Strip Away Charges of Playing Politics and Ask: ‘Whose Rail Transit Vision Is Best for Honolulu?’

Do architects know transit better than career transit planners? That’s what the average Honolulu citizen needs to ask now that the local chapter of the AIA has entered the rail debate.

One of the architects told yesterday’s hearing in the Capitol Auditorium that they, too, are trained in planning – apparently to put the audience at ease about their transit suggestions. The message was, “We know what we’re doing. Trust us.”

But it’s simply unbelievable to think their training approximates in scope and depth the training and experience of career transit planners and engineers who’ve spent decades working in their profession instead of a few months the architects have been thinking about transit.

The architects spent most of their time yesterday explaining why at-grade transit would be perfectly fine for Honolulu, but let’s cut to the chase: The heart of their arguments is their belief that an overhead rail guideway would be aesthetically bad for our city.

I can respect that. They correctly assert that the elevated structure will be visible and will have impacts on view planes, especially when seen up close. The Draft EIS says so, too. The most critical location from the architects’ perspective is in downtown Honolulu, where the elevated guideway will pass over the highway at the foot of Bishop Street and create a new view obstruction where none exists today. But we must ask ourselves this:

Is concern over aesthetics enough reason to build a transit system that would fail?

From where I sit, that’s what an at-grade train would be – a failure. It might not interfere with mauka-makai views, but an at-grade train would fail to attract riders who desperately need an alternative to sitting in traffic congestion in their daily commutes -- the principal reason to build Honolulu rail.

This blog repeatedly has stated the reasons why at-grade rail would fail, but here's a quick review:
• It wouldn’t be fast transit. Its trains literally would creep through Chinatown and other congested neighborhoods to minimize the hazard of operating only feet away from pedestrians. As planned, the elevated rail system would travel end-to-end in 42 minutes. At-grade transit would take much longer.
• It wouldn’t be as frequent as elevated transit. With humans at the controls, at-grade trains would have greater distance and time between between them – as much as 6 minutes or more, compared to 3 minutes or even less between elevated and automatically controlled trains.
• It wouldn’t be as reliable, since at-grade transit vehicles inevitably are delayed in the mix of traffic with cars, trucks, buses and pedestrians.
• It wouldn’t be as safe as elevated transit. Phoenix and Houston are just two examples of at-grade systems that have attracted negative attention for their accident rate. Phoenix’s new system has averaged a crash a week in its first year of operation.

The local architects want Honolulu citizens to set all that aside for the sake of preserving view planes. So we citizens are left to ask, is it worth building a failure to protect the view of Honolulu Harbor?

Forget about job creation for the moment. Jobs certainly will be created in building the project, but that’s not the primary reason to build it.

Either build rail to provide an attractive, fast, frequent, reliable and safe alternative to travel through town while entirely avoiding traffic congestion, or don’t build it at all and spare us the expense of a failed transit system. That's the issue squarely before Honolulu citizens.

AIA Capitol Hearing Skirts At-Grade Safety Issue; Chapter’s Vision Won’t Do What Honolulu Needs

City rail project supporters waved signs at State Capitol.

The new transit experts within the local architecture community are still holding their panel discussion as we write this, so it’s possible they’ll be put on the spot about the accident-prone nature of at-grade rail. We left before the staged event got around to public comments.

But the panel avoided dipping into that swamp in its initial presentation, which dwelled on other issues such as noise, view obstructions and rainwater runoff. The panelists made a strong show of supporting rail – just not the City’s above-grade plan.

Jeffery Nishi said he’s pro-rail as long as it’s a “flexible system.” By that, he means it needs to run at-grade for at least part of the 20-mile route. Not mentioned was the inarguable fact that at-grade rail can’t be as fast and frequent as grade-separated transit.

Peter Vincent said rail will be a “solution to traffic,” betraying his lack of depth in the subject, since rail won’t be any such thing. Traffic will continue to grow, and the Honolulu rail project will restrain that growth, but a “solution” to traffic it’s not and doesn’t claim to be. Rail will be an option to commuting in traffic – a role it performs for millions of commuters around the world.

Vincent criticized the City’s EIS for allegedly not addressing other technologies – something he apparently is unaware was done exhaustively during the Alternatives Analysis and most particularly by the transit experts panel, which selected steel-on-steel by a vote of 4 to 1. And implausibly, he found fault with the system’s EIS for Phase 1 – Kapolei to Ala Moana – for not covering components of Phase 2 – Waikiki and UH Manoa. He then showed a slide of an overhead guideway crossing above the H-1 freeway near UH, a segment which isn’t in the Phase 1 plan.

Houston – Without the Crashes

Vincent continued the show with slides showing Houston’s at-grade system, but he failed to mention that at one point in its operation, Houston’s MetroRail trains had a collision rate about 25 times the national average for light rail systems.

And that’s as good a place to keep our focus on this predictable AIA presentation as any, because safety must not be brushed aside as we plan this major Honolulu infrastructure project. Architect Sidney Char though wasted no time sweeping right past safety and completely avoided the collision potential of his chapter’s preferred at-grade train.

Remarkably, he then pointed out how unsafe elevated trains can be if they have no platform screen doors. People dangling their feet over the edge of the station platform could be swept in front of the train, he said, or they could be electrocuted if they jumped onto the “hot” third power rail.

Char then played the crime card by suggesting elevated train stations would be rife with crime if built here, though he offered no basis for his assessment. And so it went – finger-pointing this way and that about safety without pointing at the obvious and most likely problem of at-grade rail – collisions with pedestrians and vehicles.

Learning from Elsewhere

We’ve written repeatedly about safety here at Yes2Rail, including our two most recent posts, and we’re going to continue doing so. The Arizona Republic carries a story today that should be required reading for the AIA’s transit experts.

The story says “almost half of the Metro’s crashes in the past year happened on a single mile-and-a-quarter stretch that runs through downtown Phoenix.” That segment is “packed with bars, businesses, pedestrians and distracted motorists, a tough environment for even slow-moving Metro trains.” That sounds like a good description of downtown Honolulu.

Even more telling is the mention that Metro trains are “slow-moving.” That also would describe Honolulu’s trains if the system were built at-grade, and that would be exactly what we do not need in Honolulu.

