Pressing the Federal Transit Administration in 2022 to approve the Honolulu rail recovery plan, Colleen Hanabusa, chair of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation, declared:
“If after all of the difficulties it has faced, we have not learned to build rail, then we have no right to do so. I believe HART has learned how to build rail. I ask that you look at the Airport Guideway and Stations segment of the project as evidence of this fact.”
The boast proved dubious in light of last week’s Honolulu Star-Advertiser story that reported, “A contractor building the (airport) segment of Honolulu’s Skyline rail system has sued the city agency developing the project over $99.1 million in alleged unpaid extra time and work.”
HART is contesting the claim, mostly involving city delays in relocating utilities near the rail guideway, but contractors have generally fared well with their demands on this project. An award of almost $100 million would run the original $875 million contract for the airport segment to nearly $1 billion.
Beyond the cost, it’s another maddening case of top rail officials making big claims of proficiency they can’t deliver on.
With the first 11 miles of rail from Kapolei to Aloha Stadium now open, credibility is critical to building ridership. Both HART and the city Department of Transportation Services, which operates the commuter train, must focus on delivering excellent service over big talk that always seems to come back and bite them.
Another example of the latter was HART CEO Lori Kahikina, giddy from the 72,000 riders who boarded rail in the first five days when it was free, saying she’d ask the Legislature to extend the rail excise tax and hotel room tax share beyond the planned 2030 expiration to pay for expanding the system to Ala Moana Center and the University of Hawaii.
Mayor Rick Blangiardi wasn’t entirely with her on that, telling Hawaii News Now that talk of additional funding should be saved for “the years to come.”
And he’s right; before the city can reasonably ask taxpayers for more money, it must deliver value and demonstrate competence in operating and completing the existing line, planned to reach the civic center by 2031.
Rail’s cost has ballooned to nearly $10 billion from $5.2 billion, and the excise tax has already been extended twice. The project is on a tight budget for construction and operations, with many challenges ahead.
Ridership sank to only 18,329 in the five days after commuters had to start paying. The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii estimates in the initial stage the city will subsidize service to the tune of more than $50 per ride.
This likely improves as schools reopen, commuters get used to the system and the airport segment to Middle Street opens in 2025, but it’s a number we must watch carefully and make honest cost-benefit assessments.
It’s an open question whether HART can complete the difficult final leg down Dillingham Boulevard and into the city center without the massive cost overruns of the easier first segment.
Hanabusa, Kahikina &Co. can answer the questions only with performance, not talk.
Reach David Shapiro at volcanicash@gmail.com.
