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A 3% increase in the hotel tax as a means to fund the rail deficit is now being publicly floated to gauge local
reaction, however there is no clarity if this would significantly reduce the current $3.6 Billion +/- deficit and
the should be expected downstream cost overruns now that construction is entering Honolulu's central core.
I was reading about that on the Honolulu Civil Beat site earlier today. They continue to shoot into the dark and hope that something sticks. From what I gather, the city would issue bonds and use the tax revenues to pay them off. From where I stand, such a move would be yet another foolish decision from the government here, especially given that there is a good chance that tourism--and, thus, tax revenues--will see a dip again due to the delta variant. Already, we have airlines pointing out that they are seeing a decline in bookings.
Inside The ‘Frantic’ Push To Shorten Rail And Keep Its Federal Funding
Quote:
Neither the board that oversees rail nor the public have seen the latest so-called “recovery plan” – a new attempt by local transit officials to present a plausible path forward for a megaproject that has once again strayed over-budget.
Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation Executive Director Lori Kahikina said in a meeting last week that her staff is working “frantically” to get it done ahead of the Federal Transit Administration’s June 30 deadline.
That hasn’t stopped HART board members from voting in favor of the consequential plan that they have yet to see, so that they can pass it along to the City Council in time to make the FTA’s drop-dead date.
HART CEO the other day said - they haven't accounted for inflation and the hundreds of millions more money will be needed than is currently budgeted.....she called it the unknown unknowns.
Slim cracks are growing in the concrete columns that support most of the elevated stations along the western half of Oahu’s future rail line, posing a new and “potentially significant” problem that could delay the system’s interim opening even further, according to project leaders.
Contractors hired by the city’s Transportation Services Department discovered in recent weeks that those cracks have grown, Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation leaders told the agency’s board Thursday.
They’ve advised that passengers not be allowed into the seven affected stations until further inspections are done, HART Executive Director Lori Kahikina said.
“I don’t have all of the answers at this time,” Kahikina told the board during its latest general meeting. “The root cause, I don’t know. More research and analysis needs to be done.”
First video from this month shows up to the airport station. I was pleasantly surprised to still see a relative lack of traffic in the video (granted, I don't know what time it was taken).
Second video from June shows progress up the Middle Street section.
So they're going to end it just outside of effective walking distance from Ala Moana Center, which in turn is just outside effective walking distance from portions of Waikiki, which in turn is outside of walking distance from UH Moana. Thus missing the key destinations in that part of Honolulu.
Quote:
Honolulu resident Abi Lee had this to say about a rail line to Kakaako: “Pretty inconvenient. I don’t think I would use it.”
I'll bet a lot of people will be saying that. Maybe commuters from West Oahu to downtown Honolulu will ride it, but a transit line that runs during all daytime hours and into the evening (which I assume this one will) needs more than just commuter traffic to be sustainable.
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