Hawaii's $10BN Railway Nightmare Explained

[@GeliCarlosJ]

The US and its seeming ineptitude in building any form of rail network is mighty impressive

[@MelGibsonFan]

You say ineptitude but in truth it’s corruption austerity. Look at Brightline, HSR can definitely be built, but apparently only in service of the private sector.

[@PersonManManManMan]

Yeah, they really are best in class for this

[@captain_noodles]

​@@MelGibsonFanbrightline is basically a public private partnership that leans towards the private side. i would recommend the wendover video if you are interested

[@alexanderkwan7250]

Eh, it's not just the US; it's a North American thing. We have similar issues regarding time and cost overruns here in Canada as well.

[@mats7492]

Its the car and fossil-fuel lobby throwing monkey wrenches into the gears wherever they can

[@Croz89]

HART is interesting because you see an elevated rapid transit line going over farmland and low density development, and it was the section that was built first instead of airport to downtown which would have made more sense. Makes you wonder if there are big development plans for much of the land west of Honolulu.

[@JeffreyBue_imtxsmoke]

Totally agree... I never understood why they did it like that. I suppose it was easier to construct near Waipahu.

[@PvtDonutDJ88]

Yea I remember when they started the project. I thought why are they starting out here? Airport to downtown was needed way more.

[@thastayapongsak4422]

It isn't that weird. In most of rail history, the rail comes before the city.

[@bahnspotterEU]

@@thastayapongsak4422 That heavily depends on the continent.

[@arturturkevych3816]

​@@thastayapongsak4422 maybe in the US, but not in Europe

[@Arkelk2010]

Quick correction. Honolulu and the rail project are on the island of Oahu. The Big Island is the island of Hawai'i, the literally big island at the southeast end of the Hawaiian chain. Oahu is roughly in the middle of the main islands. In discussions before the design was finalized, at least as presented to the public, were the effects of earthquakes and tsunamis. I believe those helped push the system to be above ground. That and the cost.

[@phugemawl]

I noticed that too, and having been on the Big Island it's obvious how they named it .... I drove around the circumference of Oahu in about two and a half hours, but it took all day to drive right around Hawaii ... I.E. Kona to Kona.

[@IBPROPN15]

On the tsunami part, it's amazing that the tsunami emergency center is in Ewa, on flat land, and ready to be the first in the water if a tsunami was to happen.

[@PInk77W1]

A metro train from Honolulu to the big island would be sweet

[@phugemawl]

@@PInk77W1 I'll take the 737 thanks !

[@PInk77W1]

@@phugemawl yeap

[@TheRailwayDrone]

This passenger railway system will be just like all others around the world: hated during construction, loved during revenue service. Yes. It IS worth it.

[@Mike__B]

And then viciously attacked when they find out fares have dropped due to lack of ridership because "things"

[@TheRailwayDrone]

@@Mike__B ...and then rebound once people realize how much easier it is to get around on public transit as opposed to spending hours sitting in traffic.

[@scottie89901]

I'm not sure that the average us rail service would be described as "loved" by the general public.

[@Hardspace1979]

@@scottie89901because they are shite.

[@stickynorth]

Generally speaking yes. But how many automated metro's does the USA have now? Like none besides this... And it's Hawaii. Not exactly representative of mainlander US values or thinking...@@Hardspace1979

[@mentonerodominicano]

It's driverless and it runs until 7pm??? C'mon man. 😂 I hope all the issues get resolved and the rest of the segments continue to open and expand.

[@_Pixie_10]

driverless does not mean monitorless. There are people watching through cameras every second of it's operation just incase there is an emergency.

[@yo.adrian]

I believe they close it early due to "safety and security concerns". I'm sure as the rail line is extended beyond the Stadium, the hours will extend.

[@safuu202]

They’re planning to eventually extend operation hours to 10PM or Midnight as they gauge ridership. Definitely by the time, Phase 2 of the project opens in Summer 2025.

[@Ruzzky_Bly4t]

@@_Pixie_10 The point is, if trains can operate until late at night with a driver, why can't they do the same without one? Although they can, this project is just weird.

[@B_y1n]

Second phase opening that runs by the airport will have times extended to 12am

[@skiphouston7392]

In Perth, Australia there is an elevated rail project that has just started. Not as long as the one in Honolulu, but it does involve ripping up the entire track that is there now, removing all the level crossings and building the elevated section. This at the same time as the same line is also being extended at its southern end, a whole new 20km train line being built out to the north eastern suburbs down the middle of a freeway (including the freeway carriageways being shifted and widened themselves and new river bridges), extension of the line to the north western coastal suburbs also being extended by about 17kms, and the extension of the an existing line in the southern suburbs by about 15kms to connect it to the line that runs to the south of the city to create the first leg of a circular route the suburbs.

