honolulutraffic.com

seeking cost-effective ways to reduce traffic congestion in Honolulu

 

November 30, 2007.

Tolling concept being covered on Olelo:

Watch for Olelo Channel 54 throughout December on Sunday nights at 7:00 pm for a show on the tolling concept and local /transportation initiatives. Also at roughly 6:50 pm this Sunday on Olelo channel 49- watch Tom Berg provide same to Mililani Neighborhood Board.

USA Today: "Ethanol E85 fuel loses cost-benefit test to diesel":

Yesterday's USA Today carried the story that, "Anything's better than ethanol blend E85, even ordinary gasoline, a new cost-benefit analysis of alternative fuels by researcher John Graham at the Pardee Rand Graduate School finds. Diesels scored highest, surprising even the researchers. "We were kind of expecting that hybrids would outperform diesels when we went into the study. It's close, but the advanced diesel" provides better performance and fuel economy for the price, he says. Compared to gasoline, a driver could spend as much as $1,600 more on fuel over a vehicle's life burning E85, a mix of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline, Graham calculates, while a diesel could save as much as $2,300." READ MORE

November 26, 2007.

San Diego opens new Parsons Brinckerhoff expressway:

Tollroads News carries the story of the new 9.3 miles expressway that opened last Friday. The story reads,The local press has been very positive about the new road, quoting people happy they can get to places they want to go, much quicker and with less strain. Two other stories are included. One from the Los Angeles Times and the other from Road Traffic Technology,  READ MORE

November 15, 2007.

Mayor appoints Parsons Brinckerhoff executive as DTS head:

Yesterday Mayor Hannemann announced that Wayne Yoshioka, a PB top executive in PB's local office was his choice for City Transportation Director. The Mayor's press release said, "Yoshioka is manager of transportation planning and traffic engineering and a senior supervising transportation engineer for PB Americas, Inc., the multinational engineering firm." Accordingly, Yoshioka cannot plead ignorance. He must have been involved if only peripherally with the design and evaluation of the Managed Lane Alternative (MLA aka HOT lanes). Now that he is working for the City does that mean that he cannot legitimately answer anything for the Council about what happened in specifying the MLA aka the Unmanaged Lane Alternative during his employment with PB? If this is not the case then our councilmembers could have some fun with him. If it is the case, then does he have to plead the 5th? This could get quite interesting legally.

Mayor on Mike Buck Show yesterday misspeaks:

The Mayor reportedly said on the Mike Buck Show yesterday that the Council voted 7-2 for rail. WRONG: The Council voted for fixed guideway, which could be bus or rail. He also said that a busway would be far more expensive than rail because it has a larger footprint and will require very expensive ramps. WRONG: It is only projected to be more expensive. In fact, it is projected to cost the same as H-3 (allowing for construction cost inflation) despite H-3 having 64 lane miles tunneling through the Koolaus while the MLA has only 28 lane miles. Then he said that the MLA doesn't have the capacity of rail. WRONG: The capacity of a single bus lane is 32,000 passengers per hour; the rail line plans on only 6,000 passengers per hour. Then he said that if the MLA is added to the alternatives, we would have to go back to square one and start all over on the alternatives analysis after we've spent $15-million and two years in planning. WRONG: First, $15 million is peanuts in a $6 billion project. Redoing the AA would be a wise investment if it prevented a $6 billion error.

November 14, 2007.

Residents believe traffic actions on wrong track:

The quarterly Pulse Survey by the Business Roundtable and the Pacific Resource Partnership finds that our residents believe that we are on the wrong track in dealing with traffic problems by a margin of 74-18 percent. This is an extraordinarily high number for such a poll. This is even greater than the disapproval rating for Congress. The survey also says, "To the surprise of many, unaided responses focused on the ability of families to continue to live here, good jobs that would keep their children here, and maintaining the unique Island lifestyle." Why the Pulse Survey should find that surprising is in itself surprising; it has been a major complaint of small business and other lower-tax proponents that the continued tax increase burdens placed on local residents are making living here unsustainable. The rail tax increase already in place with more rail taxes to come is one of the major threats to local folks and their families being able to continue living in Hawaii. READ MORE

November 13, 2007.

