MOVE OAHU FORWARD is a non-partisan coalition of Hawaii business and community leaders whose mission is to support initiatives that improve mobility and quality of life in ways that also strengthen the economy and manage future growth while protecting the island's unique environment and way of life. We believe that Honolulu’s rail transit project accomplishes that.
Following his October 15, 2012 opinion editorial in the Honolulu Advertiser (see: http://moveoahuforward.org/rail-is-a-matter-of-equity/), Gov. George Ariyoshi voiced his support for rail in a video editorial for KGMB TV on October 31. You can watch the video here: http://moveoahuforward.org/rail-matters/ or here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TubeUHd-D-E. If …
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For me, Honolulu’s rail project is about righting wrongs, ensuring fairness and providing equal access to opportunity.
We in Los Angeles are well aware that the investment in rail will not only provide faster and more reliable transportation, it will also do far more to elevate the quality of life for the communities it will serve. Rail is the hands-down winner in mobility – both transportation mobility and upward social mobility.
We note that the Sierra Club supports rail for Honolulu. Here's an excerpt from their position statement: "The Sierra Club O`ahu Group supports the Fixed Guideway (rail) alternative. The Fixed Guideway alternative provides what O`ahu needs most: an alternative to the automobile."
In the ongoing debate over rail, there has been a lot of discussion about the cost of rail but very little discussion about how rail provides equal access to social and economic opportunity to everyone regardless of age, race, economic status or disability.
“Tony makes a great addition to our board and underscores the cooperative and mutually beneficial relationship between rail and the bus system,“ said Richard Dahl, co-chair of Move Oahu Forward.
The recent ranking by the INRIX Traffic Scorecard clearly demonstrates the need for the Honolulu Rail Transit project.
We would like to be clear, however, that our goals go far beyond simply raising funds. Our goals are to question and evaluate the facts surrounding rail and insure that the public hears solid and accurate facts that we support..
Regardless of where people stand on Honolulu’s Rail Transit project, it is clear that the community benefits from more transparency and more discussion about how taxpayer money is being spent on a project that will have a significant impact on the future of Oahu and our state. As businesspeople, we couldn’t agree more. As parents who want the best possible Oahu for our families, we expect no less.
(HONOLULU, Hawaii, April 16, 2012)–More than 30 of Hawaii’s leading business and community leaders have joined together to form a new organization, Move Oahu Forward, in support of the City and County of Honolulu’s rail transit project.