[@TheBooban]

Seems wrong to rip up tracks already there that they could use. Later the elevated ones will cost so much, they’ll regret it.

[@ianhomerpura8937]

@@TheBooban Tokyo is actually doing the same nowadays. Removing all at-grade crossings is very beneficial, because not only it can make train journeys faster, it will also lead to fewer incidents especially involving idiot drivers in rail crossings. It's a win-win situation.

[@illiiilli24601]

@@TheBooban it was necessary, because the planned future frequencies along the Perth to Thornlie corridor (the bit that is being elevated) will be great enough that the boom gates would be down more often than not if they weren't elevated. I'm expecting at least 4 minute peak headways, 7.5 minute off peak headways once the Thornlie Cockburn link is finished, with potential for shorter headways in the future

[@jayfielding1333]

@@TheBooban By that logic we'd never have any subways anywhere.

[@drunkdunc8738]

I spent half my life waiting for the boom gates to open getting from Belmont to Vic Park , bring it on👍🍻

[@TheLiamster]

I really hope there will be transit oriented developments around the stations. It’s so weird seeing trains run through rural areas and they should be much denser

[@GeoMeridium]

Yeah. The entire reason they built the line was to encourage transit-oriented development in areas that had room for new construction, since Honolulu has very expensive housing prices (comparable to San Diego, but with lower incomes). It was good project on paper, but I think the extremely long return time on investment is going to sour on taxpayers, and I'm skeptical of the $500m/mile construction costs.

[@iancypes5911]

The 7 in New York was built in the same way across the farmlands of Queens

[@Downtown.Don90]

I'd bet some with insider knowledge bought land around the proposed stations under a maze of holding companies, for the potential of future development.

[@stickynorth]

100% this sadly happens with every land development. The only real way to prevent it for the transit authority to pretty much buy out the TOD site (400m radius of a station) buiid temporary surface lots than auction off land later to private developers... Or you know, work with existing land-owners to improve their land. Both have been used before but as long as affordable housing and bustling town centres get build I'm all for it...@@Downtown.Don90

[@ianhomerpura8937]

@@Downtown.Don90 HART should have bought the lands around the new stations as well, then proceed to develop those lands or rent them. This is what a lot of transit agencies have been doing, i.e. Singapore MRT, JR East, Hong Kong MTR.

[@reubensandwich9249]

One correction, at 3:40. The adhesive is epoxy which does some properties except isn't the primary means. There's post tensioning steel cables and rods that keep them together and transfer the loading to the piers. If it were solely epoxy, it'd fall down.

[@paulmullins1589]

Another cracking Fred, really enjoy them. A little addition to that as well at about the same time. It's an underslung launching gantry rather than what was said in the video. The rods mentioned above would only be in the temporary case and usually only required for balanced cantilever construction. However, the post-tensioning is a must. The epoxy glue mentioned is only required for internally post-tensioned box girders. Option also exists for external post-tensioning (inside the void) which doesn't require glued joints.

[@ZetaPyro]

Thank you, I was really wondering about that. That was reminding me of the concrete panel that fell out of the Big Dig tunnel and killed one person due to a failed epoxy bond.

[@reubensandwich9249]

@@ZetaPyro If you want to read more, one of the several types used is Pilgrim CBC-6. It does bond except before the form travelers move, the segments are PTed with the rods or wire.

[@georgeowen2553]

I'm glad they decided to do the outer section first. It means that it HAS to go to downtown Honolulu. Unlike HS2 which began in London and is now cancelled two stops down the line...

[@ianhomerpura8937]

iirc the Northern Line started also as a new line built in the 1930s in the middle of nowhere, then entire communities were built around the new railway stations.

[@gsn794]

they could have started it at the Rail Operations Center and Maintenance and Storage Facility next door to LCC and been six miles closer to the Ala Moana terminus

[@georgemann3369]

