The Swiss government is paying for a Honolulu City Council member’s planned six-day trip to that country next week so he can experience European mass transit first-hand.
In February, Switzerland’s Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, which represents Swiss interests abroad, invited and then provided Council member Tyler Dos Santos-Tam approximately $6,487 to fly to Zurich to study that city’s
integrated public transit
system and discuss public transportation policies with Swiss policymakers, the city said.
Under a resolution formally accepting that gift, the City Council voted unanimously May 17 to allow Dos Santos-Tam, who chairs the panel’s Committee on Transportation, to travel with a 14-member delegation composed of federal and local transportation officials, most of whom are based in the San Francisco Bay Area. That delegation leaves San Francisco for Zurich on Sunday and returns to San Francisco on June 3.
Before the vote, Dos
Santos-Tam explained his visit to Zurich — which due to a Swiss holiday includes
a May 29 leisure program for the delegation — relates to Honolulu’s own rail system, expected to open for public use on June 30.
“I was approached by the Swiss government, specifically the Consulate General of Switzerland in San Francisco. They organized a delegation of officials working on transportation policy from California in 2022 and this is a follow-up,” he said. “They graciously extended an invitation to a member from the City Council here
in Honolulu, being a city under their jurisdiction as well, to look at the public transportation system in Zurich given that we’re getting ready to open up our system here and roll out the HOLO card more widely.”
Dos Santos-Tam said the trip would be “a good opportunity to see what the Swiss have done right” as
far as public transit.
“The Swiss, of course, have a reputation for being very timely, being very efficient, and I think it behooves us to take a look at their successes and see what we can do here,” he said. “They’ve rolled out a very successful program called the Zurich Card, which not only pays for transit but a number
of other things and I think that’s a system we can adopt here.”
Dos Santos-Tam said his trip was being paid for by the Swiss government: “At zero expense to taxpayers.”
Although no one from the public spoke at the Council meeting on this item, some objected in writing to Dos Santos-Tam’s paid trip to
a foreign country.
“I oppose the acceptance of this ‘gift’,” said Takashi Yanagishita in written testimony. “Travel to a foreign country is never all-
expenses paid. The taxpayers of Oahu will end up footing some of the bill for this, and what will we get in return? Higher property taxes to help pay for this trip and your 64% raise? The taxpayers are not your personal bank account.”
Dylan Armstrong also questioned giving a free trip to a local elected official.
“I am not opposed to any and all travel junkets for educational purposes. Professional travel as it relates to urban planning and public transport can be useful. However, this instance raises questions about what the public receives as (a) benefit,” Armstrong wrote.
Armstrong said this visit also calls into the question the use of the public’s time by Honolulu’s elected officials and its appointees.
“In short, what I am opposed to is the worst of crony capitalism. I am opposed to relatively high benefits for public officials out of what the same officials consider scarce resources, in providing scanty, mediocre results for the public,” Armstrong wrote. “Former Mayor Frank Fasi, at his most controversial, always made clear his support for equitable public transport. He didn’t need to fly to Bern, Zurich, Geneva or Basel, to learn what the unwashed proletariat needs. He bought buses and transported them here. He supported a light rail system when it was a losing battle. The city instead is currently operating in a 1960s paradigm, eliminating routes, eliminating crosswalks, and doing nothing consequential or intelligent to stop the egregious casualty rate for pedestrians.”
According to the city, Dos Santos-Tam’s paid invitation includes an economy-class plane ticket to Switzerland, accommodation in Switzerland, local transportation and meals during the stay.
“Any additional expenses will be paid for by Council member Dos Santos-Tam personally,” said Richmond Luzar, Dos Santos-Tam’s policy and communications
director.
