by Panos Prevedouros Back in 2009, UHERO provided some rail jobs estimates that said employment will start with 300 jobs, and at the peak of construction, there may be 2,000 jobs, but at that time UHERO did not know that a $1.4 billion contract to build the rail cars would go to Ansaldo Breda in Italy.* However HART testified at City Council that the rail will create 4,000 to 17,000 jobs. These estimates are flat out wrong if people believe...
How Stimulus Spending Ruined Buffalo — Lessons for Honolulu
by Panos Prevedouros Recently Steven Manlanga of the Manhattan Institute authored “How Stimulus Spending Ruined Buffalo” in the Wall Street Journal. It describes that stimulus was the vehicle for ruining Buffalo, New York and at the core of this stimulus was none other but a light rail system: In his State of the State Address this month, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced $1 billion in incentives to attract new investment. Too...
Letter to the Editor: “They Pick, You Pay”
by Dick Rowland An edited version of the following was printed in the January 18, 2012 edition of Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Page A15. “City rail plan on track, financially sound” proclaims the headline of the article authored by the members of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation in the 1/15/12 Honolulu Star-Advertiser. They make the case for the enormous project and its viability. What they fail to mention is that if the...