Honolulu, Aloha Rapid Transit: Episode 16

Introducing the US's latest, greatest, delayed, and cost-overrun rapid transit project: Honolulu Area Rapid Transit. Oahu has been attempting to build a metro for many decades (since the Great Society programs of the 1960s), but the island was not able to assemble, fund, and break ground on a project until 2011. We introduce the history and geography of Oahu, talk about the success of Mayor Fasi's bus system, and tour the past, present, and future of the HART project. The first phase of Honolulu's much-needed metro system is right around the corner!

Links and stuffs

Merch: https://shop.trlpod.com/
Twitter: @TheRedLine_pod
YouTube channel: The Red Line Podcast
Spotify: The Red Line Podcast
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theredlinepodcasters
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.trlpod.com/

Timestamps

00:00 Intro
00:24 Theme song (no news today)
00:56 A big project for Honolulu's size
02:41 Oahu's geography ^[7]
04:21 History of public transit in Honolulu ^[5]
- 07:40 Mayor Fasi
- 09:54 TheBus
- 10:37 Success & ridership
12:11 No space to expand H1
12:29 How HART got its start
- 12:55 High-capacity transit attempted since early on
- 13:45 Reagan
- 14:48 Cheese
- 15:57 Light rail not suited
- 16:33 Fasi returns
- 17:44 The HART project of today
- 18:29 EIS purgatory
- 20:24 2008 recession
21:49 The project finally starts
- 23:18 Fully elevated
- 24:40 Tourism & surfboard racks
- 25:31 Light metro features
- 27:10 Ridership
28:14 Cost overruns, delays, et cetera
- 28:33 Cost overruns
- 28:46 Huge delays
- 29:45 The American cost snake
- 31:48 Initial cost estimate
- 33:01 Protected wilderness
- 33:43 Human remains
- 39:12 Usual NIMBY nonsense
- 39:45 Cost of total elevation
41:59 Moral of the story
43:00 Outro

References & notes

[1] Wikipedia: Honolulu Rail Transit § Previous projects
[2] Hawai'i Real Estate and Living: Honolulu Rail Transit Status
[3] Wikipedia: Honolulu
[4] Hawaii Business Magazine: How Rail Got to $12.45 Billion and 11 Years Late
[5] Wikipedia: TheBus (Honolulu)
[6] Honolulu Rail Transit: International lessons from Barcelona in linking urban form, design, and transportation
[7] There are other freeways on Oahu, but H1 is the principal freeway, covering the main urbanized area. H2 and H3 connect through the mountains to outlying suburbs.