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I don't think the super ferry or anything else will kill Oahu's economy. Until Pearl Harbor is no longer a great port Honolulu will have a good economy.
I hear this sort of thing all the time when anything new is proposed. Anyone complaining about environmental studies not being done correctly is opposed to development, growth, progress, or anything else you want to call it. There's nothing wrong with that...but you are acting as if you would have been okay with the ferry had the Is been dotted and the Ts crossed.
What was the problem with the ferry? Nearly every person I know supported it and the local families were happy to have it.
There were serious environmental concerns about the effect the large, high speed ferries would have on marine life... particularly on whales... and on the ecology of the smaller harbors, particularly on Kaua'i. And there was concern about the increase in vehicle traffic that a car ferry could bring to the neighbor islands, particularly Kaua'i. And worry about invasives and pests being easily distributed from island to island. And then there was the horrendous cost of the program.
By trying to take shortcuts and race everything past the normal regulatory steps they built a lot of resistance. So yes, some people liked using the service, but many were opposed to the operation by the time the courts shut it down.
There were serious environmental concerns about the effect the large, high speed ferries would have on marine life... particularly on whales... and on the ecology of the smaller harbors, particularly on Kaua'i. And there was concern about the increase in vehicle traffic that a car ferry could bring to the neighbor islands, particularly Kaua'i. And worry about invasives and pests being easily distributed from island to island. And then there was the horrendous cost of the program.
By trying to take shortcuts and race everything past the normal regulatory steps they built a lot of resistance. So yes, some people liked using the service, but many were opposed to the operation by the time the courts shut it down.
But it's ok to have Matson, the Navy, and charter boats running between the islands...
People who were against the ferry should just come out and say the real reason, they don't want others coming to "their" islands.
I hear this sort of thing all the time when anything new is proposed. Anyone complaining about environmental studies not being done correctly is opposed to development, growth, progress, or anything else you want to call it. There's nothing wrong with that...but you are acting as if you would have been okay with the ferry had the Is been dotted and the Ts crossed.
This is exactly it.
It wasn't the environmental problems. There's nothing all that different between a ferry with cars and a cargo ship. It's about development. They people against it want people to stay off of their islands and don't want the possibility of their way of life being compromised.
It wasn't the environmental problems. There's nothing all that different between a ferry with cars and a cargo ship. It's about development. They people against it want people to stay off of their islands and don't want the possibility of their way of life being compromised.
the people taking the ferry are already on the islands.
There's nothing all that different between a ferry with cars and a cargo ship.
Actually, there is. Cargo ships travel at 12 - 20 mph, while the Superferry traveled at 40mph, making it a greater hazard for whales, dolphins and sea turtles. During its short life there was a suspected Superferry strike on a humpback whale.
Sure, there was a lot of protest by folks resisting development, but the environmental concerns were real, and turned out to be at least somewhat justified in practice.
I think there is also some lurking fear on the other islands of being overrun by Oahu. One of the major reasons folks move to the other/outer/neighbor islands is to get away from the crazy busy-ness of Oahu. Having it able to follow and impact folks is a concern. I think some of the concerns might be similar to a small mom and pop restaurant watching a tour bus pull up.
I suppose the ferry will take away as many cars as it brings each time, so hopefully there would be just the initial influx of however many hundred and then it would be a revolving stream of them instead of a collection of more and more.
Personally, I'm concerned about what will be affected by the ferry - since at this moment, it is still a big unknown; at least, on this island. I didn't use to like the idea of a ferry but am more ambivalent about it these days now that the airlines have made inter-island travel something much more expensive than it used to be. It would be good for farmers and craftspeople to be able to load up their truck and take their produce to sell to the folks on other islands. At the moment, they have to ship it via Young Brothers, which takes several days and then fly over and rent a car if they want to directly sell their goods.
There were some incidents of folks gathering things on Maui that they weren't supposed to when the ferry was in business. That sort of thing could start up again if the ferry started again. However, not everything is all either good or bad, so the ferry will be the same way. If it came to this island, it would be a change, most folks aren't happy with change unless it is done slowly and with full understanding of what is impending.
Last edited by hotzcatz; 06-15-2014 at 01:13 PM..
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