Honolulu rail is designed to move large numbers of commuters quickly, reliably and safely through our urban core. Any part of the system built at-grade would defeat the very purpose of our system. At-grade can’t be fast; it would actually creep through congested Chinatown. It can’t be frequent, because with drivers at the controls, trains would require greater time separation between them. And it can’t be as reliable as elevated rail due to the inevitable crashes like Houston and Phoenix continue to experience. (Check out the video of a recent Phoenix crash that we think should be shown at the next AIA chapter meeting.)

The AIA chapter probably convinced some in the overflow audience that it knows what’s best for Honolulu. But quite simply and bluntly, it doesn’t. The audience couldn't understand that from sitting through this one-sided event with no panel participants to support the City’s project.

That’s quite a strange way to run a railroad they have down there at the State Capitol.

An overflow crowd listens to the AIA version of transit.

3 ‘Crosswalk Pedestrian’ Deaths Already in 2010; AIA Still Pushes for At-Grade Train in Chinatown

Chinatown's Hotel Street -- on the AIA's proposed rail route

It’s one thing (and mildly humorous) when architects object to the Honolulu rail system’s 30-foot tall elevated guideway while seemingly ignoring the impact of architect-designed 300-foot high-rises that have walled off the ocean from many Honolulu neighborhoods.

But it’s far more serious when they ignore the safety issue and promote an at-grade transit system for narrow city streets through congested Chinatown and other neighborhoods.

After you finish reading today’s post, continue with Friday’s description of at-grade’s drawbacks immediately below. Notice in the graphic how close the tracks are to the sidewalks on Hotel Street, where the AIA implausibly wants its trains to run. Then consider this:

Hawaii leads the nation in elderly pedestrian fatalities, with a rate of 6.97 deaths per 100,000 people 65 years and older. Nationally, the rate is 2.33 pedestrian deaths per 100,000.

Honolulu drivers are killing pedestrians alarmingly often:
• Jan. 7 – Sachiko Kojima, 52, was in a crosswalk while crossing Kaiolu Street in Waikiki when a car turned left from Kuhio Avenue and hit her. She died the next day.
• Jan. 12 – Hideno T. Matsumoto, 81, died after being struck while in a crosswalk on Pali Highway near Dowsett Avenue.
• Jan. 14 – Yui Tung Ng, 73, was hit by a car while in a crosswalk on North Vineyard Boulevard at Aala Street near Chinatown. He died one day later.

Anyone who’s spent time in Honolulu’s Chinatown knows it's a neighborhood with a high percentage of elderly who either live there or frequent its narrow streets on daily shopping trips. Introducing at-grade trains into this congested and constricted part of town is unthinkable.

Honolulu already has an ignominious reputation for showing too little concern for pedestrian safety. Let’s not add to that disgrace by putting aesthetics above safety as we build our rail infrastructure.

Hotel Street visitors await parade's start

At-Grade’s Drawbacks Can’t Be Airbrushed Away

Something's added to this photo, but something's also missing.

This artist’s rendition depicts the kind of train that the American Institute of Architects, Hawaii Chapter wants built in Honolulu. Several points of interest in this depiction are not obvious at first glance:
• The first point is obvious; the train is at ground level, as would be cars and trucks crossing its path heading makai at this intersection of Maunakea and Hotel streets. Car-train interaction in Phoenix, AZ has produced an average of one accident per week for the city’s at-grade trains in their first year of operation.
• The train is just feet from Hotel Street pedestrians, suggesting a significant safety hazard.
• At-grade trains must travel slowly through crowded urban neighborhoods like this one, unlike overhead trains that are completely unaffected by surface congestion and hazards.
• The train shares Hotel Street with TheBus, resulting inevitably in schedule conflicts and delays.

• Unlike automated elevated systems, at-grade trains require drivers. Humans at the controls means greater accident risk, and time between trains must be at least twice as long as between elevated trains.

• You have to look closely, but this is a short two-car train – much shorter than elevated trains. At-grade vehicles in Honolulu couldn't extend beyond the ends of Chinatown's short city blocks. This requirement significantly lowers the number of commuters transported on each train and therefore by the entire system.

• Unless the architects think their trains will be powered from beneath street level somehow, trains will require overhead wires to supply electricity. Those lines are absent from this depiction.

And finally:

• The artist has airbrushed out the pedestrian crosswalk across Hotel Street at this intersection; the existing crosswalk is easily seen in a photo taken from Google Maps (below). Pedestrians don’t just walk along Hotel Street but across it, too. Honolulu already has too many pedestrian accidents and deaths; adding trains every few minutes to congested neighborhoods would increase pedestrians' risk – especially among the elderly.
Monday’s AIA panel discussion at the State Capitol will be an opportunity for proponents of the City’s planned elevated system to highlight at-grade rail’s severe drawbacks during the open-mike session.

The View from Elsewhere: 'Transport Politic’ Says Honolulu Rail Must Be Elevated To Be Successful

It’s easy to get caught up in trench warfare here with the minority anti-rail faction. Just try dipping into the Comments sections of the newspapers’ online stories, editorials and commentaries on the Honolulu rail project.

That’s why it’s more than a little refreshing to lift one’s gaze above the trench line and read what others have to say about our local skirmish. The Transport Politic does that in a January 11 online commentary by Yonah Freemark, an independent transportation researcher.

Freemark’s column is another must-view (see yesterday’s recommendation to watch a Phoenix TV station’s video on the city’s at-grade accident rate). Here are a few excerpts:

• Governor Lingle, who supported the project earlier in her career, is now making the rail line a political issue.

• Despite falling tax revenue, the city has not had to adjust the project’s size significantly because of lower-than-expected construction contract costs.

• The Mayor’s ambition for a rail line whose first phase would go into service in 2012 seems likely to be fulfilled, unless Ms. Lingle is able to raise enough concern at the FTA to put a halt to plans. For the sake of the mobility of Honolulu’s population, one hopes that she fails.

• The FTA has gotten better in recent years in getting transit project costs under control, and the Honolulu line does have more than $1 billion in contingencies built in already. The Governor’s support of a light rail alternative over the elevated heavy rail line planned would result in a far less-used project that would do far less to affect the island’s commuting patterns.

• Honolulu has an almost ideal population distribution for a major grade-separated transit line.

• It would be very difficult to either expand the (H1) or add bus rapid transit lanes because of the built-up nature of the areas around the road. The rail line would follow that linear density.

• The street-running system promoted by the AIA would eliminate most of the time-saving advantages of the train.

• Light rail operating in the street, even with its own right-of-way, would be far slower; for example, the 20-mile Phoenix light rail system takes 1h05 to complete its journey, versus the 42 minutes projected for Honolulu’s slightly longer line.

