Ride-hailing charges on the line at City Council

The full-court press by Uber to get its drivers and customers to oppose City Council Bill 35 is set to come down to today’s final vote. Depending on the side of the heated debate, the bill would either impose crippling, outdated taxi-style rules on ride-hailing; or it is needed to fairly align ride-hailing operators to rules that taxis here have long abided by.

Key in today’s debate is “surge pricing,” in which Uber and its ilk spike prices during high-demand peaks — but which the bill is trying to cap. Surge-pricing caps make sense during public-safety emergencies, but overall, cost clamps on ride-hailing would be a disconnect when other sectors such as hotels and airlines routinely do peak-time pricing. Supply-and-demand surges, though, must continue to remain fully transparent, so customers know whether to hail or to pass.

Maui’s old dorms allowed to waste away

The good news is that there could be additional low-income housing on 9 acres of land, once it’s decided whether Maui County is better off tearing down the old dormitory units there, or renovating them.

The bad news is that the Kahului dorms were built in 1981 for the University of Hawaii Maui College and they only had some 17 years of life before various problems forced out the students. They’ve lingered, vacant, for the better part of 20 years.

How such a project lapsed into disrepair relatively soon leaves taxpayers scratching their heads — or reacting more angrily than that.