Posted on: Tuesday, December 17, 2002

EDITORIAL
Lingle-Harris talks on transit crucial

At first blush, it might seem beside the point that Gov. Linda Lingle has doubts about and objections to Honolulu's proposed Bus Rapid Transit project.

After all, this is city business, not state business.

But Lingle makes a good point in noting that the federal government (which will pay for a substantial portion of the project) expects both the city and the state to be on the same page when it comes to these major urban transportation projects.

So it is important that Lingle and Mayor Jeremy Harris move ahead with serious talks about this project when they meet, perhaps this week. During the campaign, Lingle opposed the project, particularly the portion involving at-grade transit routes within urban Honolulu.

Now, doubts about mass transit emanating from the governor's office is nothing new.

About the only time there was consensus between county and state was briefly, during the administrations of former Gov. John Waihee and former Mayor Frank Fasi. Waihee managed to get authorization for a dedicated transit excise tax through the Legislature, but the plan died in a narrow City Council vote.

The topic of the Lingle-Harris conversation should not be about who's right and who's wrong on transit plans, but rather how best to meet the commuting and transportation needs of rapidly urbanizing Honolulu.

If the talks are kept on that level, there are good prospects for cooperation and a unified state-city attack on O'ahu's transportation headaches.