Honolulu: Transportation info and development

[OhioGuy]

Honolulu rail wins in two separate court decisions

Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART) is celebrating dual legal victories for Honolulu's rail project.

HART said the two federal courts ruled that the transit project had done everything necessary to comply with applicable federal laws and is allowed to move forward.

A panel from the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Oahu's elevated rail project complies with environmental, historic preservation and other laws.

Separately, at the trial court level in the same case, Judge A. Wallace Tashima ruled that the project had looked at all alternatives regarding the rail route. Tashima also ruled that the project had properly considered and rejected a route involving an underground tunnel and ending at the University of Hawaii's Manoa campus, as an alternative to the selected elevated route ending at Ala Moana Center.

Tashima also lifted an order blocking construction and most property acquisition activities in the City Center section of the project, which extends from Kalihi to Ala Moana Center.

Opponents of the rail plan held a press conference on Feb. 18 to explain they had run out of legal options to fight the rail project.

[rapid_business]

Great news! Let's get this thing built!

[miniviews]

As of July 5, 2014, six completed guideway spans, and two soon to be completed. From my flickr account album Honolulu Rail-June/July 2014



P1310142 by miniviews, on Flickr


P1310143 by miniviews, on Flickr


P1310149 by miniviews, on Flickr


P1310152 by miniviews, on Flickr

[N830MH]

Wow! Very nice.

When it will completion? On what year is that?

[miniviews]

Phase 1 (East Kapolei to Aloha Stadium) plans to be operating by Mid 2017. Phase 2 (Aloha Stadium to Ala Moana) plans to be operating in 2019.

[N830MH]

Originally Posted by miniviews

Phase 1 (East Kapolei to Aloha Stadium) plans to be operating by Mid 2017. Phase 2 (Aloha Stadium to Ala Moana) plans to be operating in 2019.

Thanks! Welcome to the Skyscraperpage.com and hope you enjoy for your stay.

[destroycreate]

Wow! I actually didn't think this was ever going to get built. So it truly is happening now, huh? What a victory for Honolulu.

Is there any reason why it isn't going to Waikiki though? Seems a little odd.

[electricron]

Originally Posted by destroycreate

Wow! I actually didn't think this was ever going to get built. So it truly is happening now, huh? What a victory for Honolulu.

Is there any reason why it isn't going to Waikiki though? Seems a little odd.

No it isn't odd. If they ever get around to planning, designing, building, and operating phase 3, you might see a branch line southeast towards Waikiki Beach and another northeast towards the University of Hawaii campus from the easternmost terminus in the shopping center. Either branch line would be less than 2 miles in length - which present planners assume can be handled by buses. The University will surely help finance a shuttle bus that will circulate through the campus anyways wherever the closest train station is located, and so will the Hotels on the beach. 2 miles is just 4 minutes at 30 mph on the bus.

[bobdreamz]

Originally Posted by miniviews

Phase 1 (East Kapolei to Aloha Stadium) plans to be operating by Mid 2017. Phase 2 (Aloha Stadium to Ala Moana) plans to be operating in 2019.

Thanks for updating this thread with pics & info since we haven't heard about this project in a while.

[Leo the Dog]

When I was 19 years old (many years ago) I decided I wanted to take a break from the beach and go explore on my own. I took the bus from Waikiki to The USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor. Seems like it took forever!

Boy do I wish this was built by then!

[twoNeurons]

Originally Posted by electricron

No it isn't odd. If they ever get around to planning, designing, building, and operating phase 3, you might see a branch line southeast towards Waikiki Beach and another northeast towards the University of Hawaii campus from the easternmost terminus in the shopping center. Either branch line would be less than 2 miles in length - which present planners assume can be handled by buses. The University will surely help finance a shuttle bus that will circulate through the campus anyways wherever the closest train station is located, and so will the Hotels on the beach. 2 miles is just 4 minutes at 30 mph on the bus.

Still seems odd to me. According to Google Transit, that trip take "optimistically" 16 - 20 minutes MINIMUM, on buses that leave every 15 minutes. You're looking at adding an average of 25 minutes to travel time.

That's to Ohua Ave. That's about how long I remember it taking as well. You could single track an extension into Waikiki beach for less visual impact. Even run it down Kalakaua Ave. Ask the Hotels to pay for the stations.

A LOT of tourism for Waikiki comes from Asia and both the Japanese and Chinese are comfortable with public transit (which is to say, trains). My guess is that since this it the first rail project on the islands, there's a lot of opposition and too much fear to build right into Waikiki.

It seems a little backwards that they're building this line, doing the suburbs first. Perhaps part of the plan is to build it, have people LOVE it and then have people wonder why they haven't built it to the University or Waikiki. Then, they can more easily incorporate that into the extensions.

