09-01-2007, 05:35 AM
Everyone who is giving examples of high speed rail are using areas that have populations that are more than 10x the population of this island. The economics of scale would probably mean that a high speed rail would probably not be feasable until the poopulation of this island approached the population of the communities that everyone is mentioning. Oahu is now looking at rail options. Their population is about 10x our island. Do you want over a million people living on this island? (Hubby also mentioned that the gradient over the Saddle would not be very good for the normal high speed rail systems)
The bus takes 40-45 minutes from Pahoa to the mall...with stops in Hawaiian Beaches....Really not that much slower than driving. Over the last two years they have added buses to the Pahoa route, so there are now 6 RT buses per day, 1st one starting at 6 in the morning into and ending at 10 at night. Almost all routes are now very close to the schedule (there is a midday route that should be tweaked, as it is rarely on time) How do I know? I ride the bus almost everyday. Is it as convienent as driving? NO! But it is not bad. The ride is free, anywhere on island. You can even take your bike ($1). For high speed we do have the option of air travel...
Pam, HOVE has a very limited transit, One bus a day during the week to Hilo - some students & profs use it to get to the University & some people that ride do so for jobs in Hilo, Some HOVE residents also work at the National Park & take the bus. Even with using a mini bus, it is usually not full until the Keaau stop. The students I have talked to say it is not bad, they would like more options...but they also realize that ridership on the one bus would need to increase to justify more.
The bus takes 40-45 minutes from Pahoa to the mall...with stops in Hawaiian Beaches....Really not that much slower than driving. Over the last two years they have added buses to the Pahoa route, so there are now 6 RT buses per day, 1st one starting at 6 in the morning into and ending at 10 at night. Almost all routes are now very close to the schedule (there is a midday route that should be tweaked, as it is rarely on time) How do I know? I ride the bus almost everyday. Is it as convienent as driving? NO! But it is not bad. The ride is free, anywhere on island. You can even take your bike ($1). For high speed we do have the option of air travel...
Pam, HOVE has a very limited transit, One bus a day during the week to Hilo - some students & profs use it to get to the University & some people that ride do so for jobs in Hilo, Some HOVE residents also work at the National Park & take the bus. Even with using a mini bus, it is usually not full until the Keaau stop. The students I have talked to say it is not bad, they would like more options...but they also realize that ridership on the one bus would need to increase to justify more.