Today's Star-Bulletin op/ed: Rail is not so environmental:

Making the case that rail is not so energy efficient after all, Cliff Slater has written an op/ed in today's Star-Bulletin, which gives the full details of why and is buttressed by footnotes showing the source of the information. The footnoted version is here. READ MORE

November 10, 2007.

League of Women Voters Forum panelists now on-line:

On Saturday October 27, the Honolulu League of Women Voters held a Transportation Forum at the State Capitol with four panelists, Mr. Toru Hamayasu, City Director of Transportation Planning, Dr. Panos Prevedouros, UH Professor of Traffic Engineering, Councilmember Ann Kobayashi and Councilmember Gary Okino. The video tape of the League's entire forum will air on Olelo Ch. 49 at the following times:

  • 11/11/07 Sun 12:30 pm
  • 11/12/07 Mon 2:00 pm
  • 11/18/07 Sun 10:30 am
  • 11/26/07 Mon 2:00 pm

Do not miss this program. Since a good deal of it revolves around the accusations made about lying it would be useful if you first see the "21 Lies" video, which lasts 26 minutes, otherwise Mr. Okino's presentation will not make sense. While we recommend seeing the entire program, for those who wish to select just the panelists' individual presentations, we have broken them out separately. SEE PANELISTS PRESENTATIONS.

November 8, 2007.

Engineering News Record says Prop 1 a boost for pricing:

Today Engineering News Record, the lead engineering paper said of Seattle's defeat of Proposition 1 that, "The defeat is an apparent boost for "congestion pricing" -- the use of pervasive tolling that varies with traffic, to discourage so-called nonessential trips. It would also raise money where taxes are lacking."

Sound Transit proposed 50 miles of new light rail, worth about $10 billion in current dollars, as the biggest piece of Proposition 1, which also included 186 miles of road expansions. Earl emphasized that construction is 80 percent complete on the first light-rail line from Westlake Center to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, to open in late 2009. That job will continue, and there is plenty of work to do, she said."
 READ MORE

 

Olelo to show "21 Lies about rail transit":

This video is based on statements made by City Transportation Planning Director Toru Hamayasu and Councilmember Gary Okino during an August Island Insights show on PBS Hawaii. The show will air on Olelo at the times and on the channels that follow:

11/11/07 Channel 54
11/12/07 Mon 7:30 pm, Channel 54
11/14/07 6:00 pm, Channel 49
11/15/07 Thu 8:00 am, Channel 49

November 7, 2007.

Seattle Times: "Huge roads-transit plan gets trounced":

Proposition 1 news: "Voters rejected a multibillion-dollar regional roads-and-transit package on Tuesday, likely leaving state lawmakers with a transportation mess that could take years to sort out."
In addition, Initiative 960, which would require a two-thirds vote of the Legislature to approve any increase in taxes, appears to pass.
 READ MORE

 

Please welcome the newest members of HonoluluTraffic.com
 

Bob McWilliams Li Schooland Robert Schwalbaum Geraldine Scott
Charles Scott

Maxine La Flamme

Ruben Reyes Janet Weyenberg
David Bohn Pat Meyers Sally Youngblood Rachelle Nobriga
David Park Peggy Chun Ty Robinson Warren Woodward
Donna Ching Pete Seymour Victor Meyers

Jim Brady

John Lee

Laure Dillon

Suzi Byrnes

Leslie Mattice

Heidi Ho Conjugation

Geoffrey Patterson AIA

 

November 5, 2007.

Why hundreds of U.S. light rail lines were ripped up — and then replaced

      Hundreds ofU.S. light rail (streetcar) systems were built between 1890 and 1920 in cities as small as 25,000 population.Honolulu had a population of 39,300 at the time its first electric streetcars ran in 1900.

      This happened before the automobile and the bus became competitive with light rail. Most of these rail systems were then taken out in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s because they had become cost-inefficient relative to the newly developing buses.