An important thing to note is that while the "current" plan includes 19 stations, the original plan (and the one people voted for) included all 21 stations noted in the video over a 20 mile length connecting the suburbs of Oahu to the largest mall on the island (Ala Moana), which is also the central node for a majority of bus routes on the island. That, along with a ~$200 million parking structure and transit center at the Waiawa Station meant to service commuters from central Oahu were scrapped from the original plan in order to keep FTA funding. As a regular transit commuter on the island I can confirm a *lot* of people either hate the project or don't like it simply because they don't see how it'll benefit them, despite the fact that it's their taxpayer dollars funding it. Yes, over 9,000 people rode it on the first day and ~72,000 on the opening weekend (all transit was free that weekend), but I heard a lot of people saying that they wouldn't ride it again (currenly ~2,000-3,000 riders a day). A problem right now is that despite (I think) having the highest bus ridership per capita in the country, our state as a whole is enveloped in a car dependent culture and many people think that transit is safe, dirty, unreliable, etc, so they will drive even if it might take significantly longer or the same amount of time to drive the same distance. HART is currently operating on a "build it and they will come" methodology and isn't really "selling" the idea of transit to people. Seeing ridership and public perception as a resident and commuter I don't truly believe they will hit their (currently) ~80,000 passenger goal in the time frame that they state unless they actively incentivise people to try it out like they did the first weekend, although I hope this turns out to be wrong. The other overarching issue is while it was voted for in the ballots, it was *extremely* close, winning by only a few percentage points. A large vocal group of people which include but are not limited to Native Hawaiians oppose the Honolulu Skyline Rail for the similar reasons that they opposed the construction of the interstate H-3, which was that they don't feel like they had a say in the matter and that it should have never been built regardless of whether it was on time or on budget (i.e, the numerous archeological lawsuits and Stop Rail Now initiative). I honestly hope it succeeds. To their credit, the new HART administration is being more transparent and much better at fixing the mess that the previous HART board gave them. I genuinely hope that more people ride it and learn to not drive everywhere, but (as is with every other case of transit in the US) it's going to take a major culture shift.

[@ElseAndrecool]

I love taking TheBus and Skyline. Even though I have access to a car I choose to take public transportation almost everywhere I go. It's only $40 USD a month for both bus and rail which I feel is a pretty good deal

[@Devildanncer]

agreed would like to be less car heavy community. but rail avoids major school areas of Oahu, and it seems to run from airport to not far from the Disney resort.. Plus the destruction of countless local business during construction and gentrification of areas with rail access. Which kinda displaces locals from the areas. If you think about it the way they planned it out and executed it kind of defeats the purpose of serving the community....

[@georgemann3369]

@@Devildanncer I disagree actually, because (besides the Pearl Highlands station which is truly a disservice to its community in its current state) ultimately Skyline is meant to supplement the already existing and pretty decent neighbourhood service that TheBus provides and funnel those riders to major destinations such as Pearlridge, the Airport, LCC and eventually Ala Moana. The main point they seem to be pushing is that it's better for the commuter than spending an hour and a half during pau hana hour driving home. Almost all schools have existing bus service either directly from neighbourhoods or from a transit center, bypassing the need for rail service to really begin with (although I have seen news articles highlighting schools that desperately need better service). As for the gentrification of areas with rail access, I highly doubt that'll actually happen because the state is either directly buying land (as is the case in Iwilei) for low income TOD or is working with Kamehameha Schools in the case of Waipahu to replace the current Times Supermarket with low income TOD as well. Considering the fact that people have rights and the state can't simply eminent domain their way into the "ideal" Skyline metro, I think they did a decent job of balancing speed and convenience. If they added too many stations, it would run too slow and you'd be better off driving or taking the express buses to get into town. In most cases (best exemplified by the Waipahu Transit Station), they put rail stations at points where multiple local and main bus routes converged making transferring to the Skyline no inconvenience for people who already rode the bus. Middle Street might seem like a senseless place to end phase 2 for the uneducated resident, but it will actually make the Skyline a "train to somewhere" rather than a "train to nowhere" as it is right now because Kalihi Transit Center is probably the only place capable of giving the Skyline an actually good bus connection to town. Now as for all the local businesses hurt during construction, I could probably cite some "forecasted economic benefit" projection made by the state but that would be seeing the forest but missing the trees. I get take out at Bob's sometimes and it will suck when they move out of their location that they've been at for so long. In the interim though, the state is providing financial relief for businesses affected in the region. HART has also been actually listening to people. Once every few fridays the Rick Hamada show hosts Lori Kahikina (HART's CEO) and another guest where people can phone in and ask questions or voice concerns and small things. The blue signs along dillingham or even small changes in the coning have come from people phoning in on during that show. Obviously the bigger problem is the fact that the Dillingham construction makes it a very unpleasant place to drive through, and although many people don't want it there for those reasons, what's to say the same wouldn't have happened if the rail went through King Street or Nimitz? It has to get to town somehow and by God's grace I don't think I'd trust the state to dig a tunnel without causing some major issues that would be bigger than the traffic nightmare during construction that we have to face now. Conclusion? Growth involves some pain, in this case a lot of pain for a *lot* of people. Will it be worth it? I hope so. Only time will tell.