• The fact that Honolulu’s population is heavily concentrated in single corridor that is expected to have 760,000 residents and 500,000 jobs by 2030 can’t hurt (ridership). Fourteen miles of planned extensions into Waikiki and to the University of Hawaii-Manoa will make the project all the more valuable.

• Honolulu’s uniquely linear development will make its rail line useful for a huge percentage of commutes, especially because trains will be substantially faster than automobiles following similar paths on congested roadways.

• But those speeds will be only possible with a completely grade-separated line. Mayor Hannemann has to ensure that his vision of a truly rapid transit line is realized.

• (Honolulu’s rail line) will offer far more benefits to the daily lives of (Oahu residents) than the at-grade light rail project Governor Lingle is now advocating, which will attract far fewer passengers because of its slower speeds. One hopes her objections are simply a distraction before construction begins.

And there’s more to make reading the entire column worthwhile.

Here’s a Video That’s a Must-View for Everyone in Honolulu’s Elevated versus At-Grade Rail Debate

Leaping ahead to Martin Luther King, Jr. Day next Monday – the day selected by the Governor’s office to showcase the transit ideas of a group of architects – we can confidently predict these non-experts on transit issues will promote building all or part of Honolulu’s rail system at ground level.

We’ve seen their PowerPoint show, heard their speeches, read their newspaper ads. These designers of high-rise towers that have walled off the ocean from many parts of Honolulu object to an elevated guideway running through our city at a height of 30 feet.

Spotlighting the Blind Spot

Let’s leave that obvious disconnect aside and focus on something infinitely more important than aesthetics, no matter how taken some architects seem to be with aesthetics. Safety is that more important issue. If Honolulu is going to invest this much in a modern transit system, it must be safe to ride and not be a hazard to the rest of the community.

The video mentioned in the above headline can be found at the website of a Phoenix, Arizona television station. (Update: the video is no longer featured at this station's website; you might find it with a search.) You absolutely positively must watch it, and when you do, it will be obvious that at-grade transit poses serious safety issues that we just don’t need to deal with in Honolulu.

The architects shy away from this issue. At least, we’ve never heard them address it, and they probably won’t on Monday unless pressed to do so by the audience. Other issues that might be pressed upon them are the relative unreliability of at-grade compared to elevated transit, as well as the slower speeds and greater traffic disruption at-grade rail would experience.

What Do Architects Want?

A page one story in the morning Advertiser notes that the local AIA chapter is not united in opposing elevated rail. A dozen architects with personal experience and appreciation for the project held a press conference yesterday to support an entirely elevated system.

The funny thing about the AIA chapter’s position is that it doesn't accurately reflect the results of a survey it took among its membership. You really need to look closely at that survey, as well.

More respondents actually favored an elevated guideway than an at-grade system! And two-thirds of the respondents said they favor either an elevated or below grade guideway. That is an amazing result in light of the AIA leadership’s insistence that at-grade transit is the way to go.

Monday’s event will be heavily covered in the news media, and that’s good. The more light directed at this issue – including the AIA survey – the better off Honolulu will be.

Silent Majority Who Support Rail Told To Go Public

The Honolulu Advertiser today continues its consistent support for the Honolulu rail project. Both local newspapers have never wavered in that support, and today, the Advertiser calls out the silent majority to speak up.

Here’s the challenge: Show up at the Governor-sponsored one-sided presentation by the American Institute of Architects, Hawaii Chapter, on Monday in the State Capitol Auditorium. Speak up for rail in terms that can’t be mistaken.

This event is quite amazing. The invitation some received (not us) “cordially invites you to attend a special panel presentation…. This presentation will provide an opportunity for you to learn more about and ask questions regarding this major proposed project on Oahu.”

I supposed you could say this is about learning “more” since it’s impossible to learn “less,” but in this case, “more” represents the views of only some architects within the AIA. Other local architects disagree. Shouldn’t a government-sponsored event have some semblance of objectivity and balance?

Of course it should. This is the crazy atmosphere a vocal minority of anti-railers has managed to create here. The State government can hold a panel discussion about the biggest project in Hawaii’s history and make it slanted from the start!

The editorial’s first sentence says it nicely:

“It smells like politics on the rail transit front.”

You bet it does – and throw in bad decision-making by public officials, too. Someone posted a comment below the editorial’s online presence that attendees to this one-sided AIA PowerPoint show are advised to park either in the lot beneath the Capitol or across the street in the Department of Health lot.
That's right -- park. There’s no information in the invitation about bus routes that serve the Capitol. That omission says a lot about the mindset of the decision-makers who work on the Executive level of the Hawaii State Capitol on behalf of all citizens.

Transit riders? Forget about it.

Speaker Say: We Have Traffic Option Obligation

House of Representatives Speaker Calvin Say, who represents a district in East Oahu, answered numerous questions about the upcoming legislative session recently while on the Honolulu Advertiser’s “Hot Seat.”

One of the final questions in the session came from “Matthew,” who asked about the anticipated effort by some lawmakers to grab the rail transit tax for use by the State as a whole, although collection has been only on Oahu transactions.

Matthew: Speaker Say, I have always appreciated your support for rail, which we need to reduce traffic and improve our infrastructure. But I am concerned that some lawmakers may try to take the rail fund again. How can this be prevented?

Speaker Say: I’m only one individual in the State House, even though I’m the speaker of the House. I’ll leave it up to the members of the House to make that determination. I don’t believe in taking the money at this point in time because Calvin Say did not enact that half percent, all I did was just authorize it.

There have been members who have opposed it and I can respect that, too. But for those on the Central and Leeward Oahu side, we in East Honolulu and windward (side) have always said “no more growth, no more growth.” So we’re pushing the growth, the urban sprawl out to Central and Leeward Oahu. And if that is the case, I think we should be obligated to say to these people out in that area that we have an obligation to come up with some alternatives, and that’s what this rail issue is today.

Welcome to Wonderland, Where ‘Curious’ Thrives

What can you say about the latest news surrounding the Honolulu rail project that hasn’t been said already? We’ve noted repeatedly here why a rail project like this one saves time for commuters, saves them money, improves a community’s productivity, lessens congestion, is not accident-prone like at-grade systems and is therefore safer and more reliable, generates thousands of construction and other jobs, contributes to smart transit-oriented growth and on and on and on.