      Cities then began to re-install light rail in the 1970s after public transportation was socialized and costs no longer mattered. This story is an interesting one and essential if one is to understand the current problem.  READ MORE 

 

Great coverage of the transit issue at HawaiiReporter.com:

Just in the last few days, www.hawaiireporter.com has published these five articles. Search on their site using RAIL TRANSIT and you'll get them and many others.

 

What $4.6 Billion Could Buy for Hawaii

By Bob Sigall, 11/5/2007 10:20:53 AM He is the author of the best selling book, "The Companies We Keep".

 

Cutting Through the Plannerspeak

By Cliff Slater, 11/3/2007 1:18:44 PM  Submitted in response to City Transportation Planner's article below.


City's Fixed Guideway Project is Best Traffic Solution for Honolulu

By Toru Hamayasu, 11/2/2007 12:59:59 PM. More spin from the City.


Rail Transit Not Worth the Big Financial Risk

By Cliff Slater, 11/1/2007 11:13:35 AM


Faith and Facts About the Proposed Rail Project

By Philip Blackman, 10/29/2007 1:31:12 PM. Sensible opinion piece by Phil Blackman.

 

Olelo schedule for the League of Women Voters forum video:

      On Saturday October 27, the Honolulu League of Women Voters held a Transportation Forum at the State Capitol with four panelists, Mr. Toru Hamayasu, City Director of Transportation Planning, Dr. Panos Prevedouros, UH Professor of Traffic Engineering, Councilmember Ann Kobayashi and Councilmember Gary Okino.

      Ms. Pearl Johnson, Chair of the League’s Transportation Committee, presided and the League's JoAnn Maruoka was the Moderator. Each of the panelists spoke for ten minutes, then was a little more than an hour of public testimony with comments from the panelists. The meeting ended with each of the panelists having two minutes for summations.

     Do not miss this program. Since a good deal of it revolves around the accusations made about lying it would be useful if you first see the "21 Lies" video posted below otherwise Mr. Okino's rather emotional presentation will not make sense.

     Our video tape of the League's forum will air on Olelo on Channel 49 at the following times:

      11/11/07 Sun 12:30 pm, 11/12/07 Mon 2:00 pm, 11/18/07 Sun 10:30 am, 11/26/07 Mon 2:00 pm

 

Wall St. Journal: "Life in the slow lane":

Reason Foundation's Bob Poole in today's WSJ details the rapid spread of not only electronic toll collection but also cashless tolls — if you don't have your electronic toll card in your car, your license plate number is recognized and you are billed at home.  READ MORE

 

October 31, 2007.

A reminder to get your friends to see the 26-minute video "21 Lies":

This video contains clips of an August PBS Hawaii Island Insights show with Dan Boylan moderating, with participants Councilmembers Ann Kobayashi and Gary Okino, City Chief Transportation Planner Toru Hamayasu and Professor Panos Prevedouros. In addition to this location, the video can also be found on "Our video channel" tab.

Listing of Managed Lanes now available:

This listing officially called "U.S. Managed Lane Projects with Pricing Component" was produced by the Transportation Research Board's Joint Subcommittee on Managed Lanes and was accurate through February 2007. It lists seven existing projects, two under construction and 30 under development together with links to all their websites. We will maintain this list under both the "Publications" and "HOT lanes" tabs.  DOWNLOAD LIST

 

Video of  League of Women Voters forum on Olelo:

There are three versions in existence of the video covering the League's forum that took place last Saturday. Our version should be up on this website in a day or two. The one produced by Tom Berg and it will air on one of the Olelo channels at the following times:

11/2/07 Fri 3:30 pm Channel 54; 11/4/07 Sun 11:30 am Channel 49; 11/9/07 Fri 3:30 pm Channel 54;11/10/07 Sat 1:00 pm Channel 49

 

October 30, 2007.

