Starting January 1, 2007 our excise tax on Oahu was increased to 4-1/2% from 4%. The money is to go towards a rail system.
Here are a few of the problems with the direction this train or may I say the train wreck is heading.
First from my selfish side; realtors have to pay the tax twice. We pay it when we get paid our commission and then again when we spend our money. The worst part is that we will not be able to use it. Our line of work requires a vehicle to transport our clients from house to house.
Starting this year I am paying the increased tax on a train that has not even been designed and will not be built for many years. Current estimate is to build the first small section by the 2012. The projected costs (remember they have not even selected the technology) started at 2 Billion Dollars and has climbed to 5.5 Billion Dollars without even a plan.
The most amazing thing about this whole bizarre situation is that the proponents of the train opening admit that it will not alleviate traffic. Traffic is expected to double in that corridor by the 2030 and the most optimistic predictions for the train ridership is less than 6%.
Besides the enormous costs of construction for any train system selected; we will have to subsidize it for many Millions of dollars a year to operate it.
The saddest part of this story is that since the construction of our existing H-1 freeway, traffic has more than doubled. By the year 2030 it will double again, yet there are no plans to add a single highway mile.
Comments(10)