[@ianhomerpura8937]

@@Devildanncer if I remember correctly Skyline will also be built all the way to UH Manoa. Currently the open section is already servicing UH West Oahu and LCC.

[@mbarrett99]

H3 took several decades to complete, it’s no surprise that rail will take longer, too imo.

[@Red_Ryan_Red]

I joined a zoom call with the construction contractors and asked them why they did not build the airport segment first. They told me because they needed access to the maintenance building and storage yard and that was the priority, which is why they built the far west segment first.

[@noodengr3three825]

Istanbul built an entirely new airport but did not build a subway line to it that connects to the center of the biggest city in Europe. Idiocracy knows no bounds

[@Branch7ShuZhi]

The maintenance building and stabling yard are together called train depot. Depot is complex and needs to be constructed first, as viaduct, rail track and stations can be proceeded concurrently and easier.

[@gsn794]

The maintenance and storage facility, as well as the rail operations center, are located on 43 acres adjacent to Leeward Community College in Pearl City. That’s six miles east of the end of the line in Kapolei. That contract was awarded in 2010. Why didn’t they start building from there? “Mayor Mufi Hannemann announced today the contract to design and build the Maintenance and Storage Facility (MSF) for the Honolulu Rail Transit Project has been awarded to a joint venture of Kiewit/Kobayashi. “I congratulate the winning team. Their proposal was scored highest by the selection committee and offers the best value to taxpayers,” said Mayor Hannemann. The MSF contract award is approximately $195 million. This is about $60 million less than budgeted for the MSF.” honolulu dot gov 6/24/2010 BTW, after all the change orders were added in, the final cost was $281.8 million. The real reason they started it out in the middle of nowhere? “Mayor Carlisle, now a lame duck, says he will ‘do everything [he] can to get rail far enough along so that it cannot possibly be stopped,’” thetransportpolitic 8/18/2012

[@philipthecow]

So they're using the rail line to help build the rail line?

[@gsn794]

they could have started construction at the Rail Operations Center and Maintenance and Storage Facility next door to LCC and been six miles closer to the Ala Moana terminus

[@PeterTeehan]

Fun fact: My father worked for Mayor Frank Fasi as the Press Secretary for Honolulu one key agenda for Fasi was to get a rail project going in the late 60's. My father spearheaded that project received most of the funding via government grants. Well at that time it needed one more hurdle to begin construction. The head of department of transportation at that time was Ben Cayetano. His vote derailed the project stating that the current transportation in place was efficient.

[@aerojcordero]

Could have had a decent rail system...sigh oh wells

[@ichigokurosaki2725]

Frank Fasi limo is the greatest thing in Hawaii. Today it is called it The Bus.

[@jimcabezola3051]

And...Ben Cayetano became governor. It should've been Fasi instead. We'd have had this thing in place for decades instead of since last June 30th. The Fasi years were great.

[@Truckngirl]

The esteemed city council also voted in down in the mid 90s. It could have been built in 20th century dollars instead of our current ripoff. RIP Mayor Fasi!

[@T_bone]

Psshhhh this PoS was made so they could shut the unions up with a new bottomless pit construction project like H3. You know how you eliminate traffic? Letting people work from home and commute and staggered times for businesses that don't require in person customer service. The Zip line was decent but down town the design of the roads from the 1960s failed to project future population and car use. That area is so congested due to inadequate on and off ramp design. And from what I understand there are no bathrooms in the stations. Almost 20 years and it still isn't done and people's property was taken using "imminent domain" in a place where property is scarce.

[@acchaladka]

Now do a contrasting one on the Montreal REM system, finishing construction a little cheaper and faster than we expected....

[@PersonManManManMan]

Good idea

[@robhersey1796]

Really? I live in Kirkland and have been staring at that stupid thing out my window for the last 6 years and still don't see a train running. I admit that I am not informed on the timeline and costs but it seems that there have been a few setbacks like the tunnel explosion a couple of years back in TMR, and two years ago I remember them hammering in hundreds of piers into the ground long after things had been built ( probably to stabilize the soil). That area was practically a swamp before.

[@neil.heffernan]

​@@robhersey1796The section between Brossard and Gare Centrale is open now but the other sections aren't finished yet

[@mikej.7723]

Been eager to ride the REM from Dix-trent to downtown. Want to sit in front being it fully automated.

[@asantaraliner]

Or maybe the also completed Greater Jakarta LRT in September 2023.

[@SandBoxJohn]

The elevated precast segments are not "bonded with cement", grout is placed between the segments followed by the tensioning of wires that make the segments into a monolithic elevated spans.

[@TheB1M]

ALOHA 👋

[@BurntWifi]

Bom dia

[@ichigokurosaki2725]

Howzit bradah how you stay?