FTA makes the definitive statement on forecasting failures:

The following statement from the Federal Transit Administration confirms three issues which the City has argued against. First, the majority of transit forecasts are unreliable. Second, the US DOT still stands behind the Pickrell report. Third, the FTA finds the Flyvbjerb studies credible. Perhaps this statement might keep the City quiet on these issues:

      "FTA has long been concerned about the reliability of the cost and ridership information used in the planning and project development process. The Department of Transportation’s 1990 [Pickrell] report on this subject, several studies by Bent Flyvbjerg, and analyses by FTA have documented the fact that the majority of rail transit projects have significantly underestimated their construction costs and overestimated the actual ridership at the time those projects were chosen locally as the preferred alternatives, compared to the actual cost and ridership figures after the projects were constructed." CPAR, pp. 1-2.  READ MORE

 

Another good quote from our "Quotations" section:

This one from the Long Beach Press-Telegram last week in an op/ed, "Toll Roads to the Rescue," by noted transportation economist, Gabriel Roth.

     "Most U.S. road systems are like relics of the former Soviet Union: socialist enterprises run by well-intentioned planners with no regard to the pricing and investment criteria that allocate goods and services in free societies. Moscow citizens got relief from food lines by abolishing socialism. The market economy could similarly liberate road users from excessive congestion."  READ MORE

      And check out the Quotations section

 

Parsons Brinckerhoff reliably "client-focused" — whoever it is:

  • “The light rail transit alternative was dropped because subsequent analyses revealed that Bus/Rapid Transit using electric-powered vehicles could accomplish virtually all of the objectives of  light rail transit at substantially less cost.” MIS/Draft EIS of the Bus/Rapid Transit Program, August 2000. pp. 2-2 to 2-4. Prepared by Parsons Brinckerhoff Quad & Douglas.

  • "The Fixed [Rail] Guideway Alternative is substantially more cost-effective than the Managed Lane Alternative when the respective transit user benefits per dollar of cost relative to the TSM Alternative are compared." Honolulu Alternatives Analysis prepared by Parsons Brinckerhoff, November 2006.

October 29, 2007.

Dr. Prevedouros and Councilmember Kobayashi triumph:

     City Transportation Planning Director Toru Hamayasu and Councilmember Gary Okino were totally outclassed at the League of Women Voters Forum Saturday morning. We will have the video of the event up and running in a couple of days and we understand that Olelo will also be running it. Stay tuned for the video and Olelo schedule.

     Mr. Hamayasu emphatically stated that HOT lanes was properly studied in the Alternatives Analysis as the Managed Lanes Alternative and therefore would definitely not be considered in the current Environmental Impact Statement analysis.  Ann Kobayashi pointed out that the Fixed Guideway must include a bus alternative and that it is proper since the City Council has not designated the technology. Professor Prevedouros said the HOT alternative was not properly engineered, that it was purposely designed to fail.

     Councilman Okino refuted the claim that the Vancouver rail system loses money, showing a newspaper clipping.  No statistics were provided from the Vancouver transportation authority, however.  

     Okino was angered by charges that impugned his honesty and integrity about his statements in KHET’s Island Insights program.  But he was unable to back up his several claims with official government statistics or peer-reviewed authorities.  He asked the public to trust his statements based on his religious piety.

 

Toru Hamayasu and Cliff Slater battle it out in the Advertiser:

Last Friday in the Advertiser's editorial page Toru and Cliff had side by side op/eds on the rail issue. Toru's was titled "City transit and sensible solution,"  READ MORE  and Cliff's, "Rail transit not worth the big financial risk."  READ MORE  The umbrella title for both was "The cost of rail: Money pit or not?" accompanied by a graphic of greenbacks going down into a pit.

 

Seattle transit official turns his back on rail and embraces HOT lanes.

Seattle Times: "Four years ago, when Sound Transit asked the federal government to approve construction of aSeattle light-rail line, King County Executive Ron Sims was the chairman and public face of the agency. Now, Sims won't endorse a tax measure on the November ballot that would extend those tracks toLynnwood, Overlake andTacoma over the next two decades.  Lately, Sims has embraced a different strategy to address traffic congestion: so-called congestion pricing, which aims to reduce traffic by charging drivers a variable toll at busy times of day."  READ MORE

 

October 23, 2007.