Yet now come headlines that the State’s chief executive thinks “rail cost risky for state” and “city’s rail plan costly, elevated tracks ugly”. If that thinking predicts her intention to not accept the Final Environmental Impact Statement, then Honolulu truly will have become the New Wonderland – where everything is curiouser and curiouser.

If she does do that and defies the will of the public (see November ’08 vote, see scientific opinion poll at honolulutransit.org, click Library, click General Information tab) and ignores the considerable impacts of at-grade transit, she may just become the new Queen of Hearts of Honolulu. You remember her:

“The Queen had only one way of settling all difficulties, great or small. ‘Off with his head,’ she said, without even looking round.”

In this case, the offing would kill a project with greater potential to improve commuting in our long and narrow city than any other idea to come along in decades, as well as the potential to create thousands of jobs at the exact moment Hawaii needs that stimulus.

Our whimsy about Wonderland is not a sign of disrespect for the Governor, who has a difficult job to perform, but she must do that job within the strict requirements of her review authority by looking around and weighing all the factors and all the consequences of whatever action she chooses.

To have come this far in the Honolulu rail process and then have it killed would be almost as unbelievable as Alice’s fall down a rabbit hole into that fantasy world.

Rail Issues Don’t Always Have To Be Serious; Honolulu Can Look Forward to a ‘No Pants Day’

Just think: If Honolulu’s rail project hadn’t died back in the early 1990s, we could be celebrating our own version of the “No Pants Subway Ride” this weekend just like cities across America and all around the world!

True, our system won’t be a subway, but neither is Seattle’s, and that city is anticipating being a part of the global event organized by Improv Everywhere.

So lighten up about Honolulu rail. Riding a train can be ridiculously funny -- as well as a time, money and sanity saver!

Rail Start Is Key to Construction Industry in 2010

Pacific Business News wasted no time in starting the New Year with its January 1st assessment that “Hawaii’s construction industry is pinning its hopes for 2010 on Honolulu’s rail transit project….”

Groundbreaking has been pushed onward into 2010 due to what appears to be a fine-toothed combing of the project’s Environmental Impact Statement by numerous federal agencies. The delay seems to have quieted some who said the groundbreaking shouldn’t be rushed through before the end of the year. They got their wish, but an extended delay and review at the State level can’t be helpful to the economy.

Kyle Chock, Pacific Resource Partnership executive director, said in a Construction Industry review published by Hawaii Business magazine:

“Rail trumps all other projects. It will create the most jobs – an estimated 11,000 – and re-energize the economy. We will most likely get our share of federal dollars in the range of $1 billion, if not more.”

Hearings Need Focus

The Honolulu Advertiser’s editorial today said any hearings held by agencies of the State could become a “big distraction” if it strays from the project’s environmental impacts into issues that already have been settled.

“The rail project rises to the level of importance that bolsters the case for public hearings,” the editorial states. “But the aim should be the gathering of information that can move this project toward completion in the most environmentally responsible way – not a stalling tactic to derail the project….

“Revisiting (issues that have been settled) won’t do anything but needlessly delay this well-planned, much-needed public works project.”

News Bulletin: Federal Agencies are Dotting All the I’s and Crossing the T’s in Rail Project Review

You could have predicted today’s story in the Honolulu Advertiser, and many of us did. Honolulu’s rail project did not break ground in 2009 as envisioned in the City’s aggressive timetable.

Federal agencies are taking longer to review the plan and the system’s integration with their activities than the original timetable had provided. That’s not a cause for alarm, as the anti-rail faction hopes; rather, it’s a prudent approach to the largest construction project in the history of the state, as Council Chair Todd Apo suggests in this story.

The anti-rail crowd is glomming onto the timetable’s slippage. We’ll give them that much – it has slipped – but not the rest of their gloomy predictions. This year will be the most significant in Honolulu’s decades-long effort to build a grade-separated transit system – an alternative to being stuck in traffic congestion in the morning and evening rush hours and increasingly during the middle of the day, too.

Here's our New Year's prediction: Rail will break ground at the earliest possible moment and not a moment sooner. And the sooner the better.

'09 Review of Honolulu’s Rail Project as We Saw It

We’ll confine this review to highlights starting in August, since that’s when we picked up the blog after a few months of inactivity. But there was plenty to keep busy with in the year’s last five months!

August 12
Above-Grade Choice Gets Stronger with Time
The City Council selected grade-separated transit nearly three years ago, and nothing that’s emerged in commentaries, letters to the editor and paid advertising has challenged the soundness of that decision.

August 27
Revenues Panel Sees 5 Years of Tax Growth
After a couple years of dismal forecasts for Hawaii’s economy, the state Council of Revenues has issued a five-year tax forecast that anticipates positive long-term growth.

August 30
Bids for Rail’s First Segment Under Budget
Bids for the first construction phase of the transit project between Kapolei and Waipahu are coming in 10-25 percent under expectations in February, when the request for proposals went out.

September 13
What Every Consumer Asks When Making a Purchase: ‘Will It Do What I Need It To Do?’

That’s what also must be asked of the allegedly “cheaper rail plan” for an at-grade system that some in the community are promoting. (Answer hint: At-grade wouldn’t be a fast, frequent and reliable alternative to sitting in traffic congestion.)

September 24
Among At-Grade’s Negatives, Part 2: Accidents
It’s not exactly Demolition Derby, but the number of train-vehicle accidents since the Phoenix, AZ at-grade system opened nine months ago is pretty astonishing.

September 29
City Report Says Rail’s Tax Revenue Sufficient; Collections for FY ’09 $12 Million Above Forecast
As the City correctly noted in August, when headlines trumpeted the alleged shortfall, the May report on which those headlines and finger wagging were based was outdated. Now comes the August financial plan, with updated information the City stands behind.

October 6
When Safety Is Crucial, Think Elevated Rail
Phoenix’s METRO light rail has been operating since December and is averaging five collisions a month, which has prompted the operators to launch a Light Rail Safety campaign called Stay Aware, Stay Safe.

October 12
Feds OK Honolulu Rail for Preliminary Engineering
The Federal Transit Administration has given Honolulu a green light to begin Preliminary Engineering for the local rail transit system.

October 26
Star-Bulletin: ‘Foolish’ Not To Build Rail Now
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin today continues the daily newspapers’ editorial support for Honolulu’s rail project. Disagreeing with rail critics who urge a go-slow approach, the paper says “…prompt action is warranted to help Hawaii’s economy and keep costs down.”

