I really appreciate what Grassroot Institute of Hawaii columnist Don Newman has been writing about problems with the $2.6 billion rail transit that key Hawaii government leaders are advocating, along with a tax increase to pay for the system.
Hawaii is overtaxed, and we do not need new taxes to pay for a solution (rail transit) which is not really a solution. There are much cheaper solutions that will work.
Rick Hamada of KHVH Radio has pointed out that a large number of cars could be removed from the roads by taking off the cars without insurance.
Sen. Fred Hemmings, R-Kailua, and many other free market supporters, have proposed a jitney system, which could be privately funded and would pay taxes.
I propose elevated freeways at bottleneck points and I also favor privately built garages near downtown that cars could zip into directly from the freeway.
And a few zoning changes would allow housing to be built near jobs, and jobs to be put near housing — thus decreasing traffic.
The ferry system and tunnel beneath Pearl Harbor would help, too. Let’s just use our heads instead of outrageous sums of money.
We really need to be loud enough for our politicians to hear us, the victims of taxes. If we don’t stand very strong on the proper solutions to traffic, we are going to get railroaded.
”’Mark Terry, a resident of Honolulu and former Republican political candidates, can be reached via email at”’ mailto:mdtterry@yahoo.com