Posted on: Saturday, September 25, 2004

$23M in aid off-limits for rapid transit

Advertiser Staff

Twenty million dollars in federal aid appropriated for city transportation projects cannot be used specifically for the Bus Rapid Transit program, but can be used for other bus and road projects, officials said.

Sen. Dan Inouye included the money in a pending appropriations bill to replace $20 million that the Federal Transit Administration refused to grant the city because work on BRT began without FTA approval.

The new money should be available when Honolulu's new mayor takes office early next year, and it could pay for road improvements in areas that had been part of the BRT plan, as well as for buses and traffic-signal equipment, said Inouye's chief of staff, Jennifer Goto Sabas.

Mayor Jeremy Harris launched the initial phase of the BRT, from Waikiki to Iwilei, with $30 million in city money. It is scheduled to be completed before Harris leaves office at the end of the year.

Mayoral candidates Duke Bainum and Mufi Hannemann say they would not pursue an expanded Bus Rapid Transit plan envisioned by Harris, but would try to build a light rail system.