As we all know, there is often more than one way to reach a goal. The same is true for a mass-transit system for O'ahu.

The City Council continues to advocate for a mass-transit system, but within a process that is open and transparent and allows for public scrutiny. We need to continue our efforts to provide the public with fair and balanced information about the system, routes and transit stations, and opportunities to provide comment without fear of retribution. Members of the City Council and residents of Honolulu will continue to ask: How much is this going to really cost us? How loud is it going to be? What kind of technology is going to be used? Will I even be alive to see it completed? So many questions and not nearly enough answers.

The biggest question from the start of the project concerns the route: Just where is it going to begin and end? In 2006, the City Council voted for the locally preferred alternative based on the city administration's alternative analysis, which identified transit stations, a corporation yard for repair and maintenance and park-and-ride facilities.

Part of the city's planning process is to place infrastructure symbols on a public infrastructure map where the city plans to construct major public works projects. During the April Planning and Sustainability Committee meeting, members of the council discovered Mayor Mufi Hannemann's administration's proposed revisions to the public infrastructure map for the 'Ewa, Central O'ahu, and Primary Urban Center Development Plans altered the route and planned public infrastructure map symbols from the original alternative analysis. The changes include not servicing UH-West O'ahu with a transit station adjacent to the campus. What should concern residents of Honolulu is that these changes were made without the agreement of the council or public notification. Where is the transparency of decision-making?

The administration's public infrastructure map is drawn up in a very broad light, only giving a general mock-up of what our island will look like in the next few decades. The current public infrastructure map notification procedure is to send a notice to the residents and businesses within 300 feet of any transit construction to inform them of the potential impact of the mass transit system. But with the general map provided, it would difficult to determine how they are going to be affected. Transit stations will present opportunities for transit-oriented development, which will foster new commercial businesses, new housing, including affordable and senior housing projects, and increases in pedestrian traffic. Transit-oriented development will surely change the look of Honolulu, as well as the rest of O'ahu.

To ensure transparency and continue an open public process, the City Council's proposed revisions to the public infrastructure map include clear details of the locations of transit stations. This provides the community a better understanding of what areas will be the most affected by this multi-billion-dollar project. Designated transit stations were considered as preferred locations that would be consistent with many city plans, including the 'Ewa Development Plan, the Central O'ahu Sustainable Communities Plan and the Primary Urban Center Development Plan.

As we move forward with the mass-transit project, the City Council will continue to insist that the residents of Honolulu are provided with all essential information about the project. Resolution 08-69, which identifies the transit stations along the transit route needs your support. Please contact your council member and strongly recommend they support the open and transparent process. It is your right. It should be the transit system you want to see in your community.

City Councilman Donovan M. Dela Cruz represents District 2. He wrote this commentary for The Advertiser.