.
8/1/13, "Light-Rail to Nowhere: Honolulu, Hawaii's Train Boondoggle," Reason.com, Sharif Matar
"In 2011, officials in Honolulu, Hawaii began construction on a
controversial 20-mile rail project partly because of almost $1.8
billion in federal subsidies to President Barack Obama's home
state. The project's total cost estimate stands at $5.3 billion,
but if other similar projects are any indication, the final price
tag will increase dramatically before anyone even gets to buy a
ticket. What's playing out in the Aloha State is happening all over
the country.
“This rail project is our bridge to nowhere”, says University of
Hawaii law professor Randall Roth. “We are convinced that it will
be billions of dollars over budget and we think they will try to
get the federal government to bail them out.”
Hawaii has some of the worst congestion and roads in the country
and studies consistently rank its major city, Honolulu, among the
worst cities for traffic. The INRIX Index has estimated that
Honolulu drivers waste an average of 58 hours in traffic every year
during peak travel times.
Yet there's no reason to believe the Honolulu's rail project
will do anything to improve traffic congestion. In fact, it's
likely to divert resources from more-affordable solutions.
"The one thing about these projects [is that] they are very
inviting politically," says former Hawaii Gov. Ben Cayetano. Along
with Cliff Slater of Honolulutraffic.com and University of Hawaii's
Roth, Cayetano has filed a federal lawsuit against the rail project
that's held up construction. They claim the city misled the public
about the total cost of the project and didn't deliver fully on a
required review of alternative solutions to a rail line.
Panos Prevedouros, one of the state's leading transportation
experts, says the rail plan that the feds approved will siphon off
state funding for the area's bus system. The project's own report,
which Prevedouros says is filled with overly optimistic estimates
of rail ridership, still shows that Honolulu's congestion will be
worse in the future with rail. “The point of doing any cost
effective type of analysis is out of the window,” says Panos, “the
benefits are not there.”
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered an expedited
hearing for the federal rail lawsuit on August 15th." via Lucianne
.
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