[twoNeurons]

Unsurprisingly, the opposition group has support from those directly affected by a rail line:
http://www.honolulutraffic.com/whoweare.htm

Some of them look like small businesses (probably some of which happen to be owned by the individuals against rail):

Andy's Pool Service Corp.
Charley's Taxi & Tours
E.N. Kemp & Associates, Inc.
Elite Limousine
Grassroot Institute
Hawaii Activities andTours
Association (HAATA)
Hawaii Transportation Association
HonCab
Kahala Kai Taxi
Maui Divers of Hawaii, Ltd.
Moana Taxi
Pacific Business Appraisers, LLC
Pacific Business Valuation, LLC
Paradise Cruise, Ltd.
Pegge Hopper Gallery
Polynesian Hospitality
RobertsHawaii
Robert's Taxi
Small BusinessHawaii (SBH)
Star Taxi
Superstar Hawaii Transit
Talk Story Magazine, Inc.
The Cab
Waikiki Residents Association
Waikiki Taxi

I've bolded all the obvious ones. 11/26 of businesses that support opposition are limo/cab companies. Obviously, these businesses feel that rail rapid transit will siphon traffic away from their core business, otherwise why would they oppose it. Which really calls into question the argument that visitors don't ride transit. (Anyone who has been on a bus and heard the Japanese announcements knows that's not true!) The problem is... they KNOW it will be a success.

[electricron]

Originally Posted by twoNeurons

It seems a little backwards that they're building this line, doing the suburbs first. Perhaps part of the plan is to build it, have people LOVE it and then have people wonder why they haven't built it to the University or Waikiki. Then, they can more easily incorporate that into the extensions.

One could walk 2 miles faster than you're reporting it takes buses, that's odd to me!

You can't have a rail transit system without a maintenance shop and rail yard. Very few transit agencies ever do so downtown. It's much cheaper to build these in the suburbs where the land is cheaper. So that's what gets built first. The only transit systems I am aware of that have maintenance shops and yards near downtown are those that reuse pre-existing rail yards and shops - which doesn't exist in Honolulu or in the entire state.

[Cirrus]

Originally Posted by electricron

No it isn't odd. If they ever get around to planning, designing, building, and operating phase 3, you might see a branch line southeast towards Waikiki Beach and another northeast towards the University of Hawaii campus from the easternmost terminus in the shopping center. Either branch line would be less than 2 miles in length - which present planners assume can be handled by buses. The University will surely help finance a shuttle bus that will circulate through the campus anyways wherever the closest train station is located, and so will the Hotels on the beach. 2 miles is just 4 minutes at 30 mph on the bus.

Yes, it's odd. Forcing a transfer reduces usage. Running in mixed traffic with cars on city streets instead of on an elevated guideway reduces usage. Those are two of Hawaii's biggest potential transit trip generators, so not sending the rail line to them directly means the rail line will carry far fewer people than it otherwise might. If it were just as good to have a shuttle bus, then why bother with rail in the first place? Shuttle buses mean it will be possible to get to beaches and the university using transit, but they don't mean it will be anywhere near as convenient or get anywhere near as many riders as a direct rail connection.

But that doesn't mean it was wrong to leave them out. Those are expensive destinations to reach, and no doubt going to them would increase political opposition to the project. The first line is always the hardest to build, so you take the path of least resistance and add the more complicated connections later, when there's more solid political support and no danger of one controversial segment sinking the entire rail project.

So maybe not exactly "odd" to leave them out. Perhaps even completely sensible. But definitely not ideal.

[rapid_business]

Originally Posted by Cirrus

But that doesn't mean it was wrong to leave them out. Those are expensive destinations to reach, and no doubt going to them would increase political opposition to the project. The first line is always the hardest to build, so you take the path of least resistance and add the more complicated connections later, when there's more solid political support and no danger of one controversial segment sinking the entire rail project.

This.

[electricron]

Originally Posted by Cirrus

Yes, it's odd. Forcing a transfer reduces usage.

But it's not forcing a transfer. Do you really believe tourists taking the train from the airport to a hotel on the beach are going to want to walk far with their luggage? Unless the train station on the beach was at your specific hotel, you'll be wanting to catch a shuttle bus from the station to your hotel anyways. They certainly are not going to place a train station at every hotel on the beach. So they are not forcing an additional transfer for most beach tourists.

[Cirrus]

Originally Posted by electricron

But it's not forcing a transfer. Do you really believe tourists taking the train from the airport to a hotel on the beach are going to want to walk far with their luggage? Unless the train station on the beach was at your specific hotel, you'll be wanting to catch a shuttle bus from the station to your hotel anyways. They certainly are not going to place a train station at every hotel on the beach. So they are not forcing an additional transfer for most beach tourists.

No offense, but this comment makes me think you've never lived in a city with robust transit. This is definitely forcing a transfer.

[miniviews]

Update after a drive on a Sunday afternoon 9/14/2014 in Kapolei/Ewa area.

Columns along Farrington Highway near Hospital and Old Fort Weaver Road:

S0432043 by miniviews, on Flickr

Hoopili rail station spans being erected toward the Diamond Head direction:


S0312031 by miniviews, on Flickr

Waianae bound span erection from Farrington Highway near UH West Oahu entrance:

S0212021 by miniviews, on Flickr

Column to transition from dual track to dual single track near East Kapolei station:

S0072007 by miniviews, on Flickr

Other work based on observation & news reports: Utility relocations on going on Farrington Hwy in Waipahu and Kamehameha Hwy, Kamehameha road widening at several locations, shafts foundation on both West and Eastern ends in Waipahu, and cantilever columns & pier prep work near H1/H2 meager. If on instagram, tags #honolulurail and #hawaiirail.

[N830MH]

Wow! What a great shots! Thanks for sharing!! Keep'em it coming!!!

[OhioGuy]

Nice to see the photo update. Thanks for posting!