October 30
Beware Monsters of Misinformation at Halloween
It’s wise to watch your step at the end of October. Ghosts and goblins are everywhere, eager to startle and shock you into giving up something of value – usually candy. But watch out for at-grade rail proponents who want you to give up your common sense.

November 3
Behind Rail Opinion Poll Numbers – Solid Support
A public opinion survey has revealed strong support among Oahu residents for the Honolulu rail project – support that appears to have increased since 53 percent voted in favor of rail in last November’s election.

November 16
Searching for ‘News’ in the Rail Tax Stories
Until the economy turns around (which it will; it always has), can’t we safely predict that rail tax revenues any given month will be below those of a year earlier? Tax revenues are lower in a recession, and when the recession is behind us, they'll be higher.

November 17
Mayor Says Transit Tax Can’t be Raided by State
With Mayor Mufi Hannemann’s announcement today that a Project Labor Agreement with the trade unions has been sealed, the anti-rail crowd must sense that their opposition is being overtaken by events.

November 25
Governor’s Stated Insistence on Preserving Road Lanes Seemingly Eliminates At-Grade Alternative
The inevitable results of building at-grade transit – either property condemnation to widen the roadway or a loss of traffic lanes – has been thoroughly evaluated and found unacceptable compared to the Locally Preferred Alternative of an elevated fixed guideway.

December 2
Train Meets Van in Another At-Grade Rail Collision
The relatively small but vocal group of at-grade transit advocates here continues to make a noisy case for Honolulu’s trains to run at ground level. As they do so, we’ll continue our focus on the safety issue.

December 11
Story Criticizes Opinion Poil w/out Giving Results
Today’s Honolulu Advertiser takes a swipe at the opinion poll conducted in September on Oahu residents’ views about the rail project. The story implies impropriety that wasn’t there; amazingly, the poll’s results continue to not be reported in the newspaper.

December 18
Entire Rail Survey Is Available for Downloading
The public accessibility of the QMark opinion poll on Honolulu’s rail project should effectively counter the din from critics who allege the poll was rigged, the questions were slanted, the results are worthless, etc.

December 23
Poll Results Among Non-Reported Stories of 2009
Although both Honolulu newspapers have known about the poll for several weeks and maybe as long as two months, they have steadfastly refused to print its results. Far as we know, the broadcast outlets have followed suit.

December 24
A Dickensonian Christmas Tale with a Difference
It was the night before Christmas in Kapolei, and all three of the family’s generations were in a happy mood after watching “A Christmas Carol” on TV. Mean old Scrooge turned out to be a great guy after all, and Tiny Tim was just fine. Everybody was happy but dad, that is. “I’ve been stalled on H-1 for the last hour,” dad growled, “and I know something a lot scarier than anything Charles Dickens dreamed up – the Ghost of Traffic Present!”

It’s been quite a year, and 2010 will be even more eventful. Check back with us early and often as we write about the major developments within Honolulu’s rail project, and don’t forget to have a…

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

A Dickensonian Christmas Tale with a Difference: Three Ghosts of Traffic Past, Present and Future

It was the night before Christmas in Kapolei, and all three of the family’s generations were in a happy mood after watching “A Christmas Carol” on TV. Mean old Scrooge turned out to be a great guy after all, and Tiny Tim was just fine.

Everybody was happy but dad, that is. He stormed in as the show’s credits rolled up the screen from another of his last-minute Christmas shopping sprees, and his mood was as grumpy as Scrooge’s had been two hours earlier.

“Merry Christmas!” the kids shouted. “Mom was just telling us how scary the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future were when she was little.”

“I’ve been stalled on H-1 for the last hour,” dad growled, “and I know something a lot scarier than anything Charles Dickens dreamed up – the Ghost of Traffic Present!”

“Tell us more! Tell us more!” cried the kids as they egged him on. Rush-hour traffic always made dad’s face red and eyes bulge. It’s a pretty good show, and the kids are always up for it.

“Come to think of it,” dad obliged with a twinkle in his eye, “I have a story with three ghosts -- the ghosts of Traffic Past, Traffic Present and Traffic Future.”

And so began another of dad’s “good old days” tales about driving to town in half the time it takes today. Just like Dickens’ ghost of Christmas Past, dad’s ghost of Traffic Past has fond memories – of free-and-easy driving, open highways, low-cost gasoline and reasonable parking fees.

But then the story takes a turn. Traffic congestion grew along with the population, and the city tried to build an elevated transit system so commuters could ride a train and avoid traffic altogether – just like they do in cities around the world.

“We…came…THIS…close!” the kids sang along with dad. They’d heard it before, so all three held their fingers barely apart as dad recalled the City Council vote that killed those plans in 1992. “It would have been running for six years now,” dad sighed.

“But that’s the ghost of Traffic Past,” he grimaced as he warmed to the juiciest part of his tale. “Here’s where my three-ghost story departs from Dickens. His scariest vision was the Ghost of Christmas Future. Mine is the Ghost of Traffic Present!”

And off dad went on his rant – about getting up way too early to beat H-1 congestion, about arriving late for work nearly every time there’s an accident, and on and on.

“The Ghost of Traffic Present toys with us,” he said as the kids giggled in anticipation. “This ghost sometimes gives you a wide-open road when you first hit the freeway, lets you think today will be different, that maybe you’ll breeze through the merge. But nine times out of ten, it’s all wishful thinking and you crawl the rest of the way to town. When there’s a major accident, forget about it! And when you finally get off the freeway, you’re caught in street traffic.”

Mom had escaped to the kitchen by now, and the kids sat crowded around dad’s feet, because their favorite part was coming. The Ghost of Traffic Future would be the one they’ll live with for the rest of their lives.

Dad did a quick circle around the kids to stretch his legs, then settled in again to pick up the story. “The Ghost of Traffic Future is the best ghost of all, because the future is when your generation will triumph over traffic! You won’t even have to worry about it.”

The kids knew all about the plan to bypass traffic in the future. Dad read every newspaper story out loud to the family about the city’s elevated rail project. They all had tracked the project as it moved from the early planning days when the kids were in pre-school, through the City Council votes, into the environmental process. And on Christmas Eve 2009, the Final EIS was expected any day now.

“When the FEIS is accepted by the Governor, it’ll be clear sailing for the project’s groundbreaking!” dad exclaimed as the kids clapped their hands in unison. “Your uncle and cousins will have years of construction work ahead of them.”

