Saturday, August 16, 2008

As Vote Nears, Mobility Stands Out as Key Issue

With a November vote on rail looking like a certainty, Oahu residents are in for an education on transit from opposing perspectives whether they want it or not. Our goal here is to help convince you to say Yes 2 Rail, and this week we’ve been posting about the so-called “Y” words – or “Why” words. 

We started off with Renewability to highlight the potential for alternative energy to eventually power the rail system. The notion that ocean power and other renewables will generate the electricity to run the train has to be a winning point for many citizens.

We next focused on Reliability. Equally compelling to many is the prospect of knowing exactly when you’ll arrive at your destination when you use rail. None of us can do that today when we have to drive more than a few miles through Honolulu. With rail, you will.

Mobility is our final “Y” word. It’s a quality enjoyed by modern cities around the world. Honolulu would find it difficult if not impossible to keep pace with the demands of the 21st century if its citizens have no alternative to the traffic that impedes travel between Oahu’s major population and employment centers.

The Transit Trifecta

The Three Y’s add up to a Trifecta of pro-rail reasoning. The rationale put forward by the anti-rail minority (according to the recent public opinion polls) just doesn’t address them.

Their so-called alternative – managed lanes – would keep all commuters in cars and buses and eventually bogged down again in the traffic.

Undecided voters are undoubtedly going to dwindle in number as the weeks go by. Yes2Rail hopes they keep the Three Y’s in mind when they mark their ballots in November, should it come to that.

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