Rail

...money meant for the rail project is being diverted to other Ansaldo divisions....

Last week one of my students asked why rail projects don't get stopped....

Tourism is pushing toward new records, and the construction upswing is building in strength....

"...come January, when the Legislature convenes, we’re going to have to address it...."

...HART is now ginning up a new billion dollar "financial emergency" timed to justify a Honolulu Council vote to raise the GE Tax by 0.5% for the years 2022-2027....

The workshop is designed for landowners, developers, real estate brokers....

...the first two rail cars are now in Pittsburg, California and are on schedule to arrive in Honolulu in the first quarter of 2016....

...the resulting measures are void and unenforceable....

...all Council members received a great number of donations from entities that would profit directly from approval of the Ho’opili/Rail project....

...Honolulu came in 18th, with 50 hours of delay per commuter, costing $1,125....

...the only honest answer is "as much as it takes."....

Mr Burns' extensive rail project experience includes the Third Street Light Rail and Central Subway Project in San Francisco....

“We are looking for an individual who ... supports rail transit ...” said HART Board Chairman Ivan Lui-Kwan....

The excise tax is an investment by the taxpayers of Hawai‘i and my job is to ensure that their hard earned money is being spent efficiently, effectively and productively....

The U.S. House passed its FY 2016 transportation appropriations bill earlier this month, and the Senate bill was reported from the Senate Committee on Appropriations on June 25....

The HART check register can be viewed here ....

Remember This?  "Rail Construction Will Create about 10,000 jobs Each Year" ....

"It must always be remembered how cost-effectiveness works in the public sector: the cost is the benefit."

At least two concrete columns have developed cracks and have had to be replaced....

Senate 21-4 : House 39-12

Watch HART try to pitch a Property Tax hike in order to make the GE tax seem palatable....

Heavy-rail lines have much higher capacities because train lengths are limited only by platform lengths, which in most cases is 8 to 11 cars. But Honolulu is building a heavy-rail line whose platforms are only long enough to allow four 60-foot cars....

...grants and appropriations had lapsed or were subject to de-obligation because project managers lacked accurate, complete and reliable information....

‘Ōlelo to provide live television coverage of next week’s Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation’s (HART) Board of Directors meeting....

The number of commuters driving alone increased 74.2 percent from 253,680 in 1980 to 441,988 in the 2009-2013 period....

Senators Russell Ruderman, Glenn Wakai, Lee Ihara, Mike Gabbard and Gilbert Keith-Agaran voted in the affirmative but with reservations.  A no vote at this stage serves to exclude the person voting no from participating in the Conference Committee....

HB134 will be voted on this Tuesday - 4/14 - in the State Senate....

...we are getting closer to a resolution on the two bills that are seeking to extend the life of the 0.5% Oahu county surcharge on our general excise tax....

The only way to contain costs is to force HART to live within its current means....

... from January 27, 2011, through and including January 27, 2014, Oki perpetrated four separate and distinct fraudulent reimbursement schemes against PKF Pacific Hawaii ....

...at 9:30 a.m."the ZipMobile died"....

...Delay per year with a 30 min commute -- 88 hours...

...Assuming affirmative resolution of ongoing entitlement battles for Hoopili and Koa Ridge, single-family building will begin to pick up over the next two years....

Characteristics receiving the lowest percentage of excellent or good ratings were the availability of affordable quality housing, cost of living, and traffic flow on major streets....

...eminent domain, property rights, and the Honolulu rail project....

...The current trend of increasing state and county revenues via various state tax increases and surcharges represents the sort of short-term planning that inevitably leads to economic troubles....

A report on the top state issues of 2015....

...union members accuse union leadership of cavorting with the Japanese Yakuza and the Chinese Triads crime syndicates....

Contracts with the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) reveal hundreds of thousands of dollars in Kanaiolowalu “consulting” fees paid in 2012 and 2013 to Dwyer and Wong....

...0.25 per cent rate, beginning January 1, 2017. Amends the administrative fee for the collection of a county surcharge by the State....

..."just compensation and damages" are required by the constitution....

...And the poorer you are, the more of your income goes to GE Tax....

Italy’s largest union, Cgil, called for “a meeting with the government to discuss the possibility of blocking the sale to protect jobs and one of the country’s strategic industries.”

...Thursday, March 5, 2015, from 6:00 - 7:15 p.m. at the Farrington High School Cafeteria....

Liabilities everywhere: The rail project, the failing state hospital system, overdue maintenance on state buildings and campuses, underfunded public worker pensions and health insurance, and so much more....

...a brood of unethical government contractors and incapable government enforcers....