Cause and Effect On Honolulu Rail Transit - Essay Example

Lecturer: Cause and Effect on Honolulu Rail Transit The proposed construction of The Honolulu Rail Transit project that will cost about $ 5.3 billion was a plan that the Honolulu city, which is in the Oahu island, aimed at making movement easier. The rail development plan started in the 1960s with an aim of linking the outlying areas with the urban centers. The funding of the projected was not approved until during the year 2005, but the controversy behind this project has remained a political issue.

The construction of the project after the amendment of 2011 led to a ground-breaking ceremony for the beginning of the construction. Thus, many pros and cons have been raised about the proposed construction of the rail transit. Although, the Honolulu rail transit will ease movement of commodities and people from urban areas to outlying areas, it will lead to budget cuts on the capital projects and contribute to environmental, health as well as aesthetic issues.The Honolulu Rail Transit project is costly; thus, it will cause the budget cuts.

The rail debt will rise contributing to the reduction of spending on other capital projects. The construction of the rail transit will enable the government to incur additional debt for other projects such as flood control programs, police equipment and road repairs. This is because the financial resources of the city will be directed to the rail construction, as the city will be forced to alter al the city expenses to the rail construction. For instance, the report from the financial director of Honolulu, Toy Arre, revealed that the fiscal budget proposal of 2013 on health and safety alone is $ 17 million dollars (Levine pr 3).

 The public health and safety is on the front line, but this will be impacted by the proposed rail construction because the government will not manage to meet all other proposal fiscal budget. Hence, this will contribute to the government relying on foreign aid and borrowing money from other developed states with an aim of meeting other capital projects; thus increasing the national balance deficit.The Honolulu project may pose environmental, health and aesthetic issues. This is because the construction activities will contribute to varied consequences on the environment and the health of human being; thus, the project poses legal issues.

The plaintiffs included in the environmental and legal issues indicated that the construction of the rail will lead to environmental pollution. For instance, the electric train will be powered by fossil fuel because this comes from burning of petroleum products. This will lead to air pollution; which will turn impact the health of human beings. It will also impact the historical preservation areas such as the burial sites and other aesthetic values (Levine pr 5). This historical issue has been one of the main political issues that have delayed the proposal of the rail transit.

For instance, the burial council of Oahu argues that the burial side, which has been preserved as the historical site, will be impacted and other natural resources. Therefore, the burial issue led to legal problems; thus leading to the delays of the project due to the need for conducting archaeological survey.The Honolulu project will also contribute to the negative effect on traffic. Although, the traffic volumes in the city will reduce, another consequence will rise whereby many bus riders will be affected.

Even with the introduction of the rail, rides diverted to the rail will take place during peak hours. Most rail riders will be the former bus riders; thus, traffic would not reduce significantly because personal cars will increase. This is because the rail cannot connect riders to short distances places within the town; thus, it will also impact short distance commuters. Therefore, many people will be forced to use personal vehicles to their working places, and this will increase the traffic jam for personal vehicles within the city.

Works CitedLevine, Michael. Is Honolulu Rail Debt Causing Budget Cuts? January 3, 2013.Web. January 4, 2013.