Honolulu’s Transit Opponents Have No Shame

Honolulu has had three shots at a transit system over four decades. The first two times, the project lost on 5-4 votes by the Honolulu City Council. The third time proved to be the charm when transit was approved by Honolulu voters last November.

Is transit needed on Oahu? You tell me. This shot was taken a month or so ago after a three-car accident occurred on a local freeway during afternoon rush hour.

But, as expected, the rail opponents still rant and rave.

And lie.

Yesterday, an organization called Small Business Hawaii trotted out a study that actually claims the city’s transit system will be more polluting than automobiles … a statement so easily and so often disproved as to be patently absurd. (As testimony to the depth of work going into this document, Small Business Hawaii paid the princely sum of five thousand dollars for it.)

Standing behind the clown who wrote this disgraceful screed was Hawaii State Senator Sam Slom, a Republican, who has also headed Small Business Hawaii for several decades. Slom, an arrogant, inflexible libertarian ideologue, is heartily detested by most people holding differing views who have ever had to deal with him.

Years ago, when Honolulu was debating transit for the second time, I briefly served on the board of directors of Small Business Hawaii. Opening the paper one morning, I read to my great surprise that SBH had come out in opposition to the city’s transit project.

I immediately called Sam and asked how a policy decision like that could be made without board approval. “It’s my prerogative,” Sam said. “Well,” I replied, “if that’s the way decisions are made, I may have to reconsider my participation as a board member.” “I’ll have a membership refund check in the mail to you this afternoon,” Sam snapped. And he hung up.

That’s who is behind this absurd, embarrassing, insulting, biased, half-baked, fraudulent “study.”

But what’s truly shocking is that the Honolulu media actually bought it … at least to the extent that they gave it equal play on the TV news last night. No skepticism, no questions, no checking the credentials of the guy who prepared it.

Somewhere, Walter Cronkite is spinning in his grave like a goddam top!

So What Do YOU Do for Fun and Relaxation?

Thanks to some winter storms in the Western Pacific, we are having some very big surf here in Hawaii.

The Eddie Aikau competition is underway as I write this. This particular event is only held when wave heights exceed 30-35 feet and other conditions are favorable, a combination that doesn’t happen very often. In fact, the last time they held this event was in 2004.

There is an ongoing monumental traffic jam on Oahu’s North Shore as local residents and visitors crowd the beach to watch. (Honolulu Advertiser photo.)

Eddie Aikau, by the way, was a well-known big wave surfer from Hawaii who was part of the original crew of the hokule’a, a replica of a Polynesian voyaging canoe that eventually made numerous trips to Tahiti, the Marquesas, and other areas of the South Pacific. But during a shakedown trial many years ago, the canoe was swamped at night somewhere between Maui and Lanai. Eddie set out for help on his surfboard, but was never heard from again. A local line of surf wear and gear has long been marketed here under the theme, “Eddie Would Go.”

Meantime, here on Maui at a spot known as Jaws, a handful of the best (and the craziest) big wave surfers were braving waves that exceeded 50 feet. (Photo from The Maui News)

The waves at Jaws are so monstrous that surfers must be towed out beyond the break by jet skis. Apparently, three of these watercraft were swamped and lost yesterday.

The very best of these big wave riders are quick to tell you that they are scared witless every single time. Ya' think??

Isn’t There Something Wrong With This Picture?

I was in Honolulu this past week for some surgery … having what my general contractor brother-in-law would call some “interior remodeling” done.

After a three-day stay, I found myself back at Honolulu International Airport for my Hawaiian Airlines flight home to Maui. I was dealing with a necessary-but-annoying catheter and was worried that I would have a problem going through security.

After all, the TSA will stop you if you have a water bottle or a tube of toothpaste with more than 3.5 ounces, and here I was with a plastic bag strapped to my leg. It was out of sight under my baggy sweatpants, but it has a capacity, I would guess, of some 12-14 ounces.

I sailed through without the slightest problem.

Give you pause? Sure did me.

I'm Taking a Brief Hiatus

I’ve tried to post here on a fairly regular and, if possible, a daily basis. But things do sometimes get in the way. Starting tomorrow, there will be what could be a gap of perhaps ten days or more.

About a month ago, my doctor gave me the cheery news that I have prostate cancer and on Tuesday the damn thing is coming out. (The sooner the better, if you ask me!)

But here’s the interesting part: The surgery will be done by a robot … operated by a doctor, of course. The Queens Medical Center in Honolulu is a first rate facility and they have one of these machines. It’s really a marvel. For one thing, it allows the doctor to get a close-up view of your innards. In fact, it’s enlarged several times, meaning he can do very precise work.

