MAYOR: TRANSIT GROUP TO HOLD JANUARY MEETING IN HONOLULU  

(Wednesday, June 17, 2009) Chicago—The American Public Transportation Association’s Business Member Board of Governors will hold its next annual meeting in Honolulu in mid-January of 2010, Mayor Mufi Hannemann announced today after speaking at APTA’s annual Rail Conference.

            “I’m delighted that this prestigious organization will once again have its meeting in Honolulu,” said Hannemann, who addressed the group when it last met here in 2006.

            The event should bring more than 100 people to Honolulu, helping to boost the city’s visitor industry and assist those employed by it, he said.

            Hannemann said the decision demonstrates how beneficial it can be for Honolulu officials to travel to such national events and build relationships with those who lead them.

            He said Sharon Greene, who chairs the APTA Business Member Board of Governors, told him Honolulu is an ideal location for the event given its award-winning bus system and rail transit project, which is widely recognized as one of the best and most significant in the nation.

At the APTA Rail Conference today, Hannemann emphasized the environmental benefits of rail transit and the need to further reduce the city’s carbon footprint, which is already among the world’s smallest for a major city.

Honolulu’s transit system demonstrates the city’s commitment to a healthy environment, and for creating new economic growth that integrates rail within existing and new communities, he said.

The mayor will return to Honolulu tomorrow.

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Media contact: Bill Brennan, Mayor’s Office, 768-6928