wrong questions. The most important question: do we want urban sprawl or an integrated mass transit system along an urban Metropolitan core of development on the island.
Urban sprawl is already happening with Ho’opili and Koa ridge.
This piece by a professor (?) of urban and regional planning is laughable. The by-line is misleading. What “fixes” does he proposes that is of any substance. The commentary is an embarrassment to the University of Hawaii and surely a negative reflection on the quality of its graduate program. If Dr. Kim “professes” to know what proper actions need to be taken to correct the current course of the rail project, then he should come forward and propose something that’s serious and doable.