Panel quick to back fixed rail
By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer
Light rail was a slam dunk.
In just five meetings spread over seven months, a governor's task force exploring transportation solutions for O'ahu commuters concluded that a fixed-rail system was the only project capable of having a big impact on the problem.
There was no vigorous dissent and no call for more studies. No formal vote was taken.
Instead, task force members say that despite the high costs involved, there was a gradual, steady accumulation of evidence that other options — ferries, buses, bigger highways — were inadequate to serve transportation needs of West O'ahu commuters.
In interviews with more than a dozen task force members, a picture emerges that shows Lingle guiding an open-ended forum in which rail becomes the almost inevitable choice for dealing with O'ahu's traffic problems.
"Putting in a rail system was really the only thing that could serve the future needs of the community. No one seriously proposed any other project that could do the same thing," said state Transportation Director Rod Haraga.
The proposed light-rail system running from Kapolei to Iwilei was chosen because, in terms of potential ridership, nothing else came close and because previous proposals could be used to shorten the project's development time.
"Our consultant said you don't need to do any more studies; you need to do something. Everybody agreed," Haraga said.
Even so, many task force members say they were surprised by how quickly the decision was reached and announced at a meeting in Gov. Linda Lingle's conference room Oct. 27.
Despite the consensus that fixed rail was important, many members still had concerns about big parts of the project: where it should go, how it should be paid for and how it could be blended with existing transit efforts.
Several task force members said they thought they were meeting in October to continue discussion on funding for fixed rail.
Instead, Haraga, who met with Lingle for several hours earlier in the day, presented the group with prepared drawings of the overhead rail line as well as a plan to build a two-lane elevated highway over Nimitz Highway, a project which had received scant attention in previous meetings.
After about an hour's discussion, Lingle worked her way around the table asking members if they concurred with the broadest parts of the proposal. When no one objected, Lingle led the group outside her office and announced the plans to waiting reporters.
Lingle formed the transportation task force earlier this year to investigate traffic solutions for O'ahu, where there is growing concern about overdevelopment and traffic congestion for commuters coming from 'Ewa, Kapolei and other Leeward and Central O'ahu areas.
The group included Lingle, Mayor Jeremy Harris, state lawmakers dealing with transportation, City Council members, leading Republicans, the heads of the state and city transportation departments, congressional representatives and federal highway officials.
Over the course of the meetings that began in April, group members repeatedly said they were looking fairly at every option to improve transportation, including ferries, buses, fixed rail, elevated highways, and smaller, quick-fix options, such as the recently completed Nimitz Highway contraflow lane.
The group developed a matrix of possibilities, listing advantages and disadvantages, costs and financing options.
The advantages of rail included the fact that it comes with its own exclusive, elevated right of way, it has an almost unlimited ability to expand, and its operating costs could be lower, especially if a fully automated system is chosen, said City Council member Gary Okino, who was the most vocal rail proponent in the group.
"It offered the best option for people to come to town to work, shop or play without affecting the existing traffic," Okino said.
All the other options would have had an adverse effect on the already congested state highway network, officials said. Building more and bigger highways or adding more buses would only have increased traffic congestion in the long run, others said.
All options reviewed
The other options were not dismissed, however.
Sen. Mark Moses, R-40th (Makakilo, Kapolei, Royal Kunia), argued strongly that ferries could be used to ease traffic problems. Lingle briefly revived her idea of double-decking the H-1 Freeway to carry more cars. Sen. Fred Hemmings, R-25th (Kailua, Waimanalo, Portlock), repeatedly urged the group to consider small-scale highway improvements, such as widening freeway off-ramps or changing local street patterns.
Harris and City Transportation Services Director Cheryl Soon, who had developed a bus rapid transit plan to serve the Leeward O'ahu corridor, asked others not to turn their back on that project.
Although they did not argue forcibly that buses were better, changing projects in midstream — as the city has done twice before — could be disastrous when it comes to obtaining federal money for a new mass transit project, Harris and Soon said.
"Their message was we just can't cross the feds again," Okino said.
Although the group eventually favored the rail plan, there was widespread sentiment that the buses would continue to serve as an important element in a multi-modal transit system. That might allow the city to continue to develop BRT, although in a somewhat altered form, members said.
Surprise turn
Task force members were more at loss to explain the introduction of the Nimitz Highway "flyover" project into the final mix, however. While the project had been mentioned several times, there were no early indications that it was seriously being considered.
All that changed in early September when the state opened its new Nimitz Highway contraflow plan and began to receive favorable response from motorists and politicians alike.
Within a month, Haraga was reviving long-dormant plans for a second level of Nimitz Highway, now reconfigured as a two-lane reversible road with a small ground-level footprint.
Task force members arriving for the Oct. 27 meeting said the decision to push the flyover to the forefront along with fixed rail "seemed to come out of the blue" and to be "a real surprise."
Haraga said it made good sense to combine the flyover with the rail line.
"Eventually, the flyover will be converted from car to rail use," he said.
While the task force rallied around fixed rail, there were still doubts about paying for what's estimated to be a $2.6 billion project.
Early in the process, Harris urged the group to consider building it entirely with local money, even if that meant starting on a smaller scale. Doing without federal money would allow the project to get off the ground much quicker than going through time-consuming federal regulations, he said.
In a conference call with federal transit officials in Washington, D.C., task force members were told they likely would receive 50 percent federal financing for a rail project, and, perhaps, additional federal highway money where the line used existing freeway rights-of-way.
Officials said a plan should be developed in time to be included in the new six-year federal transportation financing cycle, set to go into effect next year. That looming budget cycle may help explain why Lingle rushed to present an outline of the plan to members at the Oct. 27 meeting.
"We were pretty much working under a deadline. Once the federal authorization is established, it's best to get your project in line as soon as possible," said Abe Wong, head of the Federal Highway Administration office in Honolulu.
On the day of the final meeting, however, some participants were still worried about how the rail line — which likely will end up being the largest construction project in state history — will be paid for.
The group emerged from the meeting with a list of about 10 local financing options, including everything from raising the gasoline tax to new vehicle registration fees. However, Lingle said in the meeting that the only viable alternative was an increase in the state excise tax.
Such a broad-based tax, which touches virtually every transaction, would generate more money than the other nine financing options put together, Lingle said. Days after the plan was announced, Lingle said she'd seek authorization from the Legislature to let Hawai'i counties impose excise tax increases.
Others in the task force reminded Lingle that she had opposed raising taxes when she was elected governor just a year earlier. By the time of the Oct. 27 meeting, though, Lingle had become convinced that the rail project was necessary and a tax increase would be needed to pay for it, several members said.
"There was already a consensus that a project like this needs a leader and if it is a really big project, it would necessitate a tax increase, so the governor demonstrated her leadership and said she'd be the one to announce it," said task force member Sen. Gordon Trimble, R-12th (Waikiki, Ala Moana, Downtown).
At about that time in the discussion, Lingle's communication adviser Lenny Klompus entered the meeting and told task force members that the reporters were waiting outside. Without any further discussion, Lingle led the group out of the conference room.
Then, with nearly two dozen task force members lined up behind her, she announced that the state and city would pursue the fixed-rail and highway projects.
Reach Mike Leidemann at 525-5460 or mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.
