Caught between the highly partisan pro- and anti-rail factions are Oahu residents who have yet to decide which side to join. Three issues may help them appreciate the views of those who support rail -- mobility, reliability and renewability.
Mobility is the primary reason to build a fixed guideway system. Commuters who travel between ewa and downtown Honolulu don’t have it today thanks to traffic that continues to worsen. With rail, commuters who choose to ride will get their mobility back.
Rail will be reliable, with predictable arrival times. Only grade-separated transit delivers riders to their destinations on time, every time.
Since rail will run on electricity, it eventually will use “green power” as our society transitions from fossil fuel to renewable forms of electricity generation – wind, solar, municipal waste, ocean thermal energy conversion, biofuels and perhaps others. Rail will reduce pollution and be a natural market for renewable energy.
The anti-rail opposition generally avoids addressing those issues head-on. Citizens still searching for answers on the project might well ask opponents about them.
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