(The facts and figures come from the director of Tampa Tollway Project.)

The Sunday November 12, 2006 editorial titled “City Council should not shirk rail decision” contains statements about the Tampa Tollway that are inaccurate.

The statement is:

“That tollway is open only during rush hour and, it turns out, is used by a tiny percentage of commuters; a toll increase already is scheduled for next year to help pay for the cost of construction.”

First the project was opened early to give relief to rush hour, bumper to bumper commuters. Hours will be expanded when the project is completed.

Second, the tollway handles 75,000 trips on its east end which is greater than the total daily trips projected for the Oahu rail. The peak hour usage is 50,000 trips which is during the morning commute which makes up 80 percent of the tollways usage.

Third, the current toll is a mere $1.00 and will be increased to $1.50, not what one would call an exorbitant increase. The increase is part of standard periodic increase of all tolls throughout the system as part of the financial plan established years ago.

The part that is disingenuous about the critique of the Tampa Tollway is the editorial utterly overlooks the degree to which the tollway has relieved traffic congestion. What used to be a frazzling 30 minute plus commute to go 10 miles is now a 10 minute breeze. Even traffic on the non-toll freeway lanes and 3 parallel non-toll roads has been significantly reduced.

This should be contrasted to the fact that nowhere in the U.S. has rail resulted in or contributed to a reduction in traffic congestion.

It would be a pity if the residents of Honolulu would have to pay upwards of $4 billion dollars to learn that lesson.

Don Newman, senior policy analyst for the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii can be reached at: mailto:don@grassrootinstitute.org