TRANSIT ALTERNATIVES

MULTIPLE OPTIONS THE WAY TO GO ON RAIL

Councilman Charles Djou "hit the nail on the head" with his assessment for toll roads and rail scenario per his Nov. 16 article in The Advertiser. The fact remains that for those who support rail, another tax increase is imminent to have the rail go where it needs to go to service customers that would find it advantageous to ride it.

I still say, "We can have our cake and eat it, too." The city needs to follow through with rail and the state craft enabling legislation for public-private partnerships to construct a toll road. We need both. Pitting one transportation project against the other is counterproductive.

Rail alone will not solve our traffic congestion. Even with a toll road and ferry service in the matrix, our commute will remain a grueling feat. The number of homes to be built on the 'Ewa plain and other developments in the wings along the central and Leeward coast will make certain of that. Our plight will improve however if we elect politicians that have the guts to raise our taxes to implement the full scope needed to remain at par.

To agree with the politician who refuses to raise taxes for transportation projects and claims in the same breath traffic relief is on the horizon, just exactly what on earth are they proposing? You guessed it, hot air balloons.

TIME TO REVOLT?

CITY'S BENT ON RAIL, BUT VOTERS AREN'T SO SURE

Regarding "City finds rail transit is residents first choice" (Nov. 15), the paper has provided still more ammunition for my reasoning.

The city in its own poll finds 55 percent against rail and 45 percent for, but still concludes that rail must move ahead and is "the people's first choice."

With a mayor who says, "Don't confuse me with the facts" and a City Council in which one may still place some hope, one can only wonder why a question simply for or against building a fixed-rail system could not have been on the ballot in the recent election. Imagine the voter turnout that would have generated.

With 55 percent against and yet a city government plowing ahead on rail, could this mean, as has been suggested in another Advertiser letter to the editor, a possible future shakeup in local government?

TSUNAMI SIRENS

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO GET WARNINGS TO SOUND?

We all know the tsunami sirens work — so why weren't they used? We did have a tidal surge that was big enough to be a danger to those unsuspecting people. Why weren't the people of Hawai'i notified of this potential danger?

What does it take for these sirens to be used? We've had earthquakes, we've had a tsunami. Oh, right — can't scare away the tourists.

Again, the people of Hawai'i have been let down by the Civil Defense.

THE JUICE

SPONSORS WILL FEEL THE PINCH FROM O.J. DEAL

Concerning O.J. Simpson's TV interview on Fox Network Nov. 27 and 29: I urge everyone to watch it and then, with pen in hand, write down the names of all of the sponsors — and then boycott them.

You can bet that O.J. and Fox Network will never use us as commercial pawns again.

SMOKING

CIGARETTES AREN'T THE ONLY UNHEALTHY THINGS

This is in response to the letter on Nov. 16 from Cynthia Salmon.

If she is so worried about second-hand smoke from drivers in other cars around her while her windows are down, perhaps she should explain why she is not worried about all the carbon monoxide and other gases being emitted from all those tailpipes.

Surely those pollutants are more prevalent and unhealthy than a few wisps blown by from a cigarette.

And the police just don't have enough to do trying to save lives and stop criminals, you want them to also enforce something like that? Hey, let's just ban cars, then; they kill far more people than second-hand smoke.

And while we are at it, let's ban alcohol, fatty foods, risky behaviors such as surfing, mountain climbing, hiking, taking a shower, etc. They all kill far more people every year and cost taxpayers money for emergency response. Lighten up, people!

SPEEDERS

VIGILANCE NEEDED IN ENFORCING SAFETY LAWS

In a recent Advertiser story on police targeting speeders and hoping to save lives, we learn that 75 is the magic number of deaths for HPD to begin enforcing the law on speeding. This is a tragedy and a shame.

Police Chief Boisse Correa should be enforcing the law each and every day to prevent avoidable deaths and injuries. Enforcement apparently works — the last time the city formed a task force in the late 1970s or early 1980s there were no deaths for three months.

I'm also waiting for Chief Correa to begin enforcing the pedestrian crosswalk law. Drivers ignore the law routinely because the chances of being caught are essentially zero. They fail to stop at the intersection and turn right in front of pedestrians already crossing the street.

The city also has yet to adjust the traffic lights identified by AARP as not giving pedestrians enough time to get across the street.

More than 72 percent of voters said "yes" to the constitutional amendment placing a priority on developing better conditions in the city for pedestrians and bicycles. To fulfill this clear mandate, Chief Correa is going to have to keep his people on the streets every day, not just when the body count convinces him to act.

RAIL TRANSIT

JUST DO IT: GET RAIL MOVING ALREADY

When mass transit discussions started again, I thought the community would finally back a rail system, especially after seeing traffic increase, gas prices soar, and other rail systems around the world working well. But it seems we are now hearing claims that we need more study, more time, more votes, etc. I feel strongly that what we need is action. It is sad to think we might miss for the third time the golden opportunity to build a federally subsidized rail system.

Parking and traffic have always been problems at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa campus where I work. UH-Manoa has about 20,000 registered students and around 3,500 faculty and staff.

The majority of students and many of us who work at UH live too far from campus to walk, so we need transit options. I often see students arriving at or before 6 a.m. and then sleeping in their cars. They arrived early to beat traffic and find one of the 5,500 coveted parking spaces on campus and then recuperate by catching some sleep before classes begin.

When UH-West O'ahu campus opens, we could have an additional 7,000 students. If students want to take classes at both Manoa and West O'ahu, we will need an efficient way to get faculty and students between campuses. Rail is the most logical answer.

The proposed toll road will benefit the few people who commute to Honolulu from Leeward O'ahu and can afford the toll. Those people in their cars will be dumped into Ho-nolulu and causing gridlock for everyone. It is shocking that the City Council would seriously consider an alternative that puts more cars on the road. Fossil fuels are limited and the price of gas will soon be prohibitive for many drivers. An elevated toll road is a short-sighted solution to the problem. The cost of a toll road is really not that much cheaper than rail when considering all the lost productivity time spent in traffic that is crawling through the streets of Honolulu.

Rail service will benefit a much greater percentage of the population with its many stations, and it will provide a fast, energy-efficient, low-pollution transit option for our residents.

You can argue where it goes, what technology it will use, etc, but as I see it, there is no other reasonable choice but rail.

Remember the traffic congestion the weeks public schools, private schools and the University of Hawai'i begin? It will only get worse. I urge the City Council to make the intelligent decision and approve rail as the transit option for the future of Oahu.