[@B_y1n]

Mahalo for the video. 🤙

[@mkhanman12345]

@@B_y1nanytime

[@dougherty2978]

Aloha! Very intriguing piece of work!

[@ibiuld443]

i live here, developing a rail system is really critical for improving housing supply and traffic. i'm glad we're working on it. it's just crazy how long it's taking i don't think we should stop, but we definitely need more energy to go into cost and time management

[@krane15]

Compared to the rest of the world.

[@VoltedSoldier]

Shows how ignorant you and many of the population are. They already said it will relieve LESS THAN 1% OF TRAFFIC. Do you not understand that?

[@Brightearthco]

@birthoftheubermensch1285that’s the issue, there are like 100 people who don’t want it, and they have been punching it back making it cost more then using it as a reason for it

[@jl-io3vw]

$10b wasted so far., double the budget and hardly anyone riding it.. 3200 a day? Now divide that by $10b spend so far, not including maintenance.. Its pretty idiotic. $10b would go a long way to fix infrastructure. But keep wishing ..

[@ibiuld443]

@@jl-io3vw i don't see how it makes sense to consider ridership numbers of an early-service, incomplete line as the total sum of its value. it doesn't go into the city center yet and not many people both live and work along the current route. of course there is no wonder there is not a high ridership right now. that will change as the line extends to workplaces in the city airport route opens next year. it's not far off, let's see what kind of change that brings so we can get a gauge of how things are going to improve as construction continues towards ala moana 10 billion is the total allocated cost to complete the line, not the amount spent already. yes, we could have put the money into other things. what would we have then? more buses replaced, more roads repaved, etc... after everything we would have spent the 10 billion and still need a train. and we would also miss out on the economic benefits that rail corridors inherently bring. this is worth the price tag because it is a tangible, game-changing, and permanent improvement to the city. buses will always need replaced. roads will always need repaved. now and continuing into the future, more billions will be allocated to these projects and they will still get done. but taking a city from not having a train to having one is a massive step forward. would it be better if it wasn't so expensive? obviously. we all want that. and we do need to hold our leaders accountable to execute this project more effectively moving into the future. having said that, it is absolutely untrue to call it a waste

[@tglascoe1]

Wow. I noticed the project when on my honeymoon in 2012. Glad to see it finally partially opened.

[@velisvideos6208]

Congratulations, your marriage has held firm all these years!

[@WarudorViperslayer]

I really hope the US can get on board with affordable and effective mass transit!

[@adamcheklat7387]

Why not all of North America?

[@JeffWallick]

I live in Chicago and we have great public transit here. Visited NYC and Boston last year and the same is true there. The simple truth is that across longer distances, we just don't need it. Case in point: I needed to fly to Jacksonville last weekend. I took the bus to the train, train to the airport, flew to Jacksonville in a total of around 4 hours total.

[@UnexpectedPlay]

@@adamcheklat7387 because the video was about the United States. Of course we all want good mass transit across all of North America (it would be like me replying to your comment saying "why not all over the world?")

[@-Katastrophe]

@@UnexpectedPlay Specifically Hawaii, but.

[@UnexpectedPlay]

@@-Katastrophe Yeah saying Hawaii would have made more sense but the comment was talking about the United States generally which is why I said "United States" instead of just Hawaii.

[@dwhit1979]

Hi Fred, this project shares a lot in common with the Montreal REM project, except for the snow. A video on the REM would be interesting. Great videos.

[@healingwolf]

The part from the airport to Waikiki is going to be key. But everything is Hawaii takes forever. It’s called Hawaiian time there.

[@safuu202]

The Waikiki extension might not come until closer to 2040 at the earliest 😂

[@georgemann3369]

@@safuu202 Ala Moana is not gonna be finished until 2040 lmao

[@gsn794]

It’s not going to Waikiki, just Ala Moana. Remember that you can’t take luggage on our bus system, so you’ll have to catch a cab, uber, etc from the station to get to your hotel. Rail to “civic center,” the currently planned eastern terminus will be completed in 2031 for $9.93 billion, but their “planning” is done at P65, or 65% probability. The final 1.2 miles to the original eastern terminus of Ala Moana will cost another $1.37 billion ($11.3 billion total) but there’s no timetable because there’s no funding. Once they reach Ala Moana, they may have to change transit technology to go further because city council approved development projects in the Ala Moana that will block the train from going any further. “the rail agency is now warning officials that the train won't be able to fit through that corridor. ‘There's been recent developments, real estate developments in the Ala Moana area, which essentially block any future extension of the route,’ Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation Executive Director and CEO Andrew Robbins said.” hawaiinewsnow 11/18/2017 “We have to get to UH; it might not be the same technology, maybe there might be better integration,” said HART’s CEO, Lori Kahikina.” hawaiinewsnow 11/29/23

[@gsn794]

“civic center” will be completed in 2031, 1.2 miles and two stations short of the original 20.1 mile, 21 station line that was supposed to be in full revenue operations by 1/31/2020 at a total cost of $5,121,693,163. Current estimate is $9.93 billion for the shortened route, $11.3 billion if they are able to get it to Ala Moana, per rail’s 2022 “recovery” plan. Currently there are no plans to go into Waikiki.

