HONOLULU AUTHORITY FOR RAPID TRANSPORTATION (HART)

January 2021 – December 2023

RIGHT-SIZING RAIL TO CUT PROJECT COSTS AND ACCESS FEDERAL FUNDS
Upon taking office, Mayor Blangiardi made a strategic decision to stop the City’s long history of telling the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) what the City “could not do” and, instead, tell the FTA what the City “could do.” That decision, with the support of HART leadership, City Council leadership, and members of the Congressional delegation, resulted in the City submitting a Recovery Plan that right-sized the rail project to the City’s fiscal capacity, trimming billions from the construction budget. In concert with Mayor Blangiardi’s commitment to restore alignment between HART, the HART Board, the City administration and the City Council, the FTA approved HART’s recovery plan and agreed to amend the City’s Full Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA), ultimately resulting in the promised release of $744 million in federal funds to the City beginning in 2024. Previously, HART had not received any federal funds since 2017. In right-sizing the rail project, Mayor Blangiardi remains committed to future phases which include Kapolei Center and UH Manoa.
SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF INTERIM OPERATIONS TRIAL RUNNING
Trial running required comprehensive testing of the project’s first operating segment (interim operations to Aloha Stadium) and was the final series of testing before the system was deemed ready to begin service in 2023. Trial running included 144 scenarios of normal and emergency operations. The final phase, called the System Demonstration phase, began in late February 2023. System Demonstration called for rail operations to be conducted as if the system were in service and required a 30-day rolling average of 98.5% service reliability. This milestone was successfully achieved in early April 2023, just 35 days after it began.
FINAL SYSTEM CERTIFICATION
A multiyear process, final certification was completed in June 2023, the culmination of thousands of successful tests and an excellent example of cross-sector collaboration between HART, the City Department of Transportation Services (DTS), Hitachi, the State of Hawai‘i and the FTA.
TRANSFER OF RAIL ASSETS TO DTS
On June 9, 2023, rail assets were transferred from HART to DTS in a formal ceremony at the Mission Memorial Auditorium. Assets transferred included 10.75 miles of guideway, nine rail stations, 12 four-car trains and the 43-acre Rail Operations Center. This step marked one of the most significant milestones in the history of HART.
GRAND OPENING OF INTERIM RAIL OPERATIONS
On June 30, 2023, the Honolulu Rail Transit Project officially opened to the public with a ceremony at the Aloha Stadium Station. The official opening of rail was an extremely proud moment for HART, its employees, consultants and contractors, and DTS. The rail system has performed exceedingly well since its opening with few operational challenges.
FFGA AMENDMENT
The FTA accepted HART’s 2022 Recovery Plan in September 2022. The acceptance of the Recovery Plan resulted in an opportunity to amend the project’s original FFGA, signed in 2012, to reflect the revised scope. In 2023, the proposed FFGA amendment was rigorously reviewed by HART, Corporation Counsel and the FTA and required the approval of the U.S. Department of Transportation and Congress. HART received the final amended FFGA from the FTA in late November, followed by the HART Board’s approval of the amended FFGA in December 2023. In January 2024, the City Council approved the amended FFGA and it is now ready to be executed by the FTA and the City. The completion of this process will allow HART to receive the remaining $744 million in federal funds that have been withheld from the project since 2017. Obtaining the amended FFGA is a significant accomplishment for the rail project and the City is grateful to the FTA for its confidence in HART and Honolulu’s rail project.
CIVIC CENTER GUIDEWAY AND STATIONS PROCUREMENT
The procurement for the largest remaining construction contract of the rail project commenced in April 2023 – the City Center Guideway and Stations — three miles of rail guideway from Middle Street to Kaka‘ako and six rail stations along Dillingham Boulevard and through downtown Honolulu. A contract is expected to be awarded in the summer of 2024.
HART INTERNSHIP PROGRAM
HART implemented a successful internship program in the summer of 2023 that enrolled eight impressive college students. The student interns performed meaningful work that contributed to the project and four of the students continued to work for HART on a part-time basis after they resumed their college classes.
RESTORING ACCOUNTABILITY AND STABILITY IN THE HONOLULU RAIL PROJECT
Mayor Blangiardi entered office committed to strong and experienced leadership in HART, in both the leadership of the HART organization and the HART Board, with a goal to bring accountability and stability to the project and earn trust from the FTA and the taxpayers of Honolulu.