The City and County of Honolulu has finally submitted their application for federal funding with the Federal Transit Administration for the Honolulu rail project. According to the documents, the city is asking for $1.55 billion from the federal government and estimates the overall cost of the 20-mile rail line to be $5.16 billion. This does not include the $100 million that the city will spend on planning and design, bringing the total to $5.26 billion. The plans call for the first segment of the system to be open for public use by the middle of 2016.
Executive Director of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART), Daniel Grabauskas, remained very optimistic that the Federal Transit Authority will give their full support and approval. Grabauskas stated, “For us to be here and for the FTA to have agreed with us and worked with us on the numbers and the schedule that we’re submitting, that puts us in a great position.”
The Federal Transit Administration will now spend approximately 30 days to review the application. If it is approved, it would be sent to the White House Office of Management and Budget, who will spend approximately another 30 days for their review process. Afterwards, the application would advance to Congress who would have a 60 day review period. Final approval could come as early as November 2012.
Source: Honolulu Star Advertiser, 6-29-2012, www.staradvertiser.com
Posted by Jeff Uyemura-Reyes, Broker-in-Charge, Realtor®
Global Executive Realty, LLC
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