[@yo.adrian]

As someone who lives near a rail station, I rode the Skyline a couple of times since it's opening. I don't want to dox myself, so I'll say the walk to a station is long. In it's currently state, I'll only use it when the places I'll go to is with on a 15 minute walk because of the hawaiian sun. When the airport station opens, I might take it there, but only to go to some businesses around that area, as parking around there gets busy. I might bring my luggage on the Skyline, if I was travelling light. The construction traffic while the Skyline was being built was really bad, and many businesses closed down, and more will close in favor for transit-oriented housing along the rail line. But at least after decades of talk, a rail system is finally here in Hawaii.

[@B_y1n]

It's a ten minute walk to the nearest station but I bought a bike and it took me less than 4 min. I ride the skyline for work 5 days a week.

[@jeffchen6517]

this is the problem with many rail systems in the US. current infrastructure is built around ppl having cars. rail systems are built around current infrastructure. this means rail stations are usually in inconvenient places that you'd probably have to drive to. the second problem with that is once you leave a station you have another long walk ahead of you to get to where you want to go. most ppl then end up feeling like its not worth it and those rail systems end up being failures. lets hope this one doesn't fail.

[@illiiilli24601]

​@@B_y1nare there good places to park (your bike) near your station?

[@B_y1n]

@@illiiilli24601 There are bike racks BUT, you better have a good lock. Thick U steel locks. Two would be good. It takes a grinder to break it.

[@B_y1n]

@@illiiilli24601 Also, you can take your bike with you inside the skyline. The skyline has bike racks in the middle carriage. The edge of the stairs stations have bike wheel channels to push your bike up or down the stairs.

[@BruceMusto]

I spent a good portion of my life in Hawaii. From 1980 until 1999 I was there. My daughter was born there. When I left, Hawaii was a place that wouldn't allow billboards or business signs over a certain size because they felt it detracted from the natural beauty of the place. My wife and I took vacation to Oahu and Kauai back in 2021. Imagine my surprise when driving to Pearl and I see this huge concrete monstrosity running down the center of the highway going past Pearl. Wow, never in a million years would I have thought they would build something like that. It's ugly, but I love Hawaii and I sincerely hope it works out for the people like they hope it will.

[@OrigEntertainmentOfficial]

This needs to extend all the way to University of Hawaii in Manoa. The University is a huge reason for traffic. When school is not session it is noticeably less traffic. It also needs to go all the way to Makaha. People on that side need public transportation the most and they get trapped with only 1 ingress/egress of 4 lanes of traffic lights at rush hour. The rail was basically built to "create" jobs but a lot of those jobs and money went out of state bringing in contractors not from here. Plus it needs to run 24 hours.

[@gsn794]

don’t hold your breath. UH Manoa was a very short lived smoke screen. UH was never a real consideration. “The plan also includes $2.7 billion for mass-transit projects, including $2.5 billion for a fixed-rail system between Kapolei and Manoa.” Star Bulletin 2/19/2006 “Although the vision of rail that captured the public’s imagination was a 28-mile line running from Kapolei to the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, it turns out that the city can only afford to build a smaller section of that line, 20 miles long. Adding enough rail to reach UH Manoa and Waikiki would cost another $1 billion. The City expects a 20-mile transit line to cost $3.6 billion.” honolulumagazine 3/1/2007

[@OrigEntertainmentOfficial]

@@gsn794 Bummer... a rail that ends up where only a few people are going. It's like that episode on the Simpsons where the town gets duped by the flashy salesman into getting the monorail. Then we get stuck with higher property taxes.

[@isaiah_hi93]

Here in the US we’ve always had the propensity to do impressive things, our utter inability to build useful rail transit, save for a few small networks, is really quite - impressive

[@davidjackson7281]

Thank god for Brightline and now Brightline West. Some victories. Other city pairs may follow. The 2030s look promising.

[@gosnooky]

I think an old Churchill quote regarding US foreign policy can be applied to our utter lack of competent public transit: "Americans can always be trusted to do the right thing, once all other possibilities have been exhausted."

