Inventive Opposition: Anti-Railers Cite ‘Graffiti Magnet,’ Air Fares as Reasons to Fight Project

Anti-rail letters have the field to themselves in today’s Advertiser. Granted, other days have seen only pro-rail letters, but it makes you wonder how the editors choose what to run. Surely letters on both sides of the issue are pilled high in their office on any given day. New Rule: “Balance letters on both sides of the major issues.” (Bill Maher, we need you.)

One anti-rail letter ends with the expectation that “those concrete towers will be magnets” for graffiti, thereby requiring cleanup, along with all the other expense. Another concludes by connecting the dots between higher oil prices, higher air fares, less tourism, reduced GET revenue and rail’s doomed future.

We agree that life has its ups and downs, many of them unanticipated, and problems require solutions; there’s nothing new in that. So roll up your sleeves and think beyond your upset.

Where’s the Beef?

The key subject today’s writers circumvent and fail to address is simply this: How do they propose moving commuters through Honolulu’s urban corridor back and forth to the ewa side without ensnarling them in traffic? They never, never, never address that issue – just the perceived deal-killers.

People (including the Stop Rail Crowd who filed suit yesterday): Move beyond your outrage and come up with viable solutions to Oahu’s mobility problem. And don’t simply roll out that old non-starter -- grade-separated but eventually-bogged-down-in-traffic Lexus Lanes. They won’t accomplish the mission, which is to give commuters an alternative to sitting in traffic that will enable a predictable time of arrival at their destinations -- each time, every time.

Maybe tomorrow’s letters will include something from the opposition that addresses the mobility factor. Somehow, we think not.  (Homework assignment: Click on the Comment to our August 3rd post, below, and then the links supplied by "billso.")