Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Transit Is Not an Either-Or Issue; Highway and Road Improvements Will Continue Next to Rail

Yes 2 Rail today takes a Point | Counterpoint approach to covering the ongoing debate over the Honolulu Rail Project. Anti-rail and pro-rail advocates continue their attempts to win over public opinion in letters to the editors. Today’s P | P examines an anti-rail letter in today’s Honolulu Star-Bulletin.

The writer asks: “…shouldn’t we study the amount of traffic reduction $5 billion spent on roads will buy?” and thereby leaves the impression that money will be spent either on rail or on roads.

Not so. The Oahu Regional Transportation Plan includes 65 major improvement projects that will be undertaken by 2030. Of those, 34 (53 percent) will relieve congestion. There will be 8 transit projects, or 12 percent of the total. In other words, hundreds of millions of dollars (if not billions) will be spent on roads over the next two decades in addition to the Honolulu rail project.

Picture This

The writer ends his letter: “Picture rail in place. Do you see me riding the rails to leave empty roads for you to enjoy, or vice-versa? Unless it’s the latter, you have the wrong picture.”

We don’t know why he thinks Oahu’s roads will ever be empty; nobody is predicting that, so his future scenario seems off. But go ahead and picture rail in place as he suggests.

Picture also if you can what the cost of driving your car and parking might be in a future scenario that also will include significant traffic on the highways. Does the writer really believe people will choose to drive if the alternative is traffic-free reliable and comfortable commuting by rail?

It’s clear he won’t make that choice, but it will be a personal one. Many many others will choose rail for convenience, cost and reliability. Picture that instead.

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