According to Wendell Cox, a former member of the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission and the Amtrak Reform Council, the Honolulu Rail Project's costs have been significantly underestimated and its ridership significantly overestimated. Cox, who was speaking at the annual SmartBusiness Hawaii Conference, pointed out that the city plans to have 116,300 passengers per day by 2030 and believed that this number was approximately 40 percent too high. He also recommended that the city take time to do a more in depth study to make sure that they have enough funds to support the project.
Interim executive director of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation, Toru Hamayasu, defended the cities predictions of ridership and costs by stating, "The Federal Transit Administration over the last several years has worked closely with the city on the Honolulu rail project in making sure our finances and ridership projections are sound. Because of FTA's stringent oversight and continued confidence in our project, the project was just approved to enter into the final design phase. The entry into Final Design is a significant step toward the final agreement and commitment by the federal authority to contribute $1.55 billion for the project."
