In 1976, President Ronald Reagan was quoted saying, that “most cities including those of modest size once had rapid transit, but people abandoned it for their own set of wheels. ...
"The automobile gave people the freedom to choose their own timetable and route of travel on a portal-to-portal basis. They do not intend to give up that freedom and government has no right to take it from them by a program of deliberately planned congestion. ...
“Is Rapid Transit an answer to pollution and congestion or are we being sold a herd of very expensive white elephants?“
Fast forward to December 2006 when the Arizona Department of Transportation
See it here: (www.azdot.gov/TPD/ATRC/publications/project_reports/pdf/az582.pdf )
did specific analysis in Phoenix and provided costs in cents per person-mile as follows:
- High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lane: 1.2 to 2.7
- General purpose lane: 1.9 to 4.2
- HOV and bus lane: 2.6 to 5.7
- Exclusive bus lane: 6.6 to 14.7
- Light rail line: 16.1 to 35.8
Local reality check: The administration of Mayor Mufi Hannemann is planning a heavy rail system at a cost of 720 to 920 cents per person-mile to serve 3.2% of trips on Oahu. Indeed then we are being sold a while elephant.
By City estimates, in 2030 with rail built, not only will congestion be much worse than now, but also all trips between Aiea and UH will be made faster by car than by rail.
Contrast that to properly designed HOT lanes on which express buses, vans and carpools will make Kapolei to Iwilei in about 15 minutes during the rush hour.
Panos D. Prevedouros, PhD a Professor of Transportation Engineering at the University of Hawaii-Manoa; the President of the Hawaii Highway Users Alliance and a Subcommittee Chair, Freeway Operations, National Research Council.
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