COMMENTARY
Honolulu cannot afford to delay rail decision
By Mayor Mufi Hannemann
There were many valuable lessons learned at the well-attended City and County of Honolulu Transit Symposium held on October 4 at the Hawai'i Convention Center.
The lessons came from elected and transit officials who either led the development of rail systems in their jurisdictions or who now oversee their operation. The seasoned slate of speakers included former Phoenix Mayor Skip Rimsza; former Houston Mayor and now O'ahu resident Kathy Whitmire; Todd Litman, executive director of the Victoria Policy Institute in British Columbia; John Inglish, head of the Utah Transit Authority; and Gary Thomas, president of Dallas Area Rapid Transit.
We also saw exhibits from top rail designers and manufacturers, including Siemens, Hitachi, Itochu, Mitsubishi, Bombardier and others, as well as some very creative and innovative transit station designs by University of Hawai'i architecture students.
While each shared experiences unique to his or her jurisdiction, several major themes were gleaned from their talks:
Rail is just one solution. Having been a proponent of combining O'ahu's various forms of public transportation into an integrated network, I was pleased that the speakers said a fixed guideway system is just one part of a larger transportation network— "multimodal" in the parlance of transportation engineers — that includes buses, taxis, a ferry in O'ahu's case, bicycle lanes, even walking.
Aside from the common themes, there were other points made by the speakers:
Kathy Whitmire, the former Houston mayor who now lives in Windward O'ahu and is president of the board of directors for The Outdoor Circle, said she wanted to see a transit system for O'ahu, adding that the Texas experience indicated that the system should connect major activity centers, like an airport and stadium. She also recommended grade separation to mitigate traffic accidents at street level.
Todd Litman pointed out air pollution will be reduced from a decline in personal automobile use. Phoenix's Rimsza mentioned that public transportation reduces the cost of travel by enabling households to manage on one less car, a cost that hovers around $8,000 a year, according to one AAA estimate. Utah's John Inglish was proud that Salt Lake City's system came in on budget and ahead of schedule.
My administration will submit our recommendation for what's called the locally preferred alternative to the City Council on November 1. I make no secret of my belief that a fixed guideway is the only way to go, and the public needs to tell the City Council now that a prompt decision is vital. The council just last year voted 7-2 in favor of the idea and all evidence gathered since shows that their decision was perfectly sound.
If we wait any longer, as we have since the council torpedoed a mass transit system 14 years ago, we'll have squandered our last, best hope to give ourselves and future generations the mass transit system and the livable community we deserve.
Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann wrote this commentary for The Advertiser.
