Rail opponents adding to cost

There’s a great irony in Honolulu’s decades-long public debate over rail transit: Those who claim to be most concerned about the cost of the project are the ones driving up the price tag through lawsuits, political theatrics and other scare tactics that delay its completion.

Even though this project has been discussed ad nauseam, thoroughly scrutinized at every step, placed on the ballot in 2008, approved by the majority of Oahu voters and given a green light at the city, state and federal levels, it’s unfortunate that some rail opponents will stop at nothing to undo years of planning and progress.

To those who claim they will never ride the rail, I ask: How can you be certain of where exactly on Oahu you, your children or grandchildren will be living 20 or 30 years from now?

How do you know your loved ones will not make use of a more reliable, efficient and sustainable public transportation option?

What’s good for our economy, our environment and our descendants is good for all of us.

Daniel Stringer
Mililani

Rail will ruin Hawaii’s charm

When the time comes for me to travel to Sears at Pearlridge from my home in Kakaako, I already know which form of transportation I will take.

I am 75 years old, so I will choose to sit for more than an hour on the TheBus, rather than probably have to stand for 20 or 30 minutes on the elevated train.

Between the choices of transportation modes and land use, Oahu is at the tipping point.

Do we want to remain charming and beautiful? Must we grow?

The trouble with becoming a city like Singapore is that it is so clean and efficient that no one wants to stay there for more than three days. A cement wasteland on a tropic island. Not even a decent beach.

I say we opt for old-fashioned charm and a slow pace in rural settings. Maybe the Amish are on to something. Tourists visit them in droves, and come to spend.

Beverly Kai
Kakaako

Bag fee is good compromise

Finally, someone like James Rosen of Kauai has spoken of the ill effects of the already socialistically implicated law banning plastic bags on Kauai, as well as other neighbor islands ("Kauai’s plastic bag ban not working," Star-Advertiser, Letters, March 5).

Plastic bags were first implemented because we were burning the trees for paper bags that can be used only once if they got wet. I’m one of the many who reuse these plastic bags post-shopping use.

It’s unimaginable of how many hundreds of thousands of forest acres we’ve saved over the decades, allowing the natural environment to flourish.

City Council members like Nestor Garcia have the right idea of meeting the issue halfway. Charging a fee for each plastic bag will allow people to make their own choices, and the fees can fund other environmentally important issues to keep Hawaii clean.

Han Song
Kaneohe

Politicians love imposing fees

It absolutely amazes me that politicians spend supposedly valuable time each day to see how they can come up with more fees and things to inconvenience the taxpayer.

The plastic shopping bags will pale in comparison with all of that floating debris from Japan arriving in a few months.

Margaret M. Giles
Honolulu

Bag fee will help our water needs

Hawaii’s single-use bag bill isn’t just about the environment. In reality, this bill is about saving money for consumers and for generating revenue to protect Hawaii’s precious watersheds.

Individuals and families currently are forced to pay for plastic and paper bags whether they wish to use them or not. The cost of these bags is built into the price of the food and goods consumers purchase, increasing the cost of living for everyone.

An optional bag fee (not a ban) will give local consumers the freedom to choose whether they want to pay for disposable plastic bags, or whether they want to save their hard earned money for something else by simply using reusable bags.

Water is Hawaii’s most important natural resource. Funding the watershed initiative with the bag fee is critical to strengthening the future of our island state.

Joy Leilei Shih
Kaimuki

New data center will save money

Kudos to the governor and the state Department of Education for their plans to rehabilitate Queen Liliuokalani Elementary School for a DOE data center and relocating 180 employee positions to the site from rented space.

The rental savings is estimated at $900,000 annually.

We need to see more innovative ideas of this nature for maximizing the state’s real estate and minimizing rented space.

Well done.

Thomas "T.J." Davies Jr.
Honolulu

Have 401(k)s replace pensions

The Star-Advertiser’s recent focus on the dangers of public employee retiree benefits and the taxpayer obligations to fund them is a welcome bit of community journalism.

Double-dipping, pension spiking and unfunded obligations are all manifestations of the structure of our public sector pension plan.

The state and counties need to change to a 401(k)- style pension program, as the private sector has almost uniformly adopted.

A 401(k) system works by providing retirement benefits fairly based on one’s work history, and avoids the gaming opportunities prevalent in the pension plans that Hawaii’s public sector employees now have.

The problem in making this logical conversion is that our elected officials are both beneficiaries of the current pension system and the recipient of campaign financial support from the public sector unions.

Bob Maynard
Kailua

Motorcyclists need helmets

The lack of motorcycle helmet laws has had lethal and tragic consequences.

Recently this newspaper reported on two unrelated motorcycle fatalities on one day. Both riders were helmetless and in the primes of their lives (ages 43 and 36). My condolences to their loved ones.

Per mile traveled, motorcycle deaths are 36 times higher than cars, according to national studies.

Motorcycles are less than 00.5 percent of traffic but account for 9 percent of fatalities.

After some states repealed helmet laws, deaths by head injury increased 66 percent and hospitalizations by 78 percent. A decade-long study (starting in 1996) showed motorcycle deaths doubling. In the same decade, car deaths declined by 24 percent.

Every year cars become safer. But no one is calling for repeal of air bags, seat belts, anti-lock brakes and other safety features.

The Legislature should act reasonably on both the data and human tragedy. It is literally a matter of life or death.

Evan Shirley
Honolulu