Compare the Texas state and county governments to ours — and weep:

Here's the TxDOT Plan — "Our plan calls for faster completion of transportation projects with additional money to get the job done right. The plan is focused on five goals.

  • Reduce congestion
  • Enhance safety
  • Expand economic opportunity
  • Improve air quality
  • Increase the value of transportation assets

Our plan is based on four strategies.

  • We will use all financial options to build transportation projects.
  • We will empower local leaders to solve local problems.
  • We will drive down cost through competition.
  • We will demand consumer-driven decisions.

Our Commitment

The entire TxDOT organization is committed to achieving these goals. Our present and our future depend on it. We are moving forward to give Texans the first-class transportation system they deserve."  READ MORE

       

        And now for the Hawaii Plan: Hawaii has no plan to increase the capacity of H-1. What else do you need to know.

 

Video: Drew Carey on traffic for Reason Foundation:

Reason.tv Host Drew Carey examines the costs and consequences of traffic jams and explores several solutions that can get our roads moving. How does a speedy trip on the "Drew Carey Freeway" sound? Plus, one lucky commuter gets a helicopter ride to work, courtesy of Drew, in this short nine-minute video presentation:

 

October 22, 2007.

Video: Ted Balaker on how to build our way out of congestion:

Reason's Ted Balaker debunks the myth that "we can't build our way out of congestion" in this short video presentation: 

 

October 20, 2007.

Video: Bob Poole of Reason Foundation on Bloomberg TV:

Reason Foundation Founder Robert Poole, who has advised the last four presidential administrations, discusses ways to pay for the nation's massive infrastructure needs.

 

Pritchett cartoons up to date:

     We have just brought up to date our archive of all of John Pritchett's wonderful cartoons that are relevant to our issue. Go to the cartoons tab and click on John Pritchett. They are really worth the effort. We owe a great deal to John's genius in poking fun at this ridiculous waste of public funds.

 

October 15, 2007.

Today we launch our  new HonoluluTraffic.com video channel:

     We currently have 29 videos up in full color of various members and associates of HonoluluTraffic.com together with City Councilmembers and others. From now on, the video channel link will always be prominently featured at the top of our home page (see above) in addition to having a separate tab.  

 

Reason Foundation launches on-line TV show with Drew Carey:  

     Reason today launched an on-line TV show with Drew Carey discussing LA traffic and possible ways to alleviate traffic there. He discusses HOT lanes (of course), tunneling and even helicopters. We recommend this first show as a great introduction to HOT lanes and congestion pricing in general.    SEE REASON TV

 

Contra Costa Times says SFO's BART rail line is in trouble:

     The aging BART system is running up against a fiscal rock wall. The Contra Costa Times says, "Cables and computers that signal cars to slow down or speed up have a few more years of reliable life. Wires and circuits that deliver electricity to power the trains are running low on time. At 35, BART is getting old. The transit system's board approved on Thursday a 25-year road map that foresees the need to spend $11.4 billion on hardware and equipment but identifies funding sources for only half the money. Finding the other half -- a $5.8 billion shortfall -- will be a big but necessary task, BART managers and board members said. "It's a big challenge," said Joel Keller, a BART board member from Antioch. "We have to reinvest in this system to keep BART service reliable."   READ MORE 

    There is a useful lesson to be learned here regarding the future financial liability of any potential Honolulu rail line. You do not build a rail line and it is there forever. Replacement and refurbishing costs, over and above normal operating and maintenance costs, are a serious matter.  For further detail on this issue, see page 3 of http://www.honolulutraffic.com/costunderstate3.pdf

     Yesterday's Washington DC Examiner carried a related story about deferred maintenance on the DC Metrorail.  READ MORE        

 

October 14, 2007.

Major U.S. daily opposes a new rail transit line:  

     Today, the Seattle Times came out in strong opposition to Proposition 1, the region's major transportation proposal. Of rail transit the paper editorialized that it, "spends huge amounts of money to make congestion worsen at a slightly lesser rate. Seattle may deny this, but the surest way to reduce congestion on roads is to build more lanes. So says a report issued by State Auditor Brian Sonntag last week, and so says human experience. New roads help."

