Rail

...an additional $1.2 billion funding package for the City’s financially troubled rail project....

“This shows that the city is committed to funding and completing the rail project,” said Mayor Caldwell....

...city officials feel they have been given the green light to get the project finished, whatever the eventual cost might be....

...this project started with a rock solid $5.3 billion projection cost....

...the Honolulu rail boondoggle, Hoopili traffic impacts, smart city street intersections and rapid transit with Panos Prevedouros....

“Due to the at-risk private capital, Public-Private Partnerships often result in lower costs, less risk, and faster delivery....

This Resolution directs the State Auditor to conduct a cost comparison between completing the rail system from Middle Street to Downtown Honolulu with street level versus an elevated rail system....

It's true that the session is far from over. And this bill could certainly end up morphing yet again....

Optional extension routes to Waikiki and the University of Hawaii could be made at a cost of $139 M/mile....

...HART’s wildly inflated rail ridership projections, the surging cost of the project, and pleas from the mayor's office to obtain more tax dollars....

...the State is making a ton of money off the skim....

The Legislature should not approve any extensions of the GET and it should pass a bill directing the city to handle current and future deficits with its own resources. This offers hope for some accountability and cost containment....

The State kept 10% of the surcharge collected or $25.92 million – which is more than the Department of Taxation’s entire Fiscal Year 2016 operating budget of $24 million....

the Department of Taxation has been allowed to keep a full 10% of the rail surcharge for the costs of administering it, despite the fact that the law directs DOTAX to calculate how much is required for its management of the surcharge, then return the remainder to the rail project....

Hawaii’s State Government has unnecessarily profited from the Honolulu rail project....

Grassroot Institute Urges Legislature to Act on Surcharge "Skimming"....

The document obtained by the Star proposes funding the projects as public-private partnerships, with half the money coming from private investment....

"The State of Hawaii owns about 50% of the land along the rail corridor between Kapolei and downtown Honolulu and can raise millions of dollars through the sale of development rights...."

Projects Not Started or Suspended....

"We’ve got to wake up and sell development rights along the rail, like they do in Japan and Hong Kong."

Modifying the HART project to allow street level operation for the final five miles will save money ($2.9 - $4.2B), will save time (completed in 2020 vs. 2025) and will provide a much more environmentally acceptable system Downtown that can be easily extended to Waikiki and UH Manoa....

...the OR&L ROW, a 40-foot wide stretch from Central Waipahu to Piliokahe Gulch in Nanakuli, owned by HDOT....

...splints that have cracks... tendons that aren’t working properly... the railcars....

Post-tensioning, final set and finishing work on the guideway will follow the initial set, and will continue through January....

...just long enough to con legislators into hiking taxes....

“The city streets are being engineered to create traffic congestion, to slow traffic down, to favor bikers and pedestrians,” the former official said....

...due to the recent passage of Charter Amendment Number 4 in the 2016 Elections, the voters of the City authorized the consolidation of the operations and maintenance functions and responsibilities for all modes of public transit....

...Wednesday, November 30 at 7:30 p.m. at Mililani High School Cafeteria....

...there’s still a better way and it’s pretty simple and practiced by the best rail systems in the world....

The plan was developed in coordination with state agencies that are studying options for stadium reconstruction or building a new stadium on the site....

Under his watch, the cost of rail has risen $3.34 billion over budget to $8.6 billion, and more than 7 years behind schedule. A recent federal “upper bound” estimate puts the cost at $10.79 billion (more than double the original budget of $5.26 billion) and the completion date at 2027.....

... By “tinkering” with the traffic lights, it’s possible to reduce traffic ....

...if enough of the tendons or their anchors fail, the entire box girder system will fail and could very well collapse....

HART has now received a total of $1.8 billion in surcharge revenue for the rail project ... roughly $48.4 million less than projected....

In my first 100 days in office, I will....

"...Caldwell may have evaded State and Federal taxes on all the stock options he has received to date...."

Glen Nohara gave $12K to Caldwell and a total of $102K mostly to the usual list of Democrat incumbent candidates...

The Grassroot Institute argues that this is not about the right to collect taxes, but rather a matter of mis-allocation of the funds....

Drive-alone remains the choice of slightly over three-fourths of all commuters....

This report provides the Honolulu City Council with an update on the activities of the Office of the City Auditor....

...the habit the state Department of Taxation has of keeping the money that is left over after they process the rail surcharge....

Voters should have received the 2016 Charter Amendments booklet this week....

An average family of five would have to pay more than $1,000 per year just to complete rail....

"The City is requesting an extension of the December 2016 Recovery Plan submittal date to June 30, 2017"

...Caldwell has been using his position as Mayor to enrich himself -- making $200,000-$299,999 a year as mayor "working" just 1-2 hours a months and collecting $900,000 - $999,999 in bank stock for his "service"....

"In the future they can be aggressive. In other words, they can be tailgating each other to save a lot of space. But in the early stages this is not going to happen...."

"Last week we learned that the City failed to spend tens of millions of dollars in the affordable housing fund and we may now lose this money."

The Federal Transit Administration says it will demand its money back....

"...Farrington Highway and Kamehameha Highway ... are eligible for Federal aid funds, subject to selection by OahuMPO and HIDOT...."