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James "Kimo" Rosen is a retired professional photographer
and amongst other things lived in a tent outdoors for 7 years.
Rosen currently resides on the tropical island of Kaua'i
with his best friend and spiritual adviser Ivanka-Obama, The Bipartisan Dog!
Above photo, Kauai County council |
Kapaa Sunrise
08-10-18
Photo courtesy,
James "Kimo" Rosen
Publishers note;
Aloha,
I'm back! I tried not blogging. I wanted to concentrate on my book and not a blog, however
blogging just seems to come naturally after 10 years. You guys thought you were done with me? Not so easy! ;-)
James "Kimo" Rosen
Publisher/Blogger-n-chief~dakinetalk blog
Kauai County Council and new Mayor should consider “congestion pricing”
This blog also appeared as an opinion letter in the Garden Island news on 01-14-19
http://www.thegardenisland.com/2019/01/14/opinion/letter-for-monday-january-14-2019/
Aloha,
I'm back! I tried not blogging. I wanted to concentrate on my book and not a blog, however
blogging just seems to come naturally after 10 years. You guys thought you were done with me? Not so easy! ;-)
James "Kimo" Rosen
Publisher/Blogger-n-chief~dakinetalk blog
This blog also appeared as an opinion letter in the Garden Island news on 01-14-19
http://www.thegardenisland.com/2019/01/14/opinion/letter-for-monday-january-14-2019/
Blog #2027~Kimo's world's #274
Kauai county should consider congestion pricing as a way to battle the traffic situation here on the cosmic Garden island.
Congestion pricing is a fee charged to drivers for the privilege to drive during heavy traffic to help alleviate the situation. Since 2003 drivers in London have paid a daily rate of about $16 to access the heart of the city from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m on weekdays. Many US cities with traffic gridlock are thinking of implementing this process including Honolulu.
Before this could be implemented the county bus would need to be ready for an influx of many more passengers. This would be great tax revenue for the county and get motor vehicles off the roads.
Also, every car rental could be accessed the $16.00 fee or whatever fee determined by our representatives. In the long run, it would get cars off the roads, people using mass transit and more tax dollars for the many problems facing our community I believe it's something our county council and new mayor should look into.
Congestion pricing is a fee charged to drivers for the privilege to drive during heavy traffic to help alleviate the situation. Since 2003 drivers in London have paid a daily rate of about $16 to access the heart of the city from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m on weekdays. Many US cities with traffic gridlock are thinking of implementing this process including Honolulu.
Before this could be implemented the county bus would need to be ready for an influx of many more passengers. This would be great tax revenue for the county and get motor vehicles off the roads.
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| Bumper to bumper traffic by the roundabout in Kapa'a, known at the Kapa'a crawl. |
Support Border Wall to keep America safe
It's beyond belief that the U.S. government is partially
shut down because Congressional Democrats will not allocate 5 billion dollars to construct a barrier wall on the southern border. This comes as a shock to Israelis who are protected from daily terror acts behind a barrier. The opposition to the wall is not about anything else but obstructing Trump and keeping him from keeping American safe.
How can anyone dispute a border wall? It’s like disputing locking the doors to your home, fencing your yard or property, or locking your vehicle while shopping.
The irony, so many politicians and Hollywood elite types with fenced yards and security guards in front of their mansions are the ones most opposed to a wall.
Hawaii can spend 8 billion on a rail that is 25 miles long but the whole United States cant spend 5 billion on border security.
America first!
This blog also appeared in the Friday, 01-11-19 edition of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser;
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| Acosta will never live it down...It’s the gift that keeps on giving |
It's beyond belief that the U.S. government is partially
How can anyone dispute a border wall? It’s like disputing locking the doors to your home, fencing your yard or property, or locking your vehicle while shopping.
The irony, so many politicians and Hollywood elite types with fenced yards and security guards in front of their mansions are the ones most opposed to a wall.
Hawaii can spend 8 billion on a rail that is 25 miles long but the whole United States cant spend 5 billion on border security.
America first!