[@davidjackson7281]

@@gosnookylt's too bad England does not have anyone even close to resembling the talent that Churchill had. Perhaps then Britain would be more relevant on the world stage. A 21st century monarchy is a sad and wasteful joke.

[@AL-lh2ht]

@@gosnooky Churchill was just mad the US was not obaying his every whim

[@kevind814]

Are there any megaprojects you are aware of that came in at or under budget?

[@thomasdickson3622]

Skytrain Millennium Line in Vancouver might be one, or the Millau Viaduct, and even Heathrow Terminal 5 or Sound Transit University Link. It's possible to do it, you just need to have known conditions, few surprises, and honest bidding. Many megaprojects come in over budget because an honest assessment of the cost would result in them not being built at all.

[@Brightearthco]

As someone who lives in Hawaii, this is a MAJOR NEED, its been constantly pushed back by people in Hawaii, which has increased the price, only to get more pushback. But once it’s done people will forget the muck up that has happened while making it

[@theultimatereductionist7592]

Exactly

[@d.b.cooper1]

But but the yanks who visited once on vacation are in the comments saying it's a waste of taxpayer money!!

[@CraigFThompson]

​@@d.b.cooper1Let them say it all they want; they don't see the amount of money they waste in traffic jams.

[@Soufriere84]

@@d.b.cooper1 Those tourists clearly never drove the H1 at rush our like my family did. It was brutal 20 years ago and today it's even worse.

[@ClementWilliamstheoneandonly]

Hilariously, HART's taken so long to build that the the headline destination of the first segment, Aloha Stadium, is now closed to the public pending redevelopment (yes i know the swap meet still happens ok) 😆😭

[@Tyso808]

Funny how Oahu Railway managed to build tracks from Honolulu to Kahuku in less than a decade along with building an 11 mile line from Waipahu to Wahiawa area back then. Rail broke ground in 2011 and they only came up with 15 miles right now.

[@hebneh]

Not "funny" at all...the OR&L tracks were all at-grade (on the ground) and did not require any archaeological surveys to be done, since this all happened in the 1880s and 1890s. If any buried human bones were found then, they just got reburied or tossed aside. Since the OR&L did not run in what was then urban Honolulu, there was virtually nothing in the way that had to be demolished or moved, including infrastructure like wiring and underground water and sewage pipes - unlike the complexity currently being coped with on Dillingham Boulevard.

[@h.mandelene3279]

When it is funded with personal money, you get doo doo done. When Gov, u spend $500K and 18months to find out if a snail that lives there is affected.

[@jonesyokc]

I was in Honolulu a couple of years ago and saw this project under construction. It is desperately needed. The traffic is terrible. It would be great to take the train from the airport to downtown.

[@gsn794]

According to their own environmental impact statement, table 3-12, the rail will decrease traffic by 1.7% after the full route has been in operation for 10 years. However, their daily ridership estimate has dropped from ~118k to ~84k due to the shortened route, so that figure will undoubtedly be less.

[@tomp8871]

I'm from Boston, which is like the furthest you can be from Hawaii, but this is how we connect. Have you ever heard of the Big Dig? HUGE project in Boston years ago (look it up). Costs skyrocketed, problem after problem and were many years late, so I can relate. It took them so long, what they tried to do was obsolete, but they spent 14 B on a 4 B dollar project and still have backed up traffic. So I can relate Hawaii

[@craiglarge5925]

Both places run and controlled by jackasses!

[@CraigFThompson]

And what's worse, only people with motor vehicles can use the "big dig"!

[@gsn794]

our rail’s first full time CEO was former MBTA GM dan (grabby) grabauskas, who was forced to resign after some sort of dispute there. Coincidentally, he was forced to resign from the rail “authority” here too. Not an enviable track record.

[@tomp8871]

@@CraigFThompson OK, I won't get, nevermind, it WAS for traffic....now I will be quiet.

[@tomp8871]

@@gsn794 no, great record...thats how things work. Our mayor became a secratery at DC, then quit and became commish of hockey...he sucked as a mayor. Point?

[@mats7492]

Strange how public transport always takes forever but new roads get contructed asap.. Car lobby is the answer!

[@rockstc955]

and oil lobby! basically that bribery is legally allowed, is the real problem. i shouldnt have had to come this far down in the comments to find this.

[@Knight_Kin]

Ehh that's debatable, look at the highway projects that have been stalled for decades in parts of the South. It's all about priority.

[@mats7492]

@@Knight_Kin Well, whats for sure is that the oil nad car loby does everything to prvent public transport projects to proceed

[@gregblanton9386]

Cars is public transportation😉

[@Neuzahnstein]

Experience, Road Construction happens every day, the last large railway constructions are decads ago in the us.

