Passenger Bus, Rail and Motorcoach Industry News

Will highlight work created by artists who have a strong understanding of and affinity for Hawaii’s history and culture. The art will be displayed at the 21 stations along the rail route and at the train control center in Waipahu.

Monies are part of $255 million in federal funds currently available for the Honolulu rail transit project this fiscal year. The project to date has $320 million available in federal funds under the Full Funding Grant Agreement.

Signing is the final step of the FTA’s New Starts federal funding process for new rail systems, and makes available $200 million to the Honolulu rail project for fiscal year 2012.

Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation CEO told the City Council that the agency bases the figure on contractor delay claims, change orders and new expenses tied to the court-ordered construction shutdown of the rail project.

Seating in each two-car train will increase by more than 25%, going from 76 to 96 seats, while still retaining room for luggage, bikes and surfboards.

Along with the train system control center, the facility will house a maintenance building for track inspection and repairs; a train vehicle wash facility; and train wheel repair center.

The new funds will bring total General Excise and Use Tax revenue received to date for the rail project to $858.73 million, about $8 million more than projected.

As part of his pledge, Daniel Grabauskas said HART would place all 150,000 pages of the city's administrative record on its website. The documents detail communications between city officials and the Federal Transit Administration concerning a lawsuit filed in federal court that hopes to stop the rail project.

Grabauskas, also a former state transportation secretary, was appointed by Mitt Romney and forced to resign from the T in 2009.