This blog also appeared in the Friday, 01-11-19 edition of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser;
Hana Hou, (Encore)
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| Sign the petition to remove Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib! So far 110,000 signatures and counting! Do to Rashida Tlaib actions and profanity, she is unfit to be a congresswoman. Her rude display and lack of respect for our sitting President was uncalled for. Her immediate removal from her seat is just and warranted. Due to her hatred towards our president, I feel she is a national security threat. https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/removal-rashida-tlaib-d-mi-office-do-inappropriate-and-unstable-actions-becoming-congresswoman |
9 comments:
Aloha Kimo:
Good article you wrote in todays paper. there have been a number of good articles in the paper lately about the traffic problems but no one in power seems to be listening. They listen to consultants who they pay thousands of dollars to and get absolutely no bang for their bucks but refuse to at least TRY
these suggestions. Let's hope that these new faces will get action going and stop the talk.
I will not get into the WALL debacle with you as you are my pal and you will never change my mind and I know I will never change yours if you want the Wall.
To spend 6 billion for a wall ( and you can bet that the eventual cost would be much more) is insanity. All security experts emphatically say that most drugs are coming through legal border crossing or by air and this "build for show" wall is a waste of taxpayers money.
I am fighting to get back to normal and I hope to get there soon.
Your pal,
Glenn
Aloha Glenn,
Once you get back in action and start attending county council meetings again I am going to start doing the same.
I may start up before you come back. It's always been something I wanted to do.
The county council meeting is not the same without you, Mel and Joanne.
How about congestion pricing of $5.00 a day for Kaua'i, that's only $25.00 a week for a Monday through Friday schedule?
Your pal,
Kimo
Steven McMacken January 14, 2019 4:58 am Reply
I think we should tax bicyclists. They’re the root cause of the majority of the island’s traffic problems. Not only are bike riders obnoxious do-gooders, they’re always riding where they shouldn’t and getting in the way of the cars. That’s something our county council and new mayor should look into.
Ginger Doll January 14, 2019 6:27 am Reply
I would offer an amendment to this $16 a day fee by exempting cars with three or more passengers. This would encourage car pooling and reduced traffic.
Charlie Chimknee January 14, 2019 7:46 am Reply
But “Kimo” easy for you to say…you only ride a bike.
Some of us propose the 100 cars in a No Stopping CAR TRAIN…ABC Store in Kapa’a all the way to the “T” at Rice St. In LIHUE during traffic hours. Set the signals or set out the Traffic Control guys and gals.
Charlie
ruthann jones January 14, 2019 8:03 am Reply
..and this from a man without a car?
Joe Public January 14, 2019 8:34 am Reply
The easiest, and fair way to address this issue is to charge the rental companies a higher fee to register their vehicles within the County as the problem is too many rental cars, thus the tourist are not using the bus (public & private) to get to the scenic sites around the island.
They should also increase the fines/penalties for the ones out there renting vehicles without the proper business licenses or insurance.
Kimo,
It seems most commenters are very rude and condescending towards you on an ongoing basis. One reason I stopped writing letters to the Garden Island news is that of the commenters. One old man lives in the Philippines, used to live on Kauai but is so bored he comments numerous times a day and is always cutting letter writers down, along with another commenter who is a former Kauai resident. I only see his name when you write a guest column or letter and he is always nasty towards you. I really don't know who monitors the comments for the Garden Island news, but they should be a little more careful in what they let be published in comments.
Why pay to build a wall no one wants only to have the next sitting president tear it down like all the things Obama did that Trump tore down? Waste of tax payers money that could feed hungry children, ease the burden of the homeless, fix government bridges and roads? I could go on but if he wants "his" wall so badly, he's a billionaire, let him build it and take care of our homeless, hungy, aged, and so on. I am sure your faith has something in it about doing something like this. I know mine does.
Pointfisha January 14, 2019 11:46 am Reply
That kind of fee strategy for traffic management only works in a centralized commuter city with clear business centers and suburbs., in which the majority of residents work a single job during standardized hours.
Kauai is not London. It doesn’t have highly developed, overlapping public transportation systems like London’s extensive rail and “Tube” (subway) system, taxi system and bus system. London built those systems over centuries and its ways of work and life have been formed around them.
The “9-5” urban life is unusual for most Kauai residents, and those who work 9-5 travel from all over. Few but the wealthy and visitors have the luxury of selecting theirs hours and directions of travel, and fees would do little to change their behaviors.
All a peak use fee would do is put extra money in the county’s coffers and extra burden on people who have to get kids to school and move between multiple jobs across various locations.
