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Terracore - sorry to disappoint- HNL has plenty of capacity still. You wouldn't have an airline based in Honolulu normally #1 in on time arrivals in the nation if the airport was that congested. Sigh.
Actually there is a way to complete the construction of rail system without increasing hotel tax or excise tax. And of course outer islands need not contribute.
Build some casinos in Kapolei.
Let's be realistic. 48 out of the 50 states already let "Game" business exist, why Hawaii the exception?
If you don't want local folks to go into the casino, it is pretty easy. Only those customers with foreign passports or out-of-state driver license can gain free entry. If local folks want to access to any of the casinos, he has to pay $200 admission fee.
With a cluster of casinos in Kapolei, the Rail system can be pretty sure there will be enough ridership. And the passenger flow will be both ways -- people commute to work from Leeward to town in the morning while tourists will shuttle from Ala Moana to the Leeward side in the same hours -- which guarantees that the train capacity will be optimally utilized in both directions.
With the "Game" Business established in Kapolei, there will also be less traffic to town since many residents over there can find employment right by where they live.
If you don't want local folks to go into the casino, it is pretty easy. Only those customers with foreign passports or out-of-state driver license can gain entry. If local folks want to access to any of the casinos, he has to pay $200 admission fee.
I'm all for casinos in Hawaii - I'm off to Vegas Saturday.
With that said, a casino on Oahu isn't needed - tourism is already at max capacity on Oahu with no new hotels being built in Waikiki.
Best place to put a casino would be the BI - it would spur tourism quite a bit in my opinion and keep more gambling money local than Vegas. Put in a luxury resort like Wynn, MGM, etc and the people will go.
And no need to keep locals out, that is discriminatory.
"Terracore - sorry to disappoint- HNL has plenty of capacity still. You wouldn't have an airline based in Honolulu normally #1 in on time arrivals in the nation if the airport was that congested. Sigh."
I never said HNL airport was at capacity, the CBP facilities for accepting foreign travelers is.
Honolulu is normally #1 in on time departures (I didn't know arrivals was also tracked in that manner, but thanks for clearing that up for me) in the nation because it is the only airport, or at least one of only a handful in the country, that doesn't suffer regular or seasonal problems with snow, thunderstorms, ice, sleet, etc.
"Best place to put a casino would be the BI - it would spur tourism quite a bit in my opinion and keep more gambling money local than Vegas. Put in a luxury resort like Wynn, MGM, etc and the people will go."
This is one of the best ideas yet. Couldn't agree more.
"Terracore - sorry to disappoint- HNL has plenty of capacity still. You wouldn't have an airline based in Honolulu normally #1 in on time arrivals in the nation if the airport was that congested. Sigh."
I never said HNL airport was at capacity, the CBP facilities for accepting foreign travelers is.
Honolulu is normally #1 in on time departures (I didn't know arrivals was also tracked in that manner, but thanks for clearing that up for me) in the nation because it is the only airport, or at least one of only a handful in the country, that doesn't suffer regular or seasonal problems with snow, thunderstorms, ice, sleet, etc.
.
Customs is not at capacity at HNL. As someone who clears customs at least once per month HNL is a piece of cake compared to LAX, IAD, ORD, MIA etc.
You can't have on time departure unless you have an on-time arrival from all those bad weather places. HNL has massive capacity still.
Terracore - sorry to disappoint- HNL has plenty of capacity still. You wouldn't have an airline based in Honolulu normally #1 in on time arrivals in the nation if the airport was that congested. Sigh.
It takes nothing away from Hawaiian Airlines' management to point out that they are very fortunate to be operating a route system that primarily serves destinations that are not negatively impacted by snow or ice or fog or thunderstorms. THAT is the primary reason why Hawaiian is the on-time champ.
To be sure, it helps that their main hub is apparently not over capacity. (At least I am assuming it isn't, or else their on-time performance would be taking more of a hit.) But that's not the main reason for their overall punctuality record.
As far as who should pay for Honolulu's rail system, I don't have much of a dog in this fight, other than the share that I'll be contributing as a federal taxpayer. I would be curious to know how the funding mechanism was initially sold to the public; what were the originally anticipated sources of funding? And also, have any audits been done to discover why the project has gone over budget?
As an operational matter, I'm appalled that it won't be serving Waikiki -- the single biggest concentration of tourists, and one of the biggest employment concentrations, in the entire state. (Unless this has changed; but I recall seeing a proposed route map that had the line terminating somewhere nearby, maybe it was Ala Moana Center.) How can they possibly justify failing to serve what would probably be the biggest potential transit market in the entire state of Hawaii?
As an operational matter, I'm appalled that it won't be serving Waikiki -- the single biggest concentration of tourists, and one of the biggest employment concentrations, in the entire state. (Unless this has changed; but I recall seeing a proposed route map that had the line terminating somewhere nearby, maybe it was Ala Moana Center.) How can they possibly justify failing to serve what would probably be the biggest potential transit market in the entire state of Hawaii?
All those City Council members missed the point when they proposed to build the rail. They only considered how to solve the traffic gridlock; but they didn't think of how the rail can be operating profitably.
The rail can never survive in long term financially based merely on the needs of residents living on the Leeward side. Moreover, if the traffic eases after the rail is running, many Leeward residents may switch back to cars to commute. Rail is only their second choice.
Rail should focus on the tourists instead of the Leeward residents if it wants to generate enough revenue to cover their daily operating costs. There are over 8 million tourists in Hawaii. Assuming 3/4 principally stay in Oahu, then there are over 6 million tourists in Oahu. Most of them don't rent cars. And there are not enough night time activities for those tourists, especially Asian guys, in Waikiki. That is why a cluster of Casinos in Kapolei will be best for them to kill time in the evening, and of course, another means to make them spend more money in Oahu.
If the rail is extended to Waikiki and a cluster of casinos is built in Kapolei, 6 million potential passengers will ride the train.
Rail was never intended to reduce traffic, they were pretty up front that it would, at best, keep it at the current level.
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I seriously doubt demand would be high for visitors to get all the way to Kapolei for a casino.......
I have visited Vancouver quite frequently. There is a casino at the very end of Richmond which is quite far away from Vancouver. But the casino is very crowded, especially in weekend. And their customers are principally Asians.
The Casino has a rail stop right in front of its entrance which is connected to airport and other parts of Vancouver.
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