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The proposal, which rail leaders say comes from Honolulu City Council Chairman Ikaika Anderson, would place the city transportation department in charge of the remaining construction.

Despite the cost increases, the 20-mile, 21-station transit line is holding steady to HART’s latest, $8.14 billion construction budget, officials say.

Heidi Tsuneyoshi has recently brought fresh scrutiny to HART. Now, she’s urging the city to reverse plans to cover the rail agency’s legal costs.

Key personnel continue to leave the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation as rail construction nears its most critical crossroads.

Those increases, coupled with appreciating property values on Oahu, should be enough to make it work, the mayor asserted Thursday. But the proposal is light on specifics.

The trip to San Francisco was made in hopes that the Federal Transit Administration will start releasing more money for the project.

These won’t be bus stops, and Honolulu would do well to look east to cities where transit centers are integrated into surrounding communities.

Interim service looms next year, but city officials don’t know what the fares will be, and no formal proposals have been made.

Federal officials just cut nearly $1 billion for California’s ambitious high-speed rail project, but local leaders say Honolulu is better poised to secure its remaining cash.

Rail officials say so many pigeons and other birds are nesting inside the transit line’s cavernous concrete guideway that it’s become a health hazard to workers.