Federal funding for Oahu
bus system hinges on vote
The Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization is scheduled to take a crucial vote Tuesday on qualifying the city's $51 million Bus Rapid Transit System for partial federal funding.
The first phase involves a 5.6-mile route between Waikiki and Iwilei on the Ewa side of Downtown, using dedicated lanes on the existing roadways for hybrid gas and electric buses.
It has come under fire because the dedicated bus lanes would displace some existing traffic lanes along the route. Opponents say it'll create traffic snarls for motorists.
Without the Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization's blessing, the BRT project can't qualify for $20 million in federal funds already appropriated and on the Federal Transit Administration's list of accepted projects. About $12 million of that would go for widening Ala Moana and the rest for buses and bus facilities.
The city-funded portion of the project is already underway in Waikiki with construction along Kuhio Avenue.
Gordon Lum, the agency's executive director, said a technical question from some members has been resolved with word from the Federal Transit Administration that federal funding of BRT will not jeopardize or displace federal funding for any future rail transit project on Oahu.
A formal notification of that determination is expected from the Federal Transit Administration in time for the Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization's vote.
The City Council's key member of the agency, Transportation Committee Chairman Nestor Garcia, said he's not sure how the vote will go.
"We'll see what happens," said Sen. Calvin Kawamoto (D, Waipahu), the Senate Transportation Committee Chairman and chairman of the Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization's Policy Committee.
City Transportation Services Director Cheryl Soon, also an Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization member, said if for some reason the agency votes against including BRT on the Oahu's Transportation Improvement Program list to get the federal funding, the city likely would then seek local funding for the Ala Moana widening.
Even though it's already underway, the first phase of BRT is being challenged in federal court.
A group called Sensible Traffic Alternatives and Resources Ltd., also known as the Alliance for Traffic Improvement, has a case pending in U.S. District court.
A planned second phase of the BRT project would tie the Waikiki-Downtown part with a bus system to Kapolei in West Oahu.
The Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization is a city-state agency responsible for coordinating transportation planning on Oahu, a requirement of federal funding. Its policy committee includes five members of the City Council, four members each from the state House and Senate, the state transportation director and head of the city's transportation program.
The Policy Committee meeting is scheduled for 1 p.m. Tuesday at the state Capitol.
Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization:
oahumpo.org