Posted on: Sunday, April 17, 2005
ISLAND VOICES
|
By U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie
Think traffic's bad now? Well, imagine spending twice as much time behind the wheel — up to four hours a day. That's what's in store for O'ahu commuters by the year 2030, according to a new study by the O'ahu Metropolitan Planning Organization.
Judging by how much traffic has worsened in just in the past few years, that's probably a conservative prediction. The only way to prevent it is to act now to address the problem. Our quality of life is at stake.
Rail transit is a key element in the solution. Rail alone is not the entire answer, but it's ideal for moving large numbers of people quickly and efficiently within the Honolulu urban corridor and between Honolulu and Leeward O'ahu. Without rail, any proposal to deal with congestion will miss the mark.
Does Oahu need a rail transit system? Should the Legislature approve a plan to allow counties to raise the excise tax to help fund it? E-mail your opinion to letters@honoluluadvertiser.com or send it in a letter addressed to Letters to the Editor, The Honolulu Advertiser, P.O. Box 3110, Honolulu, HI 96802. The Hawai'i state Legislature is currently considering a bill to empower the Honolulu City Council to enact a 1 percentage point increase in the excise tax to pay O'ahu's local share.
Many federal officials are skeptical that the local share will be forthcoming, because Honolulu has backed away twice before when the process was well advanced: first in the late '70s when the HART project was canceled, and again in 1992 when the City Council reversed itself on the excise tax at the last minute.
Unless the local share commitment is made this year, the federal funding will go to other cities willing to step up to the plate. In that case, O'ahu is condemned to decades of worsening gridlock.
Rail is a terrific investment in O'ahu's future.
First, it will be funded in large measure by taxable purchases made by tourists. There are seven tourists for every one of us. Visitors spent $10.7 billion in Hawai'i in 2004.
Second, it will free up millions of hours that commuters can spend in better ways than sitting in traffic. They can use the time to be with their families, become more productive at work and save on the rising cost of gas.
Third, it will cause an infusion of hundreds of millions of federal dollars into Hawai'i. Those dollars mean jobs at good wages for construction work, and also for planning, engineering, design, etc. It will mean full employment, raise the state's wage base and ease the financial pressures on thousands of working families.
Fourth, it will trigger an opportunity to ease the budget crunch besetting the City and County of Honolulu. We will be able to leverage development rights along the transit route and around the stations. We can lease those rights for affordable housing, small business and commercial development. We will provide relief from pollution and congestion and create a clean, people-centered community environment.
Most of those who question the wisdom of making a local share transit commitment are sincere in their concerns. I would appeal to them to weigh the cost of this investment against the wide-ranging and long-lasting financial benefits of a 21st-century transit system. Like any benefit, the investment must be made before the yield is reaped.
Do we have the will to seize the opportunity before us? Will we control our island's destiny, or will decisions continue to be made in a transportation planning vacuum?
We can plan and build a new Honolulu for the 21st century — one for our children and grandchildren, not just speculators and buyers of second and third homes.
Our choice has been to do nothing in the hope that something would happen. It has: It's gotten worse.
We need to give our new mayor and the City Council the chance to end the drift and get to shore. Let's choose the future.
Rep. Neil Abercrombie, a Democrat, represents the 1st Congressional District. He wrote this commentary for The Advertiser.
We've talked, studied and debated rail transit for 40 years. Now there's a consensus to go ahead. It has the support of the public and elected officials at every level of government. We've reached the point of decision, because Congress will pass a massive multi-year transportation bill this year. It includes authorization for O'ahu rail transit secured by the Hawai'i congressional delegation. Whether it stays in the bill depends on whether we demonstrate that we're serious about paying the local share.
Tell us what you think