Again in unison and on cue, the kids put on worried faces and cried, “She will accept the FEIS, won’t she, dad…won’t she!?” Dad waited until everyone had grabbed hands so they could shout it together: “She’d better!!” Even mom and the grandparents laughingly joined in – as always.

“You see, kids,” dad said in his serious voice, “this entire project would come to a halt if she doesn’t accept the FEIS, and that would be a bad thing – for you, for your cousins, for the entire community, and especially those who don’t want to sit in traffic.

“Actually, I think what she said in that story I read to you a few weeks ago about not rubber-stamping the rail project was just her way of saying she’s doing her job, being a prudent elected official.”

Granddad chimed in: “The Governor knows we need this train,” he said. “You kids will use it to get to jobs in town or to school in Manoa. Gas prices will be far higher in a few years, and so will parking costs. The train will be so convenient and cost-competitive, it would be terrible for anyone to block this project and toy with your future.” The kids nodded.

“Granddad’s right,” mom called from the hallway. “Once commuters see how easy it is to ride the train and connect with buses or walk from the stations, you kids might even have to fight for a seat!”

And so this balmy Christmas Eve 2009 progressed in Kapolei as dad ended his tale of the three Ghosts of Traffic and the family’s three generations sat down around the Christmas tree to hear a much older story.

When the kids opened their presents on Christmas Day, the youngest said she dreamed all night about Santa arriving in Kapolei with a sleigh full of toys. Something was different this year, though.

Instead of eight tiny reindeer leading Santa’s sleigh, it was riding high up on an elevated guideway – pulled by a train.

Poll Results Among Non-Reported Stories of 2009

Is a little inquisitive reporting too much to ask for Christmas?

The changes happening in journalism here don’t surprise us much anymore, but the local media’s failure to report the results of a public opinion poll on the Honolulu rail project is an exception.

What the public thinks about the biggest construction project ever in Hawaii has to qualify as "news." A referendum on the project was conducted in the November 2008 election, so the project is a major public affairs story on several levels.

But although both Honolulu newspapers have known about the poll for several weeks and maybe as long as two months, they have steadfastly refused to print its results. Far as we know, the broadcast outlets have followed suit.

It makes you wonder. And if you wonder what those pro-rail results were, they’re available at the City’s transit website. Click on Library and then the General Information tab to download a PDF on the QMark survey.

Transit Tax Revenues Rise to Anticipated Level; Counting the Days of Tiser’s Non-Report on Poll

To the consternation of the diminishing anti-rail faction on Oahu, transit tax revenues increased in November and were just south of the monthly level the City has fit into its projections for the 16-year tax.

While still down slightly from one year earlier, the fact that revenues increased is an encouraging sign for the rail project, and the revenue rise doesn’t stand alone as good news for rail.

The unemployment rate dipped last month, the economy is forecast to improve in 2010 and construction bids for the project have come in below expectations.

39+ Days and Counting

Our incredulity grows by the day over the Honolulu Advertiser’s refusal to report the results of a public opinion poll that show strong community support for rail.

In a story hinting at (non-existent) impropriety over the City’s contract with Honolulu polling firm QMark, reporter Sean Hao wrote that the City responded to a Freedom of Information Act request about the poll’s contract in a letter dated November 18. Let’s say the City took a week to respond to the request; we don’t know, but let’s pick 7 days.

And let’s assume that the Advertiser didn’t know about the poll until around the date it made the request; using our scenario, that would make November 10 the date it first knew of the poll. The paper undoubtedly knew about the September survey much earlier than that, but we’re being charitable.

So assuming a “first awareness date” of November 10, the Honolulu Advertiser has allowed 39 calendar days to pass without reporting on the poll’s pro-rail results in its news columns. The only results the paper has published were condensed in a December 17 letter to the editor by Managing Director Kirk Caldwell.

What is going on?

Has the paper lost all objectivity in its news hole about this project? Does it doubt the integrity of polling company QMark? How could it not report the results of a scientific opinion survey it has known about since at least November 10 – and probably for much longer?

We don’t know what’s going on, but we’re counting the days until the Honolulu Advertiser succumbs to widely accepted standards of objective journalism and prints the survey's results.

Entire Rail Survey Is Available for Downloading

The public accessibility of the QMark opinion poll on Honolulu’s rail project should effectively counter the din from critics who allege the poll was rigged, the questions were slanted, the results are worthless, etc.

Among their criticisms are assertions that a pro-rail result was pre-determined because of how the questions were worded. It’s a ridiculous assertion because it would mean QMark would have committed corporate suicide by undermining the integrity of its polling process.

The poll was conducted using scientific surveying principles accepted throughout the industry. It's available at the transit project’s website under the General Information tab. Click on the link for the QMark survey to download a PDF.

Letter Asks Tiser: Where Are Rail Poll's Results?

Kirk Caldwell, managing director of the City and County of Honolulu, has a letter to the editor in today’s Honolulu Advertiser that makes the point we made here a few days ago. Caldwell begins his letter:

“We find it interesting that The Advertiser’s story about a scientific poll on rail authorized by the city (“Poll, TV deals avoid scrutiny,” Dec. 11) neglected to include the most obvious thing: the poll results.”

In an almost unbelievable journalistic lapse, the paper carried a story about the poll (but not the results) that appeared to find fault with project consultant Parsons Brinkerhoff for not including polling firm QMark in a list of subcontractors.

That’s unremarkable, because QMark is not a PB subcontractor – and neither are the parent companies of three local television stations that the reporter noted also were not listed as subcontractors.

The Advertiser’s rail coverage is beyond strange. What kind of journalism is it when the only way to get results of a City-sponsored scientific public opinion poll into the newspaper is to include them in a letter to the editor?

Sierra Club Endorses Rail–in Florida; Congress Ups Dollars for Honolulu; Another At-Grade Train Crash

Today’s post is a mélange of news that may be geographically distant but nevertheless relevant to Honolulu’s future rail system.

Sierra Club for Rail!

That’s the news from the Sunshine State. Hawaii has nothing to fear from Florida’s nickname, but we do admit to being a bit jealous that the Sierra Club has embraced rail there enthusiastically while the Hawaii chapter is much less vocal in expressing its support for Honolulu’s project.

The Florida group is touting the national club’s Green Transportation Campaign; check out the Campaign’s website and the prominent photo of an elevated transit line, similar to what Honolulu will build.

One of the campaigns goals is “reducing vehicle miles traveled per person by increasing public transit use, fostering compact communities with transportation choices (rail, bus, walking, biking), and by cutting the number of car trips taken.”

