From the start, however, the project has faced multiple barriers hindering its completion, and the estimated cost of the HRTP increased at least twofold by 2017. The construction of the HRTP was initially scheduled to commence in 2009 with a preliminary budget projection of US $4 billion (Slowey 2018). Although public discussions regarding the opening of a public transit line in Honolulu have been ongoing since the second half of the previous century, funding was first approved in 2005. Looking at how the City, now under Carlisle’s watch, maintains its roads and buses might paint a picture as to how well Honolulu will manage the coming rail system.The Honolulu Rail Transit Project (HRTP) is an elevated 20-mile-long rail system with a total of 21 stations, connecting East Kapolei and Ala Moana Center along the shoreline of Oahu. The City is scheduled to award two more major contracts this year for the second phase of the rail route from Pearl City to Aloha Stadium and for the “core systems,” which consists of the train vehicles and the control center for the rail system. ![]() A second contract for the train storage and maintenance facility in Waipahu is expected to be executed shortly. The City has already awarded a construction contract for the first phase of the elevated rail guideway from East Kapolei to Pearl City. The FTA’s approval follows Governor Neil Abercrombie’s acceptance of the State’s Final Environmental Impact Statement in December. TheRail is an exact copy of TheBoat, only the M is a B, as in a billion dollars this time.” It was a sure way to flush $6 million in two years with nothing to show for it and they did exactly that. The cost per ride was $34 and the fare was $2. We said this with TheBoat, which was a major mass transit failure of the Hannemann and Kirk Caldwell administration. “The Federal Transit Administration clearly says that mass transit hardly ever dents congestion. “We cannot solve a traffic problem with a transit solution,” Prevedouros told The Hawaii Independent in August. One of Honolulu rail’s most outspoken critics has been former mayoral candidate Panos Prevedouros. Critics doubt the City’s claims that it had considered other alternatives in relieving traffic and question the City’s ability to afford such an undertaking. Opponents also criticized the public hearing process that helped the rail transit receive FTA approval. There will also be stations at activity centers such as UH-West Oahu, Leeward Community College, Pearl Highlands, Pearlridge, Aloha Stadium, Honolulu International Airport and Honolulu Community College. It includes 21 stations in communities including Waipahu, Pearl City, Aiea, Kalihi, Chinatown, Downtown Honolulu, and Kakaako. The $5.5 billion transit project is a 20-mile elevated rail system connecting East Kapolei with Ala Moana Center. Honolulu’s rail opponents don’t think enough people will opt out of driving their cars to jump onto a train that doesn’t yet go where everyone wants it to go. Rogoff said maintaining a functioning rail system will depend on effective planning and the ability to keep riders riding for generations. And 29 percent of all transit assets-rail, bus, and paratransit are in “poor or marginal condition.” ![]() But it turns out you can entice even diehard rail riders onto a bus, if you call it a ‘special’ bus and just paint it a different color than the rest of the fleet.”Ī recent federal study found that more than 6,000 of the nation’s almost 72,000 buses are in need of replacement, having exceeded their useful life. “Yes, transit riders often want to go by rail. One is this: Paint is cheap, rails systems are extremely expensive,” Rogoff said. “Supporters of public transit must be willing to share some simple truths that folks don’t want to hear. “With the completion of the National Environmental Policy Act process, the City of Honolulu has met all of the laws and regulations of the environmental review,” Rogoff said in a statement.Īt a national summit on the future of transit last May, Rogoff talked about the challenges facing the transit industry nationwide. On Tuesday, FTA Administrator Peter Rogoff presented the Record of Decision to Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle and Toru Hamayasu, general manager for the City’s Rapid Transit Division, at FTA offices in Washington, D.C. However, questions still linger as to how construction will affect the lives of those currently living on Oahu and whether the City can afford the hefty price tag. The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) issued a Record of Decision for Honolulu Rail Transit, confirming that the project has met all the requirements of the environmental review process. HONOLULU-The Honolulu Rail Transit Project passed a major hurdle yesterday.
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