Colleen Hanabusa, chair of the Board of Directors for the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation, said she still believed the train will ultimately run to Ala Moana Center and possibly even the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.
She said despite the city’s plan to stop the line, at least temporarily, at Honolulu’s Civic Center, HART will continue to push for the final leg to Ala Moana.
"We will get to Ala Moana, and we may even get to UH. It’s just a matter of how we plan it and where we go," Hanabusa said. "We’re very confident we’ll get to Ala Moana. As long as we take care of the Feds, and we don’t want to be disrespectful because they still have to approve the recovery plan."
City officials said they currently have the funds to get the rail line at least to the Civic Center.
HART officials are working on a recovery plan to present to the Federal Transit Administration that calls for stopping the line short of Ala Moana.
The FTA is deciding whether to release over $700 million in federal funds toward the project.
