09-02-2007, 03:14 PM
As many folks have noted here, the cost is the main obstacle to the Big Island having any kind of rail transit. At the VERY conservative low-end cost for trolley-type light rail of $15 million per mile, it would cost $1.5 billion for a Hilo-Honokaa-Waimea-Wailoloa-Kona line running near Highway 19. A fifteen mile extension into Puna would add $225 million to the cost. In order to get the folks in Mountain View-Volcano-Kau-South Kona on board politically, we would have to extend the thing all the way around the island, doubling the cost while increasing the potential ridership onlly marginally.
This being Hawaii, we can assume the $15 million per mile figure to be wildly optimistic. Nothing other than the fill rock to level the track bed could be produced locally.
I personally am a big fan of rail transit. I lived in Atlanta for nearly 20 years and frequently used MARTA rail. Also, it is true that people who would never get on a bus will ride trains. I had an employee in Atlanta who would ride the train to the end of the line at Indian Creek and then take a $15 taxi the rest of the way home when the bus was a free transfer. I asked why, and he told me he thought it was "low-class" to ride the bus. What a mentality.
The bottom line is the bottom line. Alas, we can't afford rail transit.
Cheerfully hoping for continued improvements in our bus system,
Jerry
This being Hawaii, we can assume the $15 million per mile figure to be wildly optimistic. Nothing other than the fill rock to level the track bed could be produced locally.
I personally am a big fan of rail transit. I lived in Atlanta for nearly 20 years and frequently used MARTA rail. Also, it is true that people who would never get on a bus will ride trains. I had an employee in Atlanta who would ride the train to the end of the line at Indian Creek and then take a $15 taxi the rest of the way home when the bus was a free transfer. I asked why, and he told me he thought it was "low-class" to ride the bus. What a mentality.
The bottom line is the bottom line. Alas, we can't afford rail transit.
Cheerfully hoping for continued improvements in our bus system,
Jerry