[ OUR OPINION ]

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Ferry will end fear
of tugboat strikes

THE ISSUE Hawaii Superferry plans to carry cargo as well as people and vehicles when it begins service in late 2006.

CORRECTION Thursday, July 15, 2004 An editorial on Page A10 Monday incorrectly identified Mike Fitzgerald and John Strom as officials with Hawaii Superferry. Fitzgerald and Strom work for Enterprise Honolulu, a nonprofit economic development organization funded by Oahu's private sector which has done an independent analysis of the ferry project. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin strives to make its news report fair and accurate. If you have a question or comment about news coverage, call Editor Frank Bridgewater at 529-4791 or email him at corrections@starbulletin.com.

ANXIETY experienced by neighbor island residents about their supplies of rice and toilet paper and farmers worried about getting their produce to market may have disappeared for good when tugboat workers ended their four-day strike. Governor Lingle points out that interisland ferries are expected to be operating by the time the tugboat labor contract expires in four years. The ferries also will create competition that could bring prices down.

Two 345-foot catamarans capable of carrying 900 passengers and as many as 280 vehicles can carry cargo as well. During her radio talk show last week, Lingle said the ferries would move vital cargo between islands in the event of another strike. Construction began last month in Mobile, Ala., on the first of the two vessels, and trips among the four major islands are planned in late 2006.

The ferries will compete with interisland airlines for passengers and with barges for cargo. They will not be able to carry as much freight as barges, but the operators say they will be able to deliver goods faster and cheaper.

Hawaii Superferry officials Mike Fitzgerald and John Strom point out that the ferries will charge 2 cents a pound for carrying produce from one island to another, compared with 13 cents a pound charged for barge cargo. They say the ferries also will haul items that are too fragile or perishable to be carried by barge. The ferries travel about 45 mph and will be able to make trips from Oahu to Maui or Kauai in about three hours, and to Kawaihae on the Big Island in four hours.

The ferry will "positively change the equation of the competitiveness and the cost of doing business in Hawaii," Fitzgerald said last year. "It will substantially improve the movement of products and people between the islands."

Lingle said the state is undertaking the "huge challenge" of preparing docking facilities for the ferries at state harbors so cars and passengers can be loaded and unloaded from the rear, unlike cruise ships. The ferries will be able to load and unload goods side by side, using the same amount of pier space that a cruise ship would use.

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Don’t let new study
of tourism go to waste

THE ISSUE A state project has produced a computer model that outlines the benefits and burdens of tourists from various geographic areas.

SWELLING tourism numbers recently have brought smiles all around Hawaii since more visitors means a stronger economy with more money streaming through the state. As good as that gets, the increases also place a burden on the islands' resources and environment.

That's why a computer model that estimates the tolls tourists from different geographic areas claim in water and energy consumption and in waste production can be a valuable tool in directing industry growth. However, if the model is to be worth anything, state policymakers and tourism officials will have to put it in play.

The model is part of the state's effort to get its hands around the problem of tuning up Hawaii's chief economic engine without sacrificing the assets that fuel it. In the past, the focus has been on revving up through quantity, but weighing higher revenues against costs -- such as increased sewage and wastes, energy production, lifestyle changes, crime and other societal consequences and environmental degradation -- has been difficult. As a result, the Legislature authorized a project to study the overall effects the industry has on Hawaii.

The computer model, the last segment of the study, calculates that visitors from the eastern United States generate less solid wastes and use less water and energy resources than tourists from the West. The reasons are unclear, but the information casts eastern tourists as more desirable since they lighten the strain on resources. "It shows where we can get the biggest bang for our buck," said Marsha Wienert, Governor Lingle's tourism director.

Wienert correctly points out that the model "has great potential as a planning tool," but like other government-generated analysis, it does no good if left idle, as have dozens of studies and planning documents through the years.

In addition, the approach of the project, called Planning for Sustainable Tourism in Hawaii, is largely reactive, seeking to minimize problems and adverse affects, rather than directing the industry toward a goal; it is defensive instead of enterprising.

The study was initiated in 2001, before Lingle's election. The governor's method has been to pilot and steer toward an objective, a manner that would cultivate better results if tourism is to remain Hawaii's primary economic base.