Transit plan not popular
By Treena Shapiro
Advertiser Staff Writer
The city has spent four years and $41 million on the $1 billion Bus Rapid Transit system, but the controversial project is likely to come under even more scrutiny when the new City Council is installed next year.
Nine of the 12 candidates running for six seats in Tuesday's general election are raising concerns about the project, which involves dedicating lanes on busy Honolulu thoroughfares for the buses. And one of the three members on the nine-seat council who have won new terms has voted against financing the project.
Advocates and city transportation officials note that it is the fourth mass transit plan the city has considered seriously since the 1970s, and that further delays might result in losing some federal money for a Honolulu mass transit system.
"You'd never get a project going if you keep taking it apart," said Cheryl Soon, director of the city Department of Transportation.
But the nine council candidates and council member Ann Kobayashi have doubts about whether the system is right for Honolulu.
"I know we all agree that some form of mass transit is needed, but if we're going to spend that much money, we should have the right technology for Honolulu," Kobayashi said.
Nine new members of the council will be sworn in Jan. 2.
The Bus Rapid Transit system, or BRT, is one of the city's most ambitious public transportation proposals in decades. The 10-year project aims to transport thousands of passengers around urban Honolulu in nonpolluting gas-electric hybrid buses every two to four minutes from Iwilei to Kapahulu. The second phase will expand the service from Kapolei to Middle Street.
At a public hearing at the Hawai'i Convention Center in April, critics urged city officials to reconsider alternatives. They cited the restriction on private cars in the BRT lanes, and the decision to begin the project in urban Honolulu instead of outlying districts where commuting problems are worse.
Dale Evans, president of Charley's Taxi and a vocal opponent of the plan, said she would lobby the new council members to re-examine the BRT system.
"It is going to intensify the congestion, and their objective is to make it so unbearable that people won't drive or ride in cars."
Evans predicted that many businesses, including the taxi industry, would be hurt by BRT because the system would make it inconvenient for people to get from place to place. She suggested extending normal city bus hours instead, or using designated BRT lanes only during peak hours.
Council candidates have echoed such concerns. Of the nine expressing doubts about the project, six won the most votes in their districts in the Sept. 21 primary election: Mike Gabbard (Wai'anae, 'Ewa), Donovan Dela Cruz (Wahiawa, North Shore, 'Ahuimanu), Barbara Marshall (Kane'ohe, Kailua, Waimanalo), Charles Djou (Waikiki, Kaimuki), Rod Tam (Kalihi Valley, Nu'uanu, Kaka'ako) and Nestor Garcia (Waipahu, Mililani, Makakilo).
Three other candidates uncertain about the BRT are Marshall's opponent, Stan Koki; Tam's opponent, John Steelquist; and Garcia's opponent, former Honolulu Police Chief Michael Nakamura.
Candidates in favor of the project are Gabbard's opponent, Pam Witty-Oakland; Dela Cruz's opponent, Gerald Hagino; and Djou's opponent, Bob Fishman.
Serving new terms on the council are Kobayashi (Makiki, Manoa, Kapahulu, Palolo), Romy Cachola (Aliamanu, Airport, Kalihi) and Gary Okino (Pearl City, Waipi'o, Shafter). Kobayashi voted against financing the first phase; Cachola and Okino voted in favor of it.
Kobayashi said her concern was getting traffic relief from Central O'ahu to town rather than from Iwilei to Waikiki, "and we should work on that first."
Soon said she looked forward to educating incoming council members about the project, because some seemed misinformed about certain aspects of it, such as taking away lanes from cars.
"Every time, they got far into the process (of a rapid transit system), and then backed off," Soon said. "The answer is not always to go back to ground zero and start over again."
Soon said she hoped the new council members would let the project proceed, so it could be completed in three to five years.
The first phase originally called for a dedicated transit lane, but community outcry led to a decision to have BRT buses share a right-turn lane also used by private buses.
The project's second phase includes dedicated lanes on Dillingham Boulevard, a decision that Soon said was negotiable.
The city expects the federal government to pick up half the bill for the $1 billion BRT project, which already has received $31 million from the city and $10 million from the federal government, with $10 million more in federal money expected.
That's still shy of covering the $65 million first phase, and opponents hope the new council members will withhold money in favor of finding an alternative.
Councilman Duke Bainum, who cannot run again because of term limits, fears the city might lose the federal money if the council balks at financing the project.
"We have told the federal government we made this decision and we're moving ahead," Bainum said. "If they come back and tinker with any major portion of it, or fail to provide financing, then all the negative effects with regard to federal funding will occur."
Soon said the final environmental impact statement is nearly complete, and the new council can alter the transit plan without affecting the impact statement as long as it sticks to the same routes.
But when her department was asked to add an additional route through Kaka'ako, the supplemental impact statement took a year to complete. "It's not something you change course on without a lot of thought and care," Soon said.
Reach Treena Shapiro at tshapiro@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.
