U.S. HOUSE TRANSPORTATION CHAIR SEES HONOLULU RAIL TRANSIT RECEIVING FUNDS “IN THE RANGE OF $900 MILLION”
HONOLULU, HI - The chairman of the U.S. House committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Congressman Jim Oberstar (8th-MN), today, threw his full support behind the City and County of Honolulu’s proposed rail transit system while touring the Hawaiian Islands with Congresswoman Mazie Hirono (2nd-HI).
Congresswoman Hirono serves as a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
Oberstar hailed the work of Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann for establishing a “dedicated revenue stream substantiated over a definitive period of time” and noted “revenues are already being collected.”
With that established, Oberstar discussed the potential Federal commitment to Honolulu’s rail transit plans.
“Overall, you can count on a roughly 30%-35% contribution from the Federal Transit Administration in federal transit funds which would play out in the range of $900 million,“ said Oberstar. “And, I will be vigorously supporting the delegation and the mayor in pursuit of those funds.”
Congresswoman Hirono explained Oberstar’s knowledge of the ridership potential and his belief in rail transit gives her “faith in being able to progress with this project, with the mayor, and with our whole congressional delegation because Rep. Neil Abercrombie (1st-HI) has been working on this for a long time. I’m really glad to be part of a team that is going to make this happen.”
Congresswoman Hirono is hosting Chairman Oberstar during a weeklong tour of various transportation projects throughout Hawaii’s 2nd congressional district.
“This rail project will be enormously successful from the very outset and I’m committed to supporting Congresswoman Hirono and the mayor in moving it ahead,” said Oberstar. “It is essential to undertake this project.”
In addition to serving on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Congresswoman Hirono also serves on the Education and Labor, and Small Business Committees.
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