Rail project job numbers continue to increase

News Release from City and County of Honolulu August 21, 2014

The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation today announced an increase in its latest job figures related to the rail project.

The number of jobs grew in the second quarter of this year to 1,238, an increase of 93 additional jobs, HART officials said. The quarterly job counts include current contractors Kiewit Infrastructure West Co., Ansaldo Honolulu JV, various architectural firms working for the project, along with HART staff.

More than 60 percent of those jobs are local hires, and that number is expected to grow as the project progresses, said HART Executive Director and CEO Dan Grabauskas.  (743 = 60% of 1238)

“The total number of rail-related jobs has steadily risen and will continue to do so as construction begins on other sections of the rail alignment,” Grabauskas said. “The creation of rail jobs not only benefits those directly involved with the project, but generates revenue for other sectors of our local economy.”

The rail project is projected to reach a peak of 4,000 direct jobs. At that time, the entire rail guideway and all 21 rail stations are expected to be under construction.

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September 14, 2011: "The city initially claimed that rail would create 17,000 new jobs during the construction phase, but later lowered its estimate to 10,000."

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