That’s pretty much what rail will achieve in Honolulu – so if you know any Sierra Club members, you might ask them to compare the national club’s goals with what Honolulu rail will accomplish!

Federal Funds Secured

Hawaii’s congressional delegation has come through with $30 million for Honolulu’s rail transit project. The award is part of an omnibus spending package that will total $387 million for a wide variety of projects and programs in the state.

Commenting in Washington while on a visit, Mayor Mufi Hannemann said, “Senator Inouye’s outstanding leadership has been instrumental in moving forward this rail transit project that is vital to our island’s economy and its future.”

Another At-Grade Crash

We’ve been calling attention to collisions between at-grade trains and vehicles as they occur simply to point out the obvious – that at-grade transit has a safety issue that advocates continue to ignore.

The news from Milpitas, CA over the weekend was about as bad as it gets. The driver of a vehicle that turned into the path of a light rail train was killed.

Honolulu’s project will be elevated above all street traffic and therefore will be inherently much safer than systems that share ground space with cross traffic and pedestrians.

Lower Cost, ‘Best Value’ Explain Kiewit Selection

Today’s Advertiser carries a story about why Kiewit Pacific was selected to build Phase One of the City’s rail project. The firm came out ahead both on price and for offering the “best value.”

According to the City, the latter includes rankings on management approach, personnel experience, technical solutions, schedule, price realism and project support.

Gambler's Delight?

For some light reading, click down to the comments section below the story. Rail’s opponents are showing desperation in their denunciations of the project; one suggests rail is all about providing transportation to visitors who will fly into Honolulu and then take the train to a west Oahu gambling mecca.

That gambling is illegal in Hawaii isn’t even the best argument to undermine this fanciful suggestion. The best argument is that high-rollers don’t travel in anything less than limousine luxury to throw away their money.

But read along anyway. As someone said in a response, arguments like this one make the job easier for rail supporters.

Story Criticizes Opinion Poll w/out Giving Results; Phoenix Readers Comment on At-Grade Accidents

Today’s Honolulu Advertiser takes a swipe at the opinion poll conducted in September on Oahu residents’ views about the rail project. You can read those strongly positive results in an earlier post here at Yes2Rail.

The story implies impropriety by the City or project contractor Parsons Brinkerhoff because polling company QMark isn’t listed as a subcontractor to PB. Incredibly, the story makes the same “charge” about the owners of the three local TV stations that carried the Mayor’s “State of Rail” address in late October.

It’s obvious that QMark, Raycom Media Inc. and MCG Capital Corp. are not PB subcontractors, yet the reporter goes out of his way to suggest something improper about their absence from PB’s subcontractor list. He then ends his story by quoting the City Council's loudest anti-rail member who naturally voices yet another complaint.

This is high school journalism at best – a classic “view with alarm” story about a wholly innocent situation yet is reported with a slant that implies impropriety.

The kicker? This reporter has never written a word about the opinion survey's results. He presumably has known about them for months yet has managed to keep its pro-rail results out of the Advertiser’s news columns.

Phoenix Sounds Off

The serious accident involving a Phoenix at-grade train and a van on December 2 has prompted a flurry of on-line comments in a Phoenix media website. The crash nearly cost the van driver’s life according to a firefighter at the scene.

Here are some representative comments about the dangers of driving near the city’s at-grade system:

Posted by Guisseppe: The whole thing is the stupidest ever. The thing only goes what, 25-35 miles per hour, and travels on the ground. This isn’t a light rail. Go to Japan to learn about light rails. What idiot decided to put it on the ground instead of elevated?

Posted by toycannon: From the appearance of this van after being pinned it is EXTREMELY lucky that this woman did not have any passengers on board. Can you imagine if this had been a van-load of children from a church function? Probably the van driver’s fault. In her defense however, the design of the track route is just asking for accidents in that area….

Posted by FustigatedOne: One accident a week for its first year. I told you pro-LR dolts that a metro chock full of tourists, seniors and illegals is a recipe for disaster. Not to mention all the booze, meth and cell phone addicts driving under some sort of impairment. This is a bad town for a surface based train system....

Posted by THEHOODLUM: This wouldn’t happen with heavy rail subway.

Nor will it happen with Honolulu’s elevated train.

Letter-Writer Says At-Grade Rail Here Would Fail

We like this letter in today’s Honolulu Star-Bulletin so much that we’re printing it here in its entirety:

Overhead rail
only way to go

Why are we still having this no-brainer argument about the rail system being at-grade or an overhead system? Why can't these people grasp these simple truths — that there is no room to accommodate both a rail system and a roadway? If you have an at-grade system every time the train comes to a crossing, all traffic will stop at the crossing and back up for miles.

The overhead system will eliminate any potential problems that are on the ground. How about accidents at the crossings? Why do people keep going back to square one concerning the debate about rail?

An overhead system was picked because there are no other alternatives.

Steve Curty
Honolulu

We would quibble only about his last sentence. There are other alternatives, and they all were rejected in favor of the Locally Preferred Alternative – elevated rail.

Editorial Catch-Up

And since we’re quoting from the newspapers, the Honolulu Advertiser’s editorial in last Sunday’s newspaper is worth recalling here. It urges Governor Linda Lingle to focus her review process of the project’s Final Environmental Impact Statement on only those things called for by law.

Responding to the Governor’s stated concerns about the alternatives to the planned elevated route, the paper said:

“All of this was covered at the city's earlier planning stage and need not be revisited by the EIS. City planners say the FTA has indicated the alternatives covered, the no-build option and variations of the airport and Salt Lake alignments, are sufficient.”

The piece continued the Advertiser’s editorial support for the project.

Anti-Rail Crowd on Wrong Side of Energy Issue: Rail Transit Will Use Ever-Increasing Renewable Power

We’re writing without having seen media coverage of a Small Business Hawaii press conference that was held less than two hours ago. The coverage will come in due time. For now, we’re going off the press release distributed by the Small Business Hawaii Foundation on “Honolulu Rail Greenhouse Gas Emissions Analysis.”

SBH’s Foundation has imported someone from the Midwest to put a conservative (and undoubtedly critical) spin on Honolulu’s planned rail system. At least Wendell Cox is from Illinois, which is closer to Hawaii than New Jersey – home of Kamehameha School’s “transit expert” import.

