I am in the middle of both for and against the Rail Transit System. I want to know if the others agree with the transit or will they disagree with it? Well, there’s a chance for them to finally have a say to whether or not they agree with this big project. There will be hearings for the first time in O‘ahu for the community to share their mana‘o on this big plan to build this “Rail Transit.” They will have a total of five hearings/meetings in the first and second week of December. However, what about the outer-islands? These issues apply to not only Oahu, but to us too. So I believe that we should have a right to share our mana‘o with everyone as well and have them hold a hearing for each island.
The plan to start building this rail transit system is projected for the late 2009. It costs about $4.3 billion and will be from East Kapolei to the sides of Ala Moana. The transit line is limited from West Loch and Waipahu would begin in the late 2013, and a full service will follow by the end of 2018 to Ala Moana. However, some wishes that they could have it from the West side as well. People will still have to drive, but their thought is to cut back the traffic by building this transit system to eliminate cars on the roads.
Is the Rail Transit a good asset to the people of O’ahu? Will it be costly or will people be able to save by utilizing this method of transportation? There’s the good and the bad to it all. Price will or is suppose to be the same prices at TheBus as well as TheBoat. Some say that it’s good because it won’t pollute the air; it will run only on electricity. On Blogger, I found an entry from someone making a good point with the transit system being run on electricity. They could somehow find one host to supply them with renewable energy source using wind, solar, and/or bio fuels (Free Public Transit: Hawaii-Support rail transit). I kind of agree with this person’s point of view, because that is a great idea if approved to use a renewable energy source. On the other hand, I don’t agree with this whole thing, because they want to build more and more things on the island. Then they try to explore more options to ways that we can eliminate cars on the road. That’s a good idea don’t get me wrong from their taxi’s in the water to adding on more busses. However, in reality people would still have to drive to some of the destinations for these services such as the boats.
The Rail Transit can affect so many things in Oahu not only for the people but for the society as well. With the economy being so down at the moment, this will put most people in a downfall. We have so many problems going on nowadays from unemployment to money problems. In an article that I read from the Honolulu Advertiser, Linda Lingle said “This clearly will require revenues beyond what we have today…We’ll have to have some sort of tax increase to pay for them. I want to be up front about that right now.” I don’t agree with the fact that this “project” will be a burden on so many people... They want to raise the tax to fulfill their needs for this rail transit, but not ask the opinions from the people themselves? The tax increase will hurt most of us from Oahu to the outer islands especially with the downfall of the economy.
And now, people have been going at it from one side to another on agreeing or disagreeing with this matter. Some supporters are saying that it’s a good idea; because they would open up more job opportunities construction wise, better the economy,they wouldn’t have to drive, they can save money on gas and time, better for the island, etc. And the ones, who are against it, are saying that it is a bad idea to start building more things on the island with it being so over populated as it is, higher prices in things, more traffic than the others realize, etc. The non-supporters have a site that I went on as well, and they also had a lot of good points made.
On the site Stop Rail Now, I obtained the following information: “For the November General Election ballot question on rail the vote was 50.6 percent in favor and, as we like to think of it, 49.4 percent were not in favor. Consider the amount of money they threw at us and the political risk they took with the reputations of the entire congressional delegation telling us ("believe me" they said) that it was to take care of traffic when they all knew full well that traffic congestion in the future with rail will be worse than it is today. It is surprising that they did not get a greater favorable vote.” I kind of agree with this matter, because I do agree that there will be more traffic with the transit up. Cars will be going all over as well as still waiting to get through to other areas. However, I still think its a good way for people who hate waiting for the busses, it will help students, working families,etc.
my sources:
1)City Council Approves Rail Transit
-By: Darren Pai
-http://www.khnl.com/global/story.asp?s=5786643
2)Honolulu Rail Transit
-http://www.honolulutransit.org/
3)Free Public Transit: Hawaii-Support rail transit
-http://frepubtra.blogspot.com/2008/08/hawaii-support-rail-transit.html
4)State, city proposes $2.6B rail transit system: The Honolulu
Advertiser
-By: Mike Leidemann
-honluluadvertiser.com
5)Stop Rail Now
-http://www.stoprailnow.com/