    "Much more could be done with bus service, particularly if high-occupancy lanes are kept flowing by the smart use of tolls. Light rail replaces buses, and at a much higher cost per rider. Rail soaks up money buses might have used. Rail funnels transit. Buses extend it. And most rail riders will be people who were already riding the bus."

     And of Transit Oriented Development, the editorial continues, "The farsighted ones say light rail is about changing the way we live. It is about increasing density, levering us into apartments around rail stations. If we live next to rail, we will drive less and help save the Earth. It is a fetching, utopian vision, but it is not so easy to change the way Americans live."

     "Consider Portland. That city opened its first light-rail line two decades ago, and has built several of them, all of which replaced bus lines. Overall, Greater Portland is no less car-dependent than Seattle. Its congestion has gotten worse, just as it has here. Many Portlanders are proud of light rail, but the last three times new light-rail plans have been on the ballot in the Portland area, the people rejected them.

     "Maybe they learned something."

      Today's Seattle Times editorial is a very important event. To our knowledge it is the first time a major U.S. daily has opposed a rail transit line. For those of us who have spent the last 20 years waiting for the major dailies to wake up to rail transit's problems, it is a very gratifying moment.  READ MORE

 

New York transit strike shows benefits of telecommuting:

News article from Australia comments on the New York experience and quotes Reason Foundation's Ted Balaker saying, "In some cities like San Diego, Dallas and Phoenix, telecommuters now outnumber public transport commuters. In Oklahoma City telecommuters outnumber transit commuters by nearly five to one." Of course, with market share for transit slowly declining while ratcheting up for telecommuting, one does not need to ask what the government is encouraging.  READ MORE

 

Govt. docs: Read between the lines after parsing the sentences:

       In this document, the author asks rhetorically about Honolulu's rail transit, "Will the project relieve traffic congestion?" Here's the answer: "Traffic has been increasing rapidly on Oahu. No single project will be able to relieve congestion far into the future. When built, the transit project will help take some drivers off of H-1 and other corridor roadways. This will reduce congestion in the short-term, and also help reduce the rate at which congestion grows in the future, but not eliminate traffic congestion in the corridor. All urban areas inevitably experience some level of traffic congestion; however, an effective transit system provides users mobility despite traffic congestion." READ MORE

 

October 3, 2007.

Star-Bulletin's bizarre editorial:

In an editorial two days ago the Star Bulletin wrote, "As the Council's final decision was nearing last year, critics proposed the option of a reversible tollway that they maintained would be cheaper and effective. They a 10-mile stretch that opened last year between downtown Tampa, Fla., and a suburban area. The Tampa tollway is open only during rush hour, receives little use and is costing more than was expected." READ MORE

    Dr. Martin Stone, PhD., AICP, Director of Planning for the Tampa Expressway Authority, immediately wrote to the editor. "I was very disappointed to read the recent editorial in your newspaper that included references to our reversible express lane project that were completely inaccurate. Your comment that “The Tampa tollway is open only during rush hour, receives little use and is costing more than was expected” paints a picture that is not supported in any way by the facts of our project.

    "The Tampa Hillsborough County Expressway Authority’s Reversible Express Lanes has just won the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association’s Toll Excellence Award as the Best Toll Operations Project in the World for 2007. IBTTA recognized the project because it provides one of the world’s best combinations of time savings, convenience, safety and reliability for the price." He went on to refute every statement that the SB made about the tollway.  READ MORE

    What is puzzling is why the SB would make such grossly inaccurate statements about the Tampa Tollway when it is a public agency whose performance is a matter of public record.  

 

October 2, 2007.

Sex and the City transit:

    From a recent Newsday relating to Okino and "safe" transit: "The Manhattan borough president wants more police in the subways to fend off perverts who attack straphangers.

    Scott Stringer's office asked commuters how often someone sexually attacked or harassed them in the subway, and found frightening results. More than 60 percent of those who responded to the online study said they were sexually harassed and 10 percent said they'd been sexually assaulted.

