You might think by now, after a decade of delays, snafus, mis-statements, cost-overruns, false promises, and personnel shuffles, that the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART) and the City of Honolulu would make sure that vital public pronouncements and updates are released in harmony and in tandem. Not happening…
Six weeks ago came a public pronouncement by a HART official that not only would the first segment of the rail be ready, as planned, by late December, 2020, it would actually be ready to transport fans between Aloha Stadium and Kapolei by mid-October- during UH football season! That very same day came a plea/counter from Honolulu’s mayor, asking those kolohe rail personnel to stop making premature statements about start dates, as it’s the City of Honolulu that has to actually operate this choo choo!
And then three weeks ago, HART announced plans for upcoming traffic restrictions along Dillingham Boulevard, while the City’s transportation department said, “hold the bus” (or the train), because the City had not yet seen an official traffic control plan. HART responded that it had proffered a Dillingham traffic management plan, and the city transportation department very clearly responded that “…we are waiting for the proper submittals”, according to a Honolulu Star-Advertiser report. This plan should be black and white- like written on paper- but here we have two opposite versions of reality offered by HART and by the City, a comic pair who, far too often, mimic Abbott and Costello as they play out this transit “Who’s On First?” routine. “I Don’t Know… third base!!” (Please, YouTube it- it’s a classic Vaudeville routine)
At the very least, by 2020, following a decade of setbacks, worrisome federal feedback, plan pushbacks, cracked concrete columns, cracked canopies, cracked blue plastic shims, etc., you would expect that a simple phone call, email, or text would occur between the “partners” before public statements are made, as too often those initial missives are quickly contradicted, negated, or questioned by the other party.
Speaking of a party, if this project was a party, we’d all be suffering from a long hangover, as quality hosts or caterers would’ve figured out by now what and how to best serve us; after all we are the paying clients. But that’s not the case as rail bantering and bickering goes on with little relief, agreement, or a firm start date in sight.
Think about it…