Posted on 02/13/2013 6:04:40 PM PST by Olog-hai
The Department of Transportation (DOT) announced that $1.55 billion in new federal tax dollars will be allocated for the first-ever Hawaiian Transit Rail system on the island of Oahu, which will serve downtown Honolulu, at a total federal and state cost of $5.1 billion.
The train circuit will be 20 miles long, with 21 stops on an island that is 30 miles wide. …
An additional $4 million has been obligated from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the “stimulus”), and $209.9 million is coming from other sources within the DOT. Both the $1.55 billion and the $209.9 million are proposed funding plans, and will be contingent upon future appropriations from Congress.
The $3.358 billion of the project’s $5.1 billion total cost will derive from Hawaiian sources that include but are not limited to excise taxes paid by Oahu businesses and residents, as well as tourists. …
(Excerpt) Read more at cnsnews.com ...
Neither project can justify their costs, even on ridership. The revenue from the Honolulu system will be extremely low even with respect to riders, and even if it were not, it’d never recover its costs in construction at that price tag.
That was it. A total waste of money. The previous Democrap Governor wanted it.
This is why the country is falling apart.
It is a 19th Century solution to 21st Century problems.
buy each islander a damn helicopter. be cheaper.
The taxi and bus drivers don't just drive - they act as tour guides in a way. They will steer you to the "best" hotel, beach, surf shop, t-shirt shack, waterfall, whatever. I'm sure the drivers get something in return for their "recommendations". I bet some tourist traps don't advertise any other way. And I'm sure a lot of them will be nowhere near a railway station.
Dunno about that. Per capita, a new Robinson R-22 each (based on a population of 953,207) would run about $238 billion. For the cost of the Honolulu LRT, you might be able to buy them an ultralight chopper each, but those aren’t for beginners.
should have put in a sarcasm tag i guess
"Oahu Railway & Land Company
The first section of this 3ft (914mm) gauge network of lines opened in 1889. At its greatest extent, the line left Honolulu, skirted Pearl Harbour and headed for the west coast of the island. It then followed the west and north coasts as far as Kahuku. A branch from Waipahu ran inland to Halemano. The network was heavily utilised during the Second World War, notably for access to Schofield Army Barracks and Lualaulei Naval Ammunition Depot. However, general traffic was insufficient to ensure the survival of the line after the War, and operations outside the area of Honolulu and the Harbour ceased in 1947. The little traffic that remained lingered until 1972, when the last section of line finally closed to commercial traffic.
Koolau Railroad
A 3ft (914mm) gauge line on the east coast of the island, effectively a continuation of the Oahu Railway from Kahuku to Kahana. Dates unknown."
No problem!
I recall FL turning down a light rail system that Obama wanted built. Something like Orlando to Tampa.
The city streets are a nightmare, and nothing will fix them. It started as a small town without many people and grew. Suspect a lot of eastern cities are similar. Other than flattening it and starting over......
The rail clusterf8ck is an attempt to fix democrats' green lighting unchecked development in the west and middle part of the island, without a thought to how those people would get into the city to work.
There is a lot of developer money now passed around to develop the bejeezus out of the west Kapolei end of the island around the old Barbers point airbase. Some are calling it "Honolulu West" for God's sake, as if another Honlulu was needed.
Disney is even building some sort of wretched resort out there. Lots of $$ into democrat pockets buys you most anything in Hawaii. We few conservatives here are fighting a losing battle against these bastards.
or about $18,000.00 per foot...
I’ve been to Oahu and rode their bus system ,, perfectly adequate and DOESN’T INVOLVE BUYING HUGE AMOUNTS OF LAND FROM THE CONNECTED AND THE LOCAL GOV’T.
“This has to be the most outrageous cost...”
Mayhap, if there are enough cost-overruns and delays, the price of this project will exceed Massachusetts’ big dig.
Naahhhhhhhhh....
And just WHERE are the environmentalist on this one?
20 miles? What massive waste of our money.
Please don’t parse my post. I did say “most outrageous cost for light rail” after all, even though it’s supposed to be elevated light rail (still outrageous; only heavy rail beats it, e.g. New York’s Second Avenue Subway and San Francisco BART’s planned extension to San Jose).
I agree that the Big Dig is unbeatable just as a standalone project (original estimate $6.7 billion in 2012 dollars, from $2.8 billion in 1982 dollars, that being way over $22 billion or over $6 billion per mile), but when it comes to rail projects in deep tunnels, the now-canceled “Access To The Region’s Core” project was a contender (last estimate $7.8 billion or close to $4 billion per mile) and Amtrak’s new Gateway Tunnel proposal is even closer (current estimate in the $11 billion range).
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.