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Rail

Has HART gone off the rails again?

When will the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation learn that a lack of openness undermines public trust in the rail? HART has been dogged by questions about transparency and accountability for years. We’ve witnessed the agency’s seeming reluctance to conduct a forensic audit, confusion over the status of the Federal

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Housing proclamation raises ‘questions galore,’ Kent says

Question marks galore. That’s how Joe Kent, Grassroot Institute of Hawaii executive vice president, described Gov. Josh Green’s recent housing proclamation during his latest visit to the Rick Hamada Program on KHVH News Radio 830.  Kent said that given Hawaii’s status as the most regulated housing market in the nation,

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National expert on Honolulu rail: ‘I hope its future is short’

Brace yourself for a scathing assessment of Honolulu’s new “Skyline” rail project. National rail expert Randal O’Toole, author of “Romance of the Rails: Why the Passenger Trains We Love Are Not the Transportation We Need,” spoke on July 17 with Joe Kent, executive vice president of the Grassroot Institute of

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Institute’s rail release becomes talk of the town

The finding that Honolulu’s rail is costing $54 per passenger creates a splash on radio, television and in the newspapers Local media and Honolulu policymakers reacted quickly last week to news from the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii that it likely will cost about $54 per passenger to operate the partially

Read More →

Kent questions wisdom of running half-completed rail

The first segment of the Honolulu rail opened for service just last month, but Grassroot Institute of Hawaii Executive Vice President Joe Kent says it may be time to shut it down — at least for now.  In a conversation that aired on Monday, Kent explained to Hawaii Public Radio’s

Read More →

Skyline’s $54 per passenger operating cost highest in U.S.

Source: American Public Transportation Association The following is a news release that was issued by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii on July 13, 2023. ___________ “Taxpayers are already paying an enormous amount to build the project, but now are paying even more to run it nearly empty” HONOLULU, July 13,

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What the Honolulu rail has taught us

Photo by Charley Myers After years of delay, the Honolulu rail is finally open. Well, partly anyway. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports that more than 71,000 people took advantage of the five days of free rides that marked the opening of the first 11 miles of the rail, officially named Skyline.

Read More →

Kent, Hamada explore the many ways lawmakers waste money

Housing, the Honolulu rail, the Aloha Stadium, homelessness and the 64% pay raise for Honolulu City Council members.  Those were some of the topics Institute Executive Vice President Joe Kent talked about during his latest visit with radio host Rick Hamada on News Radio 830 KHVH. Regarding the rail, Kent

Read More →

‘If you build it, make sure you have all your money first’

Honolulu’s rail project has faced problems for years — including never-ending delays and its ever-ballooning multibillion-dollar price tag. But a new consequence seems to have emerged: The city recently saw its bond rating downgraded by one of the country’s major bond-rating agencies. Speaking on Sunday with H. Hawaii Media radio

Read More →

Rail debt gimmick comes back to bite Honolulu taxpayers

The following commentary was originally published in Honolulu Civil Beat on Friday, April 7, 2023. _____________ In 2012, Honolulu officials thought they could protect the county’s credit rating by not counting bond issues for the Honolulu rail in the county’s “debt affordability limit.” But they were wrong. In early February,

Read More →

Has HART gone off the rails again?

When will the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation learn that a lack of openness undermines public trust in the rail? HART has been dogged by questions about transparency and accountability for years. We’ve witnessed the agency’s seeming reluctance to conduct a forensic audit, confusion over the status of the Federal

Read More →

Housing proclamation raises ‘questions galore,’ Kent says

Question marks galore. That’s how Joe Kent, Grassroot Institute of Hawaii executive vice president, described Gov. Josh Green’s recent housing proclamation during his latest visit to the Rick Hamada Program on KHVH News Radio 830.  Kent said that given Hawaii’s status as the most regulated housing market in the nation,

Read More →

National expert on Honolulu rail: ‘I hope its future is short’

Brace yourself for a scathing assessment of Honolulu’s new “Skyline” rail project. National rail expert Randal O’Toole, author of “Romance of the Rails: Why the Passenger Trains We Love Are Not the Transportation We Need,” spoke on July 17 with Joe Kent, executive vice president of the Grassroot Institute of

Read More →

Institute’s rail release becomes talk of the town

The finding that Honolulu’s rail is costing $54 per passenger creates a splash on radio, television and in the newspapers Local media and Honolulu policymakers reacted quickly last week to news from the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii that it likely will cost about $54 per passenger to operate the partially

Read More →

Kent questions wisdom of running half-completed rail

The first segment of the Honolulu rail opened for service just last month, but Grassroot Institute of Hawaii Executive Vice President Joe Kent says it may be time to shut it down — at least for now.  In a conversation that aired on Monday, Kent explained to Hawaii Public Radio’s

Read More →

Skyline’s $54 per passenger operating cost highest in U.S.

Source: American Public Transportation Association The following is a news release that was issued by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii on July 13, 2023. ___________ “Taxpayers are already paying an enormous amount to build the project, but now are paying even more to run it nearly empty” HONOLULU, July 13,

Read More →

What the Honolulu rail has taught us

Photo by Charley Myers After years of delay, the Honolulu rail is finally open. Well, partly anyway. The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports that more than 71,000 people took advantage of the five days of free rides that marked the opening of the first 11 miles of the rail, officially named Skyline.

Read More →

Kent, Hamada explore the many ways lawmakers waste money

Housing, the Honolulu rail, the Aloha Stadium, homelessness and the 64% pay raise for Honolulu City Council members.  Those were some of the topics Institute Executive Vice President Joe Kent talked about during his latest visit with radio host Rick Hamada on News Radio 830 KHVH. Regarding the rail, Kent

Read More →

‘If you build it, make sure you have all your money first’

Honolulu’s rail project has faced problems for years — including never-ending delays and its ever-ballooning multibillion-dollar price tag. But a new consequence seems to have emerged: The city recently saw its bond rating downgraded by one of the country’s major bond-rating agencies. Speaking on Sunday with H. Hawaii Media radio

Read More →

Rail debt gimmick comes back to bite Honolulu taxpayers

The following commentary was originally published in Honolulu Civil Beat on Friday, April 7, 2023. _____________ In 2012, Honolulu officials thought they could protect the county’s credit rating by not counting bond issues for the Honolulu rail in the county’s “debt affordability limit.” But they were wrong. In early February,

Read More →