Courts shut down two new Hawaii transport venues
Hawaii has two new transportation companies trying to help tourists and others get around more easily. But there’s a problem.
Both new venues have run into trouble with the courts.
“Despite years of planning and hundreds of millions of dollars invested, the privately owned Hawaii Superferry and go! airlines, part of Phoenix-based Mesa Air Group, Inc., are threatened by court rulings against them in a state where the only option for getting to another island and back was costing close to $200,” wrote the AP.
Both cases have run into opposition from residents who say this new ease of access will not improve their quality of life. They basically fear hordes of tourists could wreck the island’s natural beauty that is the biggest lure for tourists.
Proponents say the benefits of economic growth, more commerce and more jobs with new inter-island travel options outweigh the downsides.
When go! started service, it offered promotional fares as low as $1, with regular round-trip fares around $80 that were matched by the dominant island carriers, Hawaiian and Aloha airlines.
Voyages on Hawaii Superferry, a $300 million project of investors led by former Hawaiian Airlines official John Garibaldi, cost more but add the option of vehicle transportation, which previously was only available on slow-moving barges.
“There are many people who feel there’s already been too much development in Hawaii that doesn’t benefit the local population,” said Mike Fitzgerald, president of Enterprise Honolulu, which advocates for economic diversification, told the AP. “I find it perplexing because the Superferry is so beneficial.”
Opponents of the Superferry have been the most vocal, including protesters who jumped into the water off Kauai in a successful effort to keep the 350-foot catarmaran from docking on the last of only two voyages to the island in August.
Report by David Wilkening
David
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