Having made several trips to Hawaii in the last few years, we were looking forward to our 2016 trip.

We rescheduled the timing of the trip with friends to include the Pro Bowl.

What a mistake.

We left for the game four hours before kickoff. We spent the entire time in traffic and never were able to get to a site to park, let alone attend the game. It seemed as if many of the onsite parking stalls were given to tailgaters, not ticket holders.

We were under the mistaken impression that a community that had put on an event over the last 40 years actually knew how to manage traffic and conduct an event.

We were not alone, in that many people who bought tickets were unable to attend the event. We and our friends were very disappointed.

What was to be a once-in-a-lifetime event turned into total frustration.

My advice to anyone visiting the islands to see the Pro Bowl: Don’t.

Gordon Stewart

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Waikiki events help local firms

The more than 100 vendors at the Millwood ‘Ohana Productions events on Kalakaua Avenue are hard-working, local small business owners trying to make a living (“Closed for entertainment purposes,” Star-Advertiser, Jan. 31).

Unlike most of the overpriced national chain stores in Waikiki, they produce unique, locally made food, crafts and music.

These events offer tourists and residents a free, unique, local-flavor experience, distinguishing Waikiki from other cookie- cutter tourist destinations.

I have heard nothing but positive comments from the people attending these popular events.

We should support our local small-business owners and allow these events to continue.

Frances Lee

Aiea

HART excuses not satisfactory

I read with interest the letter by Dan Grabauskas, executive director of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation, defending rail costs (“Inflation skews view of rail costs,” Star-Advertiser, Jan. 29).

Although it requires a moderately high inflation rate, a 40 percent cost increase to $5.2 billion is at least within the realm of possibility. However I still have serious questions about HART’s financial planning.

First, it was just fraud to have sold this project based on $3.7 billion when it was quite obvious actual costs were going to be dramatically more. Second, the 23 percent jump to $6.4 billion is blamed largely on legal challenge delays.

I have never heard anyone say that money was initially budgeted for the 100 percent predictable challenges. This sounds like a simple effort to hide costs and defraud the public. Third, we are only now finding out about operating-cost surprises.

According to a recent survey, a slim majority are shrugging their shoulders, apparently saying we are stuck with it. I say it is time to look at alternatives.

Jim King

Hawaii Kai

Sofos seemed confused on rail

Stephany Sofos said she believes the rail transit system from Kapolei to Ala Moana won’t help ease traffic, because “people do like to have their cars” (Star-Advertiser, Name in the News, Jan. 29).

She added that real estate is about “convenience and pricing” (with convenience presumably refering to being able to drive to stores, etc.).

I think we’re all agreed on pricing. Yet Sofos believes that transit-oriented development could work, which would be contingent on the rail being a success, pointing out how convenient the rail would be for shopping.

Didn’t she just say the rail wouldn’t be a success and driving to stores is the more convenient option? I guess you can have your cake and eat it — and on a train.

Victor Saumarez

Lahaina, Maui

Create Vector Control Branch

We should urge our representatives to pass Senate Bill 2240 immediately.

It would increase staffing of the state Department of Health’s vector control unit by four full-time employees and mandate the creation of a Vector Control Branch.

While a clearly overdue step in the right direction, this staffing increase would only partially replace the extreme cuts implemented since 2009. What can be a higher priority than public health and safety?

As we’ve seen with the dengue fever outbreak, an effective vector control program is essential. With virtually all public health agencies now predicting that the Zika virus will spread to areas susceptible to dengue, the case is absolutely compelling.

Increased funding alone won’t solve the problem. The program must be effective and sustained. It won’t be easy, but what is the alternative? Does Hawaii want to be on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s list of areas to be avoided by women of child-bearing age?

Matt Lincoln

Kamuela, Hawaii island

Have hearings for exemptions

The NFL is gaming the system by finding a non-profit organization to sponsor a private alcohol event for VIPs at Queen’s Beach (“City gives NFL one-time exception to serve alcohol at Waikiki beach event,” Star-Advertiser, Breaking News, Jan. 28).

There is a double standard regarding these liquor licenses. A for-profit organization has to appear before the Liquor Commission and the public can testify. Nonprofits get a pass, just apply and get the permit, up to and including the day of the event. The public be damned; it has no input.

This double-standard gaming of the system must end. The Liquor Commission should amend its rules to require that all permit applications, for-profit and not-for-profit, be subject to a hearing before the commission.

We need a level playing field in which deep pockets do not buy favors to the detriment of the taxpaying public.

Lynne Matusow

Downtown Honolulu

New rules put patients at risk

Hawaii Medical Service Association has announced that pre-approval is now required for ordering imagery, such as MRIs, before ordering such tests.

Patients will be put at additional risk. If the physician recognizes the clinical symptoms of a brain tumor in a patient, that physician will need pre-approval of the imagery in order for HMSA to pay for that service. This additional step puts the patient at increased risk of not receiving timely and efficient care.

Ironically, one physician, in a discussion of the impact of these new regulations, said that his solution is to refer all such patients to a hospital emergency room. Everyone should know by now that emergency room hospital care is more expensive, rather than less expensive, to patients and insurance companies.

This action demonstrates the risk of having a bureaucrat sit on the shoulder of your doctor.

Malcolm Ing, M.D.

Nuuanu