• County should be planning for more vehicles County should be planning for more vehicles “Talking Transportation” (TGI, Nov. 15) was a well-written article, but it does need a lot of comments and examination. Are we really going to again “ready,
• County should be planning for more vehicles
County should be planning for more vehicles
“Talking Transportation” (TGI, Nov. 15) was a well-written article, but it does need a lot of comments and examination.
Are we really going to again “ready, fire, aim” with an issue that will waste millions of dollars of taxpayers money? Those people who run our government, those who have squandered megabucks and made problems that proper planning would not have allowed, are now proposing to use an island of shuttle systems to alleviate our traffic problems.
As with all failed projects, our Kauai County Transportation planner is holding public hearings to get their input on this issue. Having been to many hearings like this over the years, it is obvious that decisions have already been made as to what will or will not be done. The hearings are basically to show that the consultants and people putting them on are earning their salaries and that the monies spent for them are justified no matter what the results.
It appears from the map in the article how much time and money developing a design and plan of where these shuttles will go has already been done. If public input were really an integral part of the planning, wouldn’t the meetings be held first to see if a shuttle system is even wanted? Shouldn’t a cost/usage study be done before moving forward with any costly project?
The only example of a shuttle system that was tried on Kauai was the one on the North Shore (Hanalei to Kee Beach) which proved to be a complete failure. So now we are proposing to spend millions of dollars on a mass shuttle system for all of Kauai — insanity at best!
When will those in power simply realize that people, local or tourists, will not abandon their vehicles for a bike, bus, walking or a shuttle. People, the mass of them, need, want and will keep their vehicles no matter what alternate means of transportation is offered to them.
We desperately need alternate and wider roads to move around our island to alleviate traffic problems — not the “dream world” activities mentioned above.
We have no oversight or a responsible party to be accountable for the gross waste and inefficiency in our system. A county manager would give us such a person, so please, citizens, encourage Councilman Mason Chock and his colleagues to let you vote on this system at next election. Those who say that our present system is not broken only need to look at the above example to know that our present system is not working.
Glenn Mickens, Kapaa
