Roundup: 73% of Transportation Issues Approved

Buried under the avalanche of election news are some nuggets of information relevant to Honolulu rail and Oahu. By approving a Charter amendment to create the pro-transit Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART), voters were in step with Americans across the country in supporting transportation ballot measures.

The Center for Transportation Excellence’s press release said 22 out of 30 ballot measures were approved in 13 states, a 73-percent winning percentage. Honolulu’s results are included in the Center's results matrix and also in a Progressive Railroading web post.

This generalized pro-transit national attitude is noteworthy for local residents, since some here would have you believe transit is out of favor in America. That’s clearly not the case.

By approving HART with 69 percent of their votes, Oahu voters have shown their common sense ability to separate fact from fiction and the wheat (rail transit) from the chaff (more highways).

Follow-up to post immediately below: BART did in fact smash its old ridership record yesterday -- by 20 percent! Read about it at the SFBART's blog.