Honor system doesn’t work for L.A. rail

The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation has decided to install a gated system to ensure riders pay their fares, a choice that Los Angeles transit officials found they should have included when their subway system was installed nearly 20 years ago.

"A lot of people — if not the majority of people — are not paying their fare," says Zev Yaroslavsky, a county supervisor and member of the L.A. County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. "There is no reason for them to pay."

In contrast, and in a modification to Honolulu’s planned rail, passengers here will need a "smart card" to gain access to the train at stations, preventing them from jumping over turnstiles or entering at open entrances, HART CEO Dan Grabauskas told the Star-Advertiser last month.

L.A. has learned that necessity the most expensive way.

Cameras follow Shimabukuro on the road

Ukulele superstar Jake Shimabukuro is on tour on the mainland but his fans here and elsewhere will be offered an hourlong documentary Friday, "Life on Four Strings," at PBS stations across the country.

The documentary is described by the public network as revealing "the cultural and personal influences that have shaped the man and the musician. On the road from Los Angeles to New York to Japan, the film captures the solitary life on tour: the exhilaration of performance, the wonder of newfound fame, the loneliness of separation from home and family."

"For me it was just an honor that someone wanted to do a story on my life," the 36-year-old local guy told an interviewer in New York state, where he performed in concert last month.

Welcome back, Jake, now performing in Japan, whenever that might be.