Civil Beat’s Michael Levine had an interesting story about the Honolulu rail project today. He explores the question of what the new transit agency HART’s semi-autonomy practically means. 

One aspect of the piece that piqued our interest: The assertion from HART’s Toru Hamayasu that the city — not the transit agency — formally remains the grantee for the project. 

That means that HART may be running the show, but the city is still the entity that would receive federal funding for the project. The Federal Transit Administration had asked for clarification on this matter.

DC808 followed up with the agency on Friday, and an FTA official confirmed to Civil Beat that city and HART have notified the FTA that HART is the project sponsor and the city will remain the grantee. The FTA could not immediately say whether this kind of arrangement is typical in other regions.