Transit will require careful adjusting of city priorities

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Oct 08, 2012

~~<p>The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation got a straightforward analysis last week from a federal consultant, and the news was basically good. Porter & Associates Inc. is vetting the city's proposed rail project for the Federal Transit Administration in advance of the FTA releasing the full share of the $1.55 billion in federal funds. Its conclusion, that there is enough give in the HART financial plan for the project to make it sustainable, ought to boost confidence in the city's capacity to handle the 20-mile rail system.</p>
<p>But it also projects that the finished transportation system, a network of buses complementing the core east-west alignment of the rail, is going to take a bigger bite of city tax receipts than the current bus-only transit service does now.</p>
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The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation got a straightforward analysis last week from a federal consultant, and the news was basically good. Porter & Associates Inc. is vetting the city's proposed rail project for the Federal Transit Administration in advance of the FTA releasing the full share of the $1.55 billion in federal funds. Its conclusion, that there is enough give in the HART financial plan for the project to make it sustainable, ought to boost confidence in the city's capacity to handle the 20-mile rail system.

But it also projects that the finished transportation system, a network of buses complementing the core east-west alignment of the rail, is going to take a bigger bite of city tax receipts than the current bus-only transit service does now. Login for more...