Staggered hours could cut traffic

Maybe the Zipper traffic fiasco highlighted a possible solution to reduce the traffic for West Oahu commuters.

Maybe it is time for the state and city to reconsider implementing a four-day work week and staggered work hours for their employees to reduce the amount of cars on the road at the same time.

This is not a complete solution, but it might be a start.I believe this would work better than the few hundred people who would ride the rail daily, if it ever gets built.

Ken Takeya
Kailua

At-grade train wouldn’t help

It recently was suggested that the unconstructed part of our elevated rail system be brought down to grade and placed in our roads to save money ("Return to rail at ground level," Star-Advertiser, Letters, April 1). That means our trains would run along and across our city streets.

So, when we experience gridlock, like we did the other day, our trains would sit in this gridlock too.

The whole reason for building an off-grade system, either underground (which would be prohibitively expensive) or off the ground (like our system) is to remove our trains from gridlock and to have them move quickly throughout the 20-mile system no matter what is happening on the ground. Without this incentive, why would people get out of their cars?

Fast and reliable is what we are looking for.

Michael D. Formby
Director, city Department of Transportation Services

Better leaders are needed

In response to Jon Shimamoto ("ZipMobiles should be replaced quickly," Star-Advertiser, Letters, April 2), we do not pay taxes for good governance; we get good governance by electing competent individuals.

And please, if you didn’t vote in the last election, don’t complain.

Patrick J. O’Malley
Kailua

Lack of Plan B unacceptable

I am surprised that there is not a Plan B should both ZipMobiles go out of service, especially with that earlier fiasco in 2006.

If the contractor was unable to repair the downed machine, would the state Department of Transportation have the authority to call in an outside repair facility to complete the repairs and put that machine back into service?

Any one of the many local heavy equipment repair facilities with competent technicians would have been able to solve or at least bypass circuits sufficiently enough to complete the task of closing the Zipper, then complete repairs later while idle.

Swapping electrical parts without testing the source of the fault is reckless, costly and normally a novice’s way of fixing things.

To leave everything in its tracks and wait for a mechanic to be flown in is absolutely unacceptable. Ask any of the thousands of motorists (I am one) who were affected by this screwup.

Kenneth A. Sur
Salt Lake

Kenoi worthy despite stumble

I support Hawaii County Mayor Billy Kenoi, whose indiscretions about a bar club bill (charged and reimbursed on a county credit card) landed him in the doghouse.

I wouldn’t know Kenoi if I stumbled over him at Club Evergreen, but I do know that he is what paradise needs: a good old (young) boy who knows his Hawaiian roots, understands the "local" way, was man enough to admit and take responsibility, and is a former athlete in the mold of Neal Blaisdell, Frank Fasi and Mufi Hannemann.

Would you rather have a kolohe leader like Kenoi making decisions in our state, or the hundreds — possibly thousands — of faceless bureaucrats, elected, appointed or otherwise, who go to work, do nothing and pull down ridiculous salaries, including the dozens of media escapees now acting as "official spokes-persons" for state, county and city bureaucracies?

Chip Davey
Downtown Honolulu

Plan now for climate change

California just announced a 25 percent mandatory reduction in water consumption because of a continuing historic drought.

That was a reactionary response to a known condition; it was not a proactive act.

When will we start taking climate change seriously? We live on an island; we have finite resources. Will we be proactive or will we fall back into our normal passive-aggressive tendencies and wait until it bites us? Where is the leadership?

It’s not the time to blame anybody on this one; it’s our call.

Chuck Cohen
Kalama Valley