Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s recent pitch to double the city’s parking fees in Waikiki and add five hours to daily metering has grabbed the attention of a nonprofit that’s now eager to take that money-making ball and run with it.

The Waikiki Transportation Management Association, which is overseen by the Waikiki Improvement Association, wants to see city law amended to create a nonprofit Waikiki transportation special improvement district that would set parking fees, oversee freight and passenger deliveries, and make other transportation rules in the often-bustling, tourist-filled area.

While city leaders should work in tandem with any group motivated to tackle parking-related matters and traffic congestion in Waikiki, they must resist any temptation to hand off their responsibility for traffic management of public streets to what would essentially be a private outfit.

In January, the mayor told state lawmakers that a mix of revenue-raisers, such as higher fuel and weight taxes and an increase in city parking fees, could help pay for construction, operation and maintenance of Oahu’s rail line. At that time, he suggested doubling parking rates at popular parking areas in downtown Honolulu, the Honolulu civic center and Waikiki to $3 an hour — up from the current $1.50 an hour. Also proposed: adding an extra hour of Waikiki daily metering in the morning and four hours at night — from the current 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., to 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Caldwell estimated that the plan would net about $4 million to $5 million more annually.

This week the Waikiki Transportation Management Association (WTMA) echoed the call for raising parking meter fees and adding metered hours. In addition, it wants to convert hundreds of free parking spaces to metered parking; issue reduced-rate parking permits to Waikiki residents; and look at easing traffic backups by creating a paid permit system for commercial users with scheduled loading and unloading. That to-do list sounds ambitious — and self-serving on a few scores.

The call for more money at the meters is understandable, but an immediate doubling of the rate is too drastic. While motorists are charged a comparable rate in parking garages, those fees can often be reduced with various business validations. And stretching metered hours is a reasonable move.

But the WTMA’s idea of converting about 300 free parking spaces to metered is a red flag in that it has the potential to undermine our state’s dearly held public access rights tied to all Hawaii beaches, including those edging Waikiki. At what point would local families be priced out? They would be forking over nearly $20 to park for a full afternoon, if rates are doubled.

Another eyebrow-raiser: reduced-rate parking permits for Waikiki residents. While residential parking permits sometimes function well in established university neighborhoods, traffic flow in Waikiki is too heavy to essentially reserve any residential parking on a public street.

WTMA President Rick Egged said the group’s proposed changes could result in the annual collection of nearly $3.8 million, or seven times the current city revenue of about $560,000. He added that the special improvement district would be funded by a slice of Waikiki curb and parking fees. That raises another red flag. The mayor wants income-generators to funnel funds to the cash-strapped multibillion-dollar rail project. Cutting a slice for an autonomous district’s administration and operations would not support that aim.

Egged envisions a special improvement district governing board of directors made up of city government and Waikiki stakeholders, including the chairman of the Waikiki Neighborhood Board. He maintains: “More activity and a finite amount of curb and street require better management to prevent chaos.”

Agreed. But the City Council must decline WTMA’s request to establish a board that manages Waikiki’s transportation needs outside of city oversight. The opinions of area businesses and residents should hold weight on Waikiki’s parking puzzles and related issues — but city leaders should have the final say on public matters.