Back on track

Posted Thursday, 17 April 2008, 09:12 HST @716

Last night’s City Council vote on the mass transit project did end up in a deadlock, as I indicated might happen. See the Honolulu Advertiser and the Honolulu Star-Bulletin for articles about last night’s meeting, and see my comments from yesterday in this article on billso.com

Without Council chair Barbara Marshall, who missed the meeting because of a “family emergency”, the council was split 4-4 between rail and buses. Council members have scheduled another vote for next week to either approve all three technologies or recommend nothing. In either case, the mayor will make the final call. He has always favored steel-on-steel rail.

Mayor moves ahead

In a press conference after the nine-hour council meeting, Mayor Mufi Hannemann announced his decision:

“It’s clear that the City Council is in a state of chaos and confusion… I’ve directed my director of transportation services to begin inserting steel-on-steel as the technology in the draft environmental impact statement.”

The deal that created the special advisory panel stipulated that if the council did not select a specific technology, the panel’s section would prevail. The panel recommended steel-on-steel rail by a 4-1 vote.

Too little, too late?

As both newspapers pointed out this morning, the Council’s vote next week is their last opportunity for input on the system’s cost, mode and noise. Barbara Marshall avoided direct blame for the rail vs. bus question by skipping the meeting.

Council member Romy Cachola continues to complain about potential noise and property value issues in his district. However, he is the council member who insisted the proposed route be shifted to his district and away from Pearl Harbor and Honolulu International Airport. The route can be shifted back, of course. THe Department of Defense and the airport would welcome an alternative to crowded parking lots and automobile gridlock.

Meanwhile, dissident council member Charles Djou is outraged that the city is buying public relations firms as part of the proposal. See this Star-Bulletin article for more details. One of these firms is led by former US Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta. He favors rail:

“There’s nothing like dependability,” Mineta said, voicing his support for rail. “There’s no reason to reinvent the wheel.”

2 responses so far ↓

1 billso // Sunday, 20 April 2008, 07:34 HST @649

The Honolulu Star-Bulletin’s lead editorial today asks the City Council to let steel-on-steel rail go forward. Their opportunity to make this decision has passed.

The editorial’s description of Wednesday night’s meeting is apt:

Only two members voted for a bewildering bill naming three technologies — rail, rubber-tire and magnetic levitation.

The Council is likely to remain irrelevant…
2 billso // Sunday, 20 April 2008, 15:53 HST @995

Check my post on 20 April 2008 for the Honolulu newspapers’ editorials on this decision.