    "This whole notion of what happens underground stays underground is just not acceptable anymore," Stringer said. "Instead of fighting back, people have become afraid or believe that nothing can be done." READ MORE

 

September 28, 2007.

Nothing more needs to be said about this John Pritchett cartoon :

September 24, 2007.

Advertiser reports on the Las Vegas monorail:

The Las Vegas Monorail, privately funded mostly by casinos, now has ridership that is only 40 percent of what was originally forecast and looks like going belly up. Transportation officials believe the way out of trouble is to expand it or, as the report has it, can it "double down to avoid going bust?" Wendell Cox, noted rail critic, is quoted as saying the solution to the financial woes of the beleaguered monorail is to "tear it down. That's the first thing they should do. It's an eyesore. It has no redeeming value whatsoever."  READ MORE

September 20, 2007.

Star-Bulletin comments on TheBoat:

This is a most interesting editorial from one of our daily newspapers. As they say, "The ferry won't get commuters to their jobs any sooner, even at peak rush hour. Three Star-Bulletin staffers left Makakilo simultaneously at 5 a.m. yesterday and recorded their times to arrive downtown: commuting by TheBoat took one hour and 43 minutes, by car took 28 minutes and by express bus, 37 minutes. The key to TheBoat's success is that one hour is spent on the ferry boat and can be put to use by the commuter. As the rush hour reaches its peak, TheBoat will remain slowest but not by as much."  READ MORE

September 17, 2007.

Cliff Slater has op/ed in today's Hawaii Reporter:

The title, Barber's Point Ferry to Fail -- Again,does not take any foresight. He details its past failures and spells out why it cannot succeed this time. READ MORE

 

Star-Bulletin has excellent coverage on TheBoat in tonight's paper:

The Star-Bulletin should get a lot of praise for covering the story the way they did using three reporters, on Express Bus, on TheBoat and by auto. They all started around 5:15. Door to door, the auto took 28 minutes and TheBoat took 1 hour 25 minutes.  READ MORE

 

September 13, 2007.

Panos Prevedouros presents solutions to OMPO meeting:

Dr. Prevedouros, professor of Traffic Engineering at UH, spoke recently to the Citizens'' Advisory Council of the Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization on superior alternatives to rail. To activate the video press PLAY on the bottom left corner of the image below. Should you have problems with this, try this link instead  VIEW VIDEO

 

A reminder about ridership forecasts vs. actual:

0This table below is from an FTA document that discusses the inaccuracy of transit ridership projections.

In general, recent forecasts' accuracies are no better than those reported in the last official US DOT report authored by the Chief Economist of US DOT's Volpe Center, Dr. Pickrell, in 1990.

Note that some of the more expensive transit projects are those with the greatest innacurancies such as the LA Red line, the Atlanta North Line and the Chicago Orange Line.

The forecasts are those made at the time of both the Alternatives Analysis (AA) and the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS). These are then compared with the actual ridership achieved.

Of particular interest is the enormous gap between the best and worst forecasts from only 6 percent of what they forecast to 142 percent of forecast. And these are all forecasts approved by FTA. There is so little correlation that it is quite obvious that the forecasts are totally meaningless. One cannot accuse the consultants of always having a ridership shortfall because they have actually under forecast in several instances. For the full FTA paper  READ MORE

 

 

September 11, 2007.

"Yes, Virginia, there is a HOT lanes":

Virginia transportation officials have reached a preliminary agreement with two companies for a financing plan that will provide $1.7 billion to build high-occupancy toll [HOT] lanes on a section of the Beltway. The plan would create two HOT lanes in both directions on a 14-mile stretch of the Beltway. READ MORE

Hawaii Reporter shows a hard-hitting video about rail: WATCH VIDEO

September 8, 2007.

And now a word from the French:

One of the problems we have is convincing the powers that be that they have the wrong costs for the HOT lanes aka Managed Lanes. The Hawaii DOT tells that, for example, that the latest estimate of costs for the Nimitz Flyover, 2.2 miles from the Nimitz Exchange to Pier 16 just two lanes wide, is $540 million. Please see this powerpoint presentation, which shows the recently opened Millau Bridge in France. This bridge, the tallest in the world, costs less to build than what is estimated for the Nimitz Flyover. French construction labor costs are the same as ours. VIEW PRESENTATION

 

September 6, 2007.

