Sunday morning rail news:
— NJ Transit must limit railcar, light rail, and bus occupancy to no more than 50% of maximum capacity as part of an executive order signed Saturday by New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy. Executive Order No. 125, effective Monday at 8 p.m., also requires workers and passengers to wear face masks, and requires the transit agency to provide them for workers; allows contactless pay options; and stresses other practices to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus. It imposes similar requirements on private carriers and those that have contracted with NJ Transit to provide service. NJ Transit CEO Kevin Corbett endorsed the moves, saying in a press release, “We are grateful Governor Murphy is adding extra authority and enforcement to the personal protective equipment policies NJ Transit implemented in recent weeks for the protection of our employees and customers.”
— Honolulu’s rail transit system isn’t scheduled to open until 2025, but that could be pushed back as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. The Honolulu Star Advertiser reports that the city and the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation will delay awarding of a key construction contract because bidders say they need more time to prepare proposals. In question is a public-private partnership contract that will cover about $1.4 billion in construction, as well as operation and maintenance of the 20-mile system for 30 years. Bidders were to submit proposals on Wednesday, with the contract to be awarded May 15, but HART Executive Director Andrew Robbins said all bidders had told him that, because of disruptions caused by the virus, they were unable to meet that deadline.
— New Jersey Sens. Bob Menendez and Cory Booker have urged the Federal Transit Administration to ensure transit workers can receive protective gear during the COVID-19 outbreak. A letter to acting FTA Administrator K. Jane Williams, also signed by 19 other senators, also asked the FTA to provide further guidance to transit agencies about disinfecting practices, use of rear-door boarding, and other measures to slow the spread of the illness.
“Hawaiian Time” was described to me this way…..”when living on an island, there is no need to hurry or rush, because when you do, you end up right where you began”
“Hawaiian Time” runs even slower on the neighbor islands (Kauai, Maui, Hawaii Island, Molokai and Lanai), frustrating folks from Oahu (Honolulu)!
It’s called “Hawaiian time”…..no rush, take it easy cuz!, so what if takes another 2-3 years to build HART…..no one’s going to loose their job…..this IS Hawaii after all…..
All the materials likely have to be shipped over, with the supply chain disrupted, this delay makes sense.
That Honolulu project is such a mess. It’s already years late and massively over budget.
On the Honolulu project, the bidders had no more staff to run to down Kinko’s to copy and bound the proposals. Since this usually take 2-3 months to do, they would like a 1 year extension until they can find staff who will work for the minimum wage to make another attempt. 😉
My colleague Mr. Friedman’s comment could be applied to numerous transit projects.