Another plus is that it’s much less invasive. Without the robot, surgeons make an eight- or nine-inch incision in the abdomen. But with the robot, the procedure is done through five small holes … so small that no stitches are necessary once the procedure is over. The recovery time is a lot less, too.

In a detached way, I find it interesting that I’m finding this whole experience, well ... interesting. Not scary … in fact, not even worrisome. (Gee … maybe that’s something to worry about.)

Actually, there is one thing: I came across a photo of the doctor who’s going to be manning the joy stick. He looks 12 years old.

One additional thought: if you're a guy reading this and you're over 50, get your PSA checked!

Now That's What I Call "Fair and Balanced!"

I’ve written here several times about the continuing problem of grade crossing accidents … cars and trucks being hit by trains where the tracks cross a road or highway.

Almost every day there is news of someone being killed. Usually it’s when they try to beat the train to the crossing and often they drive past the flashing lights and clanging bell and around the gates … and into the path of the train.

I came across this photograph the other day. How in the hell did the driver of that truck manage to get himself into such a fix?? Certainly not without doing something awfully dumb.

When these incidents occur, the story is always about how the Amtrak train slammed into a car or truck . Once … just once … I’d like to see a news report that accurately summarizes what really happened. For instance ...

"A damn fool was killed today when he drove around a gate and into the path of an Amtrak train."

Yeah ... that's more like it!

The perfect Christmas gift … for YOU!

You like trains? Are you interested in the future of passenger rail in the United States? Or are you just looking for a great read? OK … run, don’t walk, to get a copy of Waiting on a Train … subtitled The Embattled Future of Passenger Rail Service … by James McCommons. I’m only two-thirds of the way through, but can already tell you it’s a must-read.

The author spent a year riding around the country on Amtrak to meet and talk with a whole variety of people who are, in one way or another, involved with passenger trains.

In one section, he writes about how the freight railroads have differing attitudes toward Amtrak trains. BNSF makes serious and successful efforts to bring Amtrak trains in on time, while Union Pacific …

Well, let me give you one of the more interesting (and almost shocking) paragraphs from the book. In this chapter, McCommons is writing about a conversation he had with Griff Hubbard, a long-time Amtrak employee who is one of the people overseeing the Texas Eagle. The Eagle has a terrible on-time record and, since it runs on Union Pacific track, at one point Hubbard sat down with a UP exec to see if anything could be done to improve things. Here’s the excerpt:

According to Hubbard, the executive snorted, “You know, Griff, you just don’t get it. Amtrak doesn’t get it. And maybe you guys will never get it, but we just don’t care … You need to understand this … if you’re right to the minute on time and an ass in every seat, we don’t care. If you are nine hours late, and nobody is on the train, we don’t care. If you have engine failure and are stuck, we don’t care. If you bring a few million to the table in incentives, we don’t care. We’re a $3-billion company, it means nothing to us. So no matter what Amtrak does. No matter what you do, we don’t care. WE DON’T CARE.”

I personally experienced this UP don’t-give-a-damn attitude a couple of years ago on a ride up to Seattle on the Coast Starlight. We got shunted off onto a siding and sat waiting for nearly 40 minutes while two Union Pacific freights lumbered by. When we finally got the go-ahead from the UP dispatcher, we proceeded less than a mile into the station.

Anyway, there are many fascinating insights throughout this book. And there is much more about the future of passenger rail in the U.S. It’s a terrific book … Buy it!

They May Be Doin’ It Right, But That Don’t Mean We Is Wrong!

High-speed rail lines are being opened and expanded all over the world. France, with its TGV network, has been the acknowledged leader for several decades, but other countries are rapidly catching up, the most notable being Spain which has now linked all major cities with a high-speed rail system.

In China, trains on the high-speed rail line linking Beijing and Tianjin are among the fastest in the world, running at speeds up to 218 miles per hour.

The Chinese have also announced they will be increasing the operating hours for the maglev (magnetic-levitation) train that is running daily between downtown Shanghai and the airport. This futuristic train reaches a speed of some 210 mph and averages 157 mph on the short 18 mile run. In tests, the maglev train has reached a speed of 310 mph.

But here’s what’s interesting about all this: China’s airlines are seriously worried that the country’s determined push to develop the world’s largest high-speed rail network could actually cause them to suspend service on most of their domestic routes.

Here in this country, we’ve just started to talk about high-speed rail linking a few of our major cities. But we continue to plow billions and billions of dollars into more highways, expanding airports, and creating a new air traffic control system to permit more planes in the air flying closer together.

But a nationwide system of passenger trains for the U.S.? Well, shucks … we ain’t gonna pay no ‘tention to all them Frenchies and Spanish people, and ‘specially t’ them Chinesies! Dagnabbit, America has always knowed how to do things better than all them dang furriners!