Balaker: "Pols love public transit — just not for themselves"

Great piece in the Los Angeles Daily News by Ted Balaker of the Reason Foundation. We might well ask, "Has anyone see the Mayor riding TheBus lately?" On a recent Public Television program, Councilmember Okino and City Transportation Planning Director Hamayasu both admitted that they rarely if ever use TheBus. READ MORE

 

September 3, 2007.

And lest we forget the Senators who voted for the rail tax increase:

LastName First Name Vote for 1309 District Party
Taniguchi Brian

x

10 (D)
Sakamoto Norman

x

15 (D)
Nishihara Clarence K.

x

18 (D)
Mercado Kim Donna

x

14 (D)
Menor Ron

x

17 (D)
Kokubun Russell S.

x

2 (D)
Inouye Lorraine R.

x

1 (D)
Ihara Jr. Les

x

9 (D)
Ige David Y.

x

16 (D)
Hooser Gary L.

x

7 (D)
Hee Clayton

x

23 (D)
Hanabusa Colleen

x

21 (D)
Fukunaga Carol

x

11 (D)
Espero Will

x

20 (D)
English Kalani J.

x

6 (D)
Chun Oakland Suzanne

x

13 (D)
Bunda Robert

x

22 (D)
Baker Rosalyn H.

x

5 (D)

 

Lest we forget:

The people who got us into this rail transit bind are the Representatives and Senators who voted for the increase in the GE tax. The following Representatives are those who are still in the House and most of them will be seeking re-election:

LAST NAME

FIRST NAME

District_#

Party

District

Takamine

Dwight Y

1

(D)

Hawaii

Chang

Jerry L

2

(D)

Hawaii

Tsuji

Clift

3

(D)

Hawaii

Herkes

Robert N

5

(D)

Hawaii

Evans

Cindy

7

(D)

Hawaii

Souki

Joseph M

8

(D)

Maui

Nakasone

 Bob

9

(D)

Maui

Yamashita

 Kyle T

12

(D)

Maui

Morita

 Hermina M

14

(D)

Kauai

Say

 Calvin K.Y

20

(D)

Hon East

Caldwell

 Kirk

24

(D)

Manoa

Ching

 Corinne W.L

27

(R)

Liliha

Oshiro

 Blake K

33

(D)

Aiea

Takai

 K. Mark

34

(D)

Pearl City

Sonson

 Alex M

35

(D)

Halawa

Takumi

 Roy M

36

(D)

Aiea

Yamane

 Ryan I

37

(D)

Mililani/Gentry

Lee

 Marilyn B

38

(D)

Mililani Mauka

Oshiro

 Marcus R

39

(D)

Wahiawa

Karamatsu

 Jon Riki

41

(D)

Waikele

Cabanilla

 Rida T.R

42

(D)

Ewa Beach

Shimabukuro

 Maile S.L

45

(D)

Waianei

Magaoay

 Michael Y

46

(D)

North Shore

Ito

 Ken

48

(D)

Kaneohe

 

September 1, 2007.

Malia Zimmerman blitzes Hawaii's politicos in WSJ:

       In today’s Wall Street Journal, Hawaii Reporter’s Malia Zimmerman details how the arrogance of Hawaii’s elected officials and its courts struck down a property tax reduction referendum organized and passed by two-thirds of Kauai voters. This action is relevant to the rail transit tax in Honolulu where the voters did not get vote on the first rail tax increase and won’t get to vote on future ones.

       She concludes, “Is it any wonder then that Hawaii has the dubious distinction of having the nation's highest overall tax burden? The national Small Business Survival Index has rated Hawaii the "worst" place to operate a business. Some here joke that state officials no longer agree with the Founding Fathers when it comes to "taxation without representation." Still, many understand that, even in paradise, power to the people, not the government, is worth the fight.”    READ MORE