[@Visualhead_Spacer]

trains are totally worth it once its finished. The problem lies in contractors, weather and among other things but patience is key. If you've been to Singapre, Japan, Germany or any countries where public commute is king, its a life changing experience. Less burden than owning a car.

[@danshearer7627]

Drove past the non-operational portion while in Honolulu this last December. That's a lot of $$ for a train that isn't running. The residents we were talking with were making jokes about the train that isn't there all the time.

[@videowilliams]

If it's like most urban rail systems, it will gradually cause growth around its stations, fill with passengers and end up justifying its own existence years and decades down the track. And all the pain of its construction will become a historic footnote. But this does sound like a particularly tortured start.

[@tylerkriesel8590]

Only problem is Hawaii is LOSING population. So I don’t know where that “growth” will come from.

[@videowilliams]

I wonder where they're losing it to,@@tylerkriesel8590? It certainly looks more built up than it used to be. In any case I should have said a railway station encourages densification, shops, medium-rise apartments around itself, and this is a good thing. I'm no fan of population growth per se.

[@davidjackson7281]

@@tylerkriesel8590Exactly. Unless much more tourism is successfully promoted and child bearing women are incentivized to have more babies and people live longer and industry encourages more immigration legal or not.

[@K.O.808]

@@davidjackson7281Hawai’i’s population loss is more due to high cost of living forcing existing residents to leave the state so if they don’t stabilize the housing situation first people will keep leaving.

[@davidjackson7281]

@@K.O.808Perhaps if Hawaii had more industry people could then afford the cost of living in paradise.

[@YetAnotherGeorgeth]

UK 🤝 USA Big infrastructure projects over budget and over schedule

[@chat4783]

Also the US and the UK : Build Road on time and on schedule with not complain.

[@MaxxMcGeePrivate]

I think building rail is almost never a mistake.

[@TheRealDrJoey]

I guess you aren't aware of the "Train to Nowhere they're building in CA. Total boondoggle.

[@ronaldyoung7705]

its only good when its built on time and in budget, this is none of those things, it cost 100% more in price and time taken to build it

[@illiiilli24601]

​​@@TheRealDrJoeythere may or may not be a train to nowhere under construction in CA, but California HSR is not a train to nowhere.

[@illiiilli24601]

If there's no TOD (old or new), which is often the case, then it's a mistake.

[@TheRealDrJoey]

@@illiiilli24601 HSR is EXACTLY what I'm talking about. It is ludicrous.

[@giraffestreet]

2:16 Remind me of Jabodebek LRT, 40 km long route, 18 stations, 50km average speed, fully elevated rail, and fully autonomous. It was finished few months ago, though it's been very finicky and malfunctioning every other day.

[@videowilliams]

You made me look that up and yes, it does look similar! I hope the bugs get ironed out, I'm sure Jakarta could really use it.

[@ianhomerpura8937]

I really did not get why Tanggerang opted out of the LRT project.

[@xxwookey]

Why would an autonomous system stop running at 7pm? Surely a big advantage of it being driverless is that the cost of running it longer is small?

[@Acehitman369]

It should be 24/7

[@hebneh]

It currently shuts down at 7 pm because this first section is in the least populated part of the route.

[@xxwookey]

@@hebneh OK, but whoever does live there might still like to be able to get home in the evening.

[@rrchapman]

@@xxwookey They can. The 2, 2L, and Ewa Beach Country Express bus lines.

[@gsn794]

automated, not autonomous. There are six people monitoring the trains from the operations center at all times, ready to intervene if there are problems. The main advantage of an automated system is a slightly smaller payroll, especially now with only five trains running.

[@yoj7590]

Can you please do a video on the NSCR project in the Philippines. I'm really curious about your insights on that.

[@deidaranohits]

Correction: (1:24) "Throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s, the STATE . . . ." However, Hawaii was not a state until 1959.

[@Nordy941]

People who never been would never think it but the Traffic in Honolulu is the worst I’ve ever seen in my life. Worse than LA

[@lukec2576]

I live here in Hawaii, and live in downtown Honolulu. I agree a train is a great thing (especially having lived in Japan for many years). However the frustrating thing is that, even though I live in the middle of Honolulu, when the planned stations are finally completed in (2031??) I'll still be pretty far from a station. That just boggles my mind..living in the heart of Honolulu but not having easy access to the train. Right now the train doesn't really go anywhere, and doesn't even connect to the airport. Basically it's been built in the least dense part of the island, and isn't really planned to extend much into Honolulu itself. You'd think they would have opened the denser part first, raise revenue, then expand out. In