Regular readers of these pages have seen nothing but negativity about the Skyline rail project. We don’t need a train! (This from a high school sophomore based on her vast experience.) We should stop the project and give the money to the homeless! (We would have to reimburse the Federal Transit Administration what it has already given us, and that money would go to another city to build transit instead.) Ridership is terrible and getting worse! (Even the city auditor got that one wrong.)
How about some facts?
During every afternoon commute, the westbound H-1 freeway is reduced to bumper-to-bumper traffic, in some places seven lanes wide — as bad as anything in California. Anyone stuck driving in that mess, which I guess does not include high school sophomores, must realize that the way people get to and from work here is not practical or sustainable. All those people could be transported much more quickly through only two lanes if they had railroad tracks built on them. And they wouldn’t have to find parking at their destinations.
The carbon dioxide pouring out of all those tailpipes is making global warming even worse. Every year, hurricanes and wildfires around the world are more damaging due to an increasing greenhouse effect, and Hawaii endures both. We must replace thousands of daily slow gas-powered trips with fast electrically powered trips if we want this city to be here in the future. Climate change threatens the human race, is the biggest problem in the world, and absolutely must be mitigated any way we can.
Rail lines have “origin stations,” where many people board the train primarily in the morning, and “destination stations,” where many people disembark. A rail line’s ridership will be below capacity until such time as both types of stations are operational. So far, only origin stations are running. It’s meaningless to gripe about ridership at this point, although 90,000 riders per month is nothing to sneeze at. By the end of this year, two huge destination stations (Pearl Harbor and the airport) will be operating — the latter both an origin and a destination station, and not just during commute hours. Anyone want to make a bet about ridership a year from now?
The Skyline is the only automatic city rail line in the country. With no train drivers needed, there will never be an operator strike that strands people or adds to the system’s costs. Also unlike most other projects nationwide, Skyline construction will be completely paid off by the time the line is completed. Over the last three years, business and hotel taxes — the general excise and transient accommodation taxes — have exceeded forecasts, and future financing costs have been reduced by $275 million.
The USA is way behind other developed countries in realizing that it must build a fast rail transit network to provide a superior alternative to driving in traffic and fighting for parking. Constructing electric train systems through built-out urban environments is difficult, expensive and time-consuming, particularly regarding acquisition of right-of-way and installing high-voltage electrical power while relocating many other utilities. It’s an engineering challenge, a financial challenge, and a political challenge. Nevertheless, it must be done, it is being accomplished here, and relief for thousands of commuters is in sight.
Christopher R. Moylan serves on the HART Board and the Manoa Neighborhood Board.
