Mayor turns on Face Saver in shortening rail’s route

All across America, kids on summer break are prancing up to the edge of swimming pools, striking mighty poses, leaping fingers-first into the chlorinated water and landing with ignominious belly flops.

And then, what inevitably follows is the diver’s pronouncement upon surfacing: “I MEANT to do that!”

We learn the trick early: When the goal is not reached, move the goal. That’s Rule No. 1 in the handbook called Saving Face.

Of course, it’s cute when kids do it. There will be other attempts, more chances for them to dive like sleek birds into cool waters over the long summer days.

But that is not the case for Honolulu’s absurd attempt at building a rail transit system. (It’s not the rail that’s absurd. It’s the way it’s being handled, all haphazard, figure-it-out-as-we-go and eh-close-enough.)

Now that Mayor Kirk Caldwell has done an abrupt turnaround and announced that contrary to everything he’s said before it’s actually best that the rail end at Middle Street rather than stretch to Ala Moana Center, it’s clear that he is in full Face Saving mode — otherwise known as Re-Election Campaign Saving Mode.

The rail project has suffered all along from lack of public confidence. Even people who support the project because they desperately need a better way to get between home and work have grappled with the gnawing suspicion that it’ll never get done or it won’t be built correctly or, now, that it’ll end midroute, dumping riders far away from work, shopping or school. And now this. This is more than a blow to public confidence. It is absolute proof that no one is in control of this crazy train.

Thank goodness the city isn’t trying to build a seagoing ferry system or an air transport service, eh? Sorry, folks, the boat is only going halfway to Wailuku. You guys gotta swim the rest of the way. Sorry, folks, the plane isn’t going all the way to Nanakuli. You folks gotta jump out at Makakilo, parachute down and try hitchhike the rest of the way.

Stopping on Middle Street by the Kalihi Transit Center and then getting on a bus for the rest of the commute is another complication in a complicated commute. A transfer is more of a hassle than a straight shot. Honolulu already has a bus system, and riders can already get on a bus from the West side that goes all the way to Ala Moana — routes C and 40.

The primary goal of the project isn’t to give commuters a better option than sitting in their cars for hours each day. It’s about politicians keeping their elected office, being able to claim victory, getting endorsements from the powerful unions whose members are employed building the rail system.

Caldwell said commuters would have to wait for the section of rail from Middle Street to Ala Moana. “That’s for another day.” The translation for that statement may very well be, “That’s for another mayor.”

But really. He meant to do that.

Reach Lee Cataluna at 529-4315 or lcataluna@staradvertiser.com.