John Zwiebel January 14, 2019 12:48 pm Reply
Wouldn’t it be much more effective to listen to our dear President Trump and build a wall around Kauai? That way we could control those immigrants from America who keep coming here unwanted. Maybe we could even get the county council to establish Kauai’s own ICE and start deporting unwanted immigrants.
As with Trump’s policies, who would be allowed in would be decided arbitrarily. Those who were born on Kauai to “immigrants” could be called “DREAMERS” and given a special status that would make it seem as if there is something to compromise on. Heck, the council could even take away Birthright Citizenship for Kauai.
Let us not acknowledge that the majority of the population growth on Kauai is from families who have lived here for years if not decades. That way the council can create division among those who live here while pretending that it actually doing something about the traffic problem.
Perhaps the best idea would be for the Haoles to declare that God promised them Kauai so we could force all the Native Hawaiians to live at Taylor’s and put up a wall and periodically bomb them if they throw rocks and “God’s Chosen”.
Of course, eventually, they’d all have to be “removed” to Niihau for being terrorists, but that can be dealt with later.
[I hope it is clear that this is satire, like “Gulliver’s Travels”]
Pete Antonson January 14, 2019 1:36 pm Reply
This solution should be popular along with the other ones on this page. They all say: “Let’s solve this by doing something to that guy over there who isn’t me!”
Steve Martin January 14, 2019 1:46 pm Reply
We now have extra fees from the airlines for baggage, resort fees for staying at hotels as well as up to $50 a night for the privilege of parking on their property, and lately most restaurants are now charging a fee if you pay with anything but cash and now suggesting that we pay a fee for the privilege to drive a car during traffic congestion. In other words we are going to be fined. I can see now police stop you on the side of the road and charge you $16 in order to drive or you have to park your car and walk home or hitch a ride from some sucker that was stupid enough to give the police his or hers $16 fee. I hope none of this makes sense because the idea of it is as stupid as it sounds and besides when you feed this info to the council they will definitely think you are trying to insult what little intelligence they might have.
Steve January 14, 2019 2:57 pm Reply
Now every politician wants to go after Kauai’s economic golden goose and throttle rental cars (brilliant!) except for the one that thinks buses are the panacea—the obvious flaw being that so many here work multiple jobs (except for county workers) and have so little time to spare that the idea of spending your day waiting at bus stops trying to get 5 town errands done is fabulously ludicrous. The elephant in the room is the extra lane around + plus thru-traffic bypasses—which solution has been obvious for thirty years and should have been initiated years ago by our head-in-the-sand elected leadership too lazy to open the demographic forecasts that accurately predicted the population and visitor increases our tax dollars paid for. They should all be junketed to the many urban sites too numerous to name that are faced with having to condemn (and buy out) miles of homes and businesses in order to create a single lane of highway, forced to take notes, and then come back here and embrace the far simpler appropriation of fallow cane fields and muddy ditches (and maybe that Koloa cane haul tunnel that could provide a sorely needed alternate route from Poipu to the airport). But what do we have instead? A leadership that blames the state for its inability to get roads built, and wants to attack the visitor industry. Brilliant.
numilalocal January 14, 2019 6:48 pm Reply
Steve, where should bicycles ride? Joe, why do you blame traffic congestion on rental cars? What about all the people who’ve moved here and brought their own vehicles with them?
The main thing I see a problem with on the paying for going to Lihue is the collection process. Like a toll bridge or any other type of collection to cure traffic (like toll roads) it will encumber more people for the stations and more people to enforce the violation===more taxis and money from the people. Plus I do not think the people will ever approve of it when and if it was a budget item.
As has been mentioned in many letters and kicked around this same idea by getting businesses, government employees and schools to vary their schedules and thus eliminate tolls and still eliminate a lot of traffic.
I still believe that using the cane haul roads and adding one more lane would be the quickest way to alleviate the traffic problem just as the Kapaa bypass and the contraflow are proving. That bypass was started and finished in 9 months and since it was already a road a lot of red tape was eliminated.
Just so these elected people will do something other than talk as has been done
for so many years.
Your Pal,
Glenn
I think the wall is a waste of $. Let Trump pay for it out of his own pocket if he wants it so bad if it Trump wants it so bad.
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