Bicycles don’t wear out roads like cars

Russell Gust is right (“Bicyclists should be paying fair share,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, Dec. 12). Cyclists should pay their “fair share” of the road taxes.

The point of the tax is to help pay for repaving, restriping and other wear and tear associated with the traffic the roadway has to bear. Exactly what percentage of the taxes should bicycles pay? They weigh a fraction of their four-wheeled counterparts (and don’t pollute the air like most of them, either).

How long would it take weekly bike traffic on the King Street bike lane to wear pavement down to the point where it would need restriping or repaving, taking into consideration wear caused by vehicle traffic crossing the lane while entering and exiting driveways, side streets and the like?

Tracey Scott

Wahiawa

—

Only city dwellers will use bike lanes

Bike lanes will be used for transportation within the city, and only if you live in the city (“McCully Street bike lanes to eliminate up to 30 parking spots,” Star-Advertiser, Dec. 2).

Most people have to travel from Leeward, Windward and East Honolulu. How about improving conditions to get into the city before taking up more road space for bicyclists?

I do not see very many people using the bike lanes. It is a waste of money and space that could be used for other things, like repaving Waikalua Road in Kaneohe.

You should check out the condition of this road. It has been 30-plus years, with only filled potholes that make the road bumpier.

Dennis Sanada

Kaneohe

—

HMSA’s plan may drive away doctors

You present an overly rosy account of the Hawaii Medical Service Association’s change of payments to doctors from fee-for-service to capitation (“HMSA to phase in system overhaul,” Star-Advertiser, Dec. 11).

Hawaii lacks primary care doctors. HMSA and soon Medicare will pay less to these hardworking family practitioners, internists and gerontologists.

You cannot attract more scarce medical professionals by paying them a set fee, regardless of need for time spent and tests ordered per patient.

Our gerontologist-internist is quitting and taking a job with a major medical HMO, in order to continue to practice quality medicine and have time for family life.

The way to attract good primary-care doctors is to subsidize their electronic record-keeping burdens and not subject them to denial of payment for referrals to specialists and necessary tests.

These are people who train for a decade and pass the most stringent exams. Once they qualify, accept their medical opinion, please.

Do not shunt patients to telephone and electronic “appointments.”

I speak as the wife and mother of doctors and the wife of a chronically and critically ill patient.

Jean E. Rosenfeld

Nuuanu

—

Trump should bring call centers back

In order to make America great again, lower costs, reduce wasted time, reduce psychotherapy bills, and bring us together as a nation, I suggest that President Donald Trump bring the call centers back to the U.S.

Stephen Foster Williams

Waimanalo

—

‘Concoct’ describes rail transit planning

Thank you for your most appropriate headline regarding our rail-fail situation: “Feds give city more time to concoct rail plan” (Star-Advertiser, Dec. 8).

Synonyms for concoct include: make up, dream up, fabricate, invent, trump up.

Indeed, there is no rail plan.

Rail is a huge concoction perpetuated by local mini-minded political aspirations and greed — a seriously flawed, intentionally misleading project from the beginning.

We are allowing major moral and fiscal failures to continue. The city continues to mishandle the project. The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation clearly is irresponsible, a revolving door with no clear understanding of the facts and figures. Every month, just add another billion.

We have no money for completion, let alone for maintenance.

Rethink the already built portion and use it for transportation other than a train.

Watch out, Thomas Square: You’re next.

Mary J. Culvyhouse

Kaneohe

—

Let special interests pay for rail project

Sunday’s editorial said in part that “everyone who benefits from the rail project … pay part of its cost” (“City, state need to ensure rail goes the distance,” Star-Advertiser, Our View, Dec. 11).

There are tens of thousands of us who will never ride the rail or even see it in operation.

Let the true beneficiaries bear the cost for a project that never reflected Mufi Hannemann’s statement: “Do we need it? Can we afford it? Can we maintain it?”

Let the politicians who rammed this project down our throats pay for it with the cash donations they sold their souls for, as well as the developers, contractors, unions and overpaid project staff who are taking their ill-gotten gains to the bank.

Honolulu will sadly be mocked as Murphy’s Law is played out at the municipal level by incompetent people.

Hang on to your wallets, folks.

Steve Vidinha

Kaneohe

Random Acts of Kindness

In the spirit of this holiday season, readers are invited to write in about random acts of kindness — something that is so unexpected but special and touching that it should be shared with our community.

Send a 150-word letter, or a commentary at 500-600 words, to letters@staradvertiser.com by Dec. 21. A collection of them will run on Christmas Day.