Posted on: Thursday, September 23, 2004

Federal BRT money pulled

By Karen Blakeman and Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writers

The Federal Transit Administration has refused to provide $20 million promised toward Honolulu's Bus Rapid Transit system, after city officials broke rules by starting construction without FTA approval, the agency said in a letter to the city yesterday.

Hawai'i leaders say that doesn't mean the money is lost. Through the intercession of Sen. Dan Inouye, $20 million in federal money is still forthcoming from other sources.

"I think they were caught between a rock and a hard place," Inouye's chief of staff, Jennifer Goto Sabas, said of the city officials. "They needed to go forward to get the city dollars, and they needed to wait to meet the federal requirements.

"The senator's goal through the whole process has been to make sure the funds he worked to get would not lapse. So he reprogrammed the $20 million into a transportation funding bill."

The city was formally notified yesterday in a letter from Leslie T. Rogers, regional administrator of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration, that a tentative decision by the FTA to provide $20 million in federal money for the first phase of the BRT had been rescinded.

"FTA staff has provided numerous and consistent notice of the consequences of the city's action to move the IOS (initial phase of the BRT) project forward without necessary FTA approvals," Rogers wrote. "In a teleconference call in December 2003, we communicated our concern about this matter and recommended delay in the award of your construction contracts. Our communication about this issue was frequent and consistent."

Initial construction of the BRT system from Waikiki to Iwilei was contracted late last year to prevent loss of $30 million in city money that was scheduled to lapse, said city managing director Ben Lee. The city had appropriated the money to match the $20 million from the FTA.

"We were not going to jeopardize that $30 million, and so we started the improvements, and FTA knew that," Lee said. "If they take this position, that's fine."

He said Inouye had solved the problem by reappropriating the money, and the city had not suffered a loss.

The new appropriation is worded more broadly, and does not specify that the money be used for BRT. When Mayor Jeremy Harris leaves his post and a new administration takes over, the funding does not lock the next administration into continuing the BRT project. Any remaining money can be used for unrelated transportation needs.

"We had honest discussions (with city officials) about what bus-related things we can achieve," Sabas said of Inouye's decision to rescue the $20 million in federal funding. "The rest is for the next mayor."

City spokeswoman Carol Costa said the BRT section from Iwilei to Waikiki already under construction would be completed by the end of the year, and 10 hybrid buses to run the route would be bought by November. Expenses will be paid using the city money and as much as $16.9 million of the federal money procured by Inouye.

Another $3 million is slated for projects to reduce traffic congestion in Kapolei.

City Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi said she was concerned about the reception Honolulu was likely to get the next time it approaches FTA with a public transportation project.

"I'm worried about our credibility," she said. "Thank goodness we have good people in Congress who are going to help us get our funds, but we just can't keep spending the taxpayers' money without a plan. We have to be more responsible."

City Councilman Charles Djou called BRT "a public policy which seeks to make automobile traffic so terrible that you get out of your car and ride the bus. And I think that's just lousy public policy."

The city's two mayoral candidates both say a light-rail system would provide a better long-term solution to traffic congestion. Both said the city should finish the work it has started, but not expand BRT.

"We have a better option, which is light rail, and we should move ahead quickly," said Duke Bainum.

Mufi Hannemann said he's concerned that if federal money is awarded specifically for BRT, it would preclude assistance for an alternative plan.

"I think there's a blessing in disguise here, as a proponent of other modes of transit," he said. "Let's use this now as an opportunity to have a stronger case in the future for something people want to support, like light rail."

Reach Karen Blakeman at 535-2430 or kblakeman@honoluluadvertiser.com. Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8070.