Here’s what we see as the key paragraph from the Foundation’s press release:

“The Honolulu rail DEIS contains no estimate of the proposed rail line’s impact on greenhouse gas emissions. The SBH/Demographia (a Cox website) report corrects this oversight and analyzes the future production of electricity, best and worst case scenarios of gas emissions in Honolulu’s proposed rail, and costs per ton of any reduced greenhouse production.”

We have no comment about what is or isn’t in the DEIS; the City presumably will provide a response. What interests us, aside from the awkward construction of that paragraph, is the key phrase “best and worst case scenarios.” Cox undoubtedly will highlight a worst-case scenario, but what about the best?

Zero Emissions Is the Goal!

The best-case scenario for power plants that will generate electricity for Honolulu’s rail project is simply this: They will produce no greenhouse gas emissions! None! Nada!! Zip!!!

That is absolutely the best-case scenario as Hawaii transitions to a green energy industry, and if you don’t believe it, you can look it up on numerous State websites. Just Google “Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative.” Here’s a quote from the State’s HCEI site:

“The Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative aims to transform Hawaii into a world model for energy independence and sustainability. Our goal is to meet 70% of Hawaii's energy needs with clean energy by 2030.”

That 70% will be a combination of energy efficiency and renewable energy from both old technologies and new – including wind, solar, biomass, wave and ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC).

There are OTEC advocates right here in Hawaii whose vision of energy independence in Hawaii is a dozen or more 100-megawatt OTEC plants surrounding Oahu that completely eliminate the need to burn carbon fuels to meet the island’s electricity needs. Those needs will include electricity for Honolulu's train. From the Harvard Political Review:

"Were its vast potential harnessed, OTEC could change the face of energy consumption by causing a shift away from fossil fuels. Environmentally, such a transition would greatly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and decrease the rate of global warming.”

That’s just one of hundreds of web-based sources on OTEC, which is just one of the many clean energy technologies Hawaii is now or will be adopting. We’re on a relentless campaign in Hawaii to develop all such technologies, and the goal isn’t going to stop at 70%. The goal embraced by government and non-governmental agencies alike is no fossil fuel use in Hawaii!

It’s one big hairy audacious goal for the state – no doubt about it. Getting there will require finding an economic substitute for fuel that powers aircraft, ships and land vehicles. But that’s the goal, and the prospects for achieving it by mid-century are excellent.

THAT is the best-case scenario for rail transit greenhouse gas emissions: There will be NONE. Anything short of that espoused by Mr. Cox and Small Business Hawaii is unbelievable.

Accidents Pile Up, Phoenix Citizens Want to Know ‘What’s the Problem with All These Crashes?’

That’s what a Phoenix TV news anchor asked a field reporter last week after yet another crash involving an at-grade train and a vehicle that failed to heed a red light.

The reporter’s answer was that figuring out the problem is “not that simple.” The station’s airborne video then shows a one-way street with three lanes of traffic on one side of the train tracks and one lane on the other. Says a reporter:

“Throw in some extra lights, turn signals, some slip-ramp merge lanes and you can see why drivers get a little confused and occasionally cross the tracks with a train coming right at them."

The video from KPHO is worth viewing to get a sense of the confusion Phoenix residents are expressing about staying out of harm’s way and the at-grade trains.

When you view the video, take note at about 70 seconds into it how slowly an at-grade train makes a 90-degree turn from one street into another.

This is not rapid transit and certainly not the high-capacity and fast trains (speeds exceeding 55 mph) that Honolulu needs to meet the need of moving commuters between East Kapolei and Ala Moana Center and points in between.

Phoenix will keep asking “what’s the problem,” and we’ll keep asking when at-grade advocates will stop ignoring the crucial safety issue of transit in our city.

Phoenix At-Grade Rail Accidents Invite Scrutiny; Year-Old System’s Rate Is One Crash per Week

Phoenix light rail system officials, the media and the public all are wondering how to curb the incidence of weekly crashes involving trains and vehicles.

Van begins fateful turn across tracks.

An accident this week that wrapped a van around a utility pole and narrowly avoided a fatality was caused by the van making an illegal turn in front of a moving train. A firefighter said the driver was “a lucky lady to be alive.” On-board train video shows the moment of impact as the van turns into the train’s path.

Vehicle pulls into harm's way.

Wednesday’s smash-up was the 51st this year for the Phoenix system, according to local media, and questions are now being asked about why a modern at-grade rail system has been so accident-plagued in its first year of operation.

It’s Not Surprising

As we’ve said here repeatedly, whenever you put trucks, cars, buses and pedestrians on the same level as a train, you’re virtually guaranteed to have accidents. Advocates of at-grade rail in Honolulu persistently refuse to address this issue, while we elevated advocates won’t let it die.

The moment of impact.

Trains operating on Honolulu’s 20 miles of elevated track will encounter no trucks, cars, buses and pedestrians. Putting any of those miles at grade would inevitably produce accidents like Phoenix is experiencing, and because Honolulu is such a compact and condensed city, the incidence could be even greater.

The van already is being wrapped around the pole.

Honolulu and Phoenix don’t have much in common, and we’ll be better off when we keep it that way regarding our rail systems.

Driver is lucky to be alive, says a firefighter.

Train Meets Van in Another At-Grade Rail Collision

Tight squeeze in Phoenix after today's crash.

The relatively small but vocal group of at-grade transit advocates here continues to make a noisy case for Honolulu’s trains to run at ground level. As they do so, we’ll continue our focus on the safety issue. (We've done it before -- two posts below this one on November 27, on October 6 and September 24.)

At-grade trains are nowhere near as safe as elevated systems, and because they inevitably are involved in accidents, they're not as reliable either.

Just today in Phoenix, AZ, a “violent crash” sent at least one person to the hospital and delayed train service. According to the Valley METRO service, this was the 50th such accident involving the system’s trains since it opened for business a year ago. (Another report calls it a "wicked-looking wreck," and this one quotes a firefighter as saying the van's driver is a "lucky lady to be alive" and that delays were expected to last several hours.)

That record – which includes injuries, property damage and delayed service – is something Honolulu will avoid when its elevated project is completed in the next decade.

Safety is one of the major issues that distinguishes grade-separated transit systems from at-grade systems, but there are others, including carrying capacity, frequency of service, speed, and of course, reliability.

We may not be able to tune down the at-grade advocacy noise. What we can do is note that some of that noise is the crunch you hear when trains and vehicles crash together. That’s noise we definitely don’t need in Honolulu.

Another news report says 3 were sent to the hospital.