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Posted: Tuesday, March 16th, 2010 4:49 AM HST

How many jobs would rail project generate?

By Associated Press

HONOLULU (AP) — Just how many jobs would Oahu's planned $5.4 billion, 20-mile rail transit project generate? Mayor Mufi Hannemann says 4,000 this year and a peak of 17,000 direct and indirect jobs in 2013. However, the city's job estimates are based on 2002 formulas. University of Hawaii economics professor Sumner LaCroix says if the city's job estimates were restated using the most recent 2005 job creation formulas, the job estimates would be about one-third lower. He says the transit project would still create thousands of jobs and have a significant impact on the local economy. LaCroix is also a research associate for the UH Economic Research Organization. A study released by the group last year predicted the city's rail project will generate a peak of 2,000 direct jobs in 2014. (Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved)