Other connotations notwithstanding, Honolulu residents will balk at a steel wheel on steel rail fixed rail mass transit system. Why? Noise. Honolulu’s city council will look at the proposals with an eye toward politics, not costs, so expect additional consideration for rubber a rubber tire on concrete system.
Why steel? Lower costs and supposedly more mature technology. The subway system in Sapporo, Japan uses rubber tires and has been in use for over 30 years, so it’s not exactly ancient technology. It sure is quiet.
Lower costs? Perhaps, but does it matter since the costs will go well beyond what Honolulu can afford to pay? Just a few years ago the estimate was for a fixed rail system to cost the city about $2-billion. Now it’s $3.6-billion, and that’s in 2006 dollars. What will the price tag be in the next couple of years when the city begins paying up?
Honolulu has a massive traffic problem. To solve it, through the years we’ve developed solutions– an intricate bus system, staggered work hours, bike paths, boats, express lanes, high gasoline prices, high taxes, employer paid bus passes, none of which have helped to curb an enormous appetite for purchasing cars and trucks for personal transportation.
Will a West Oahu to Ala Moana Center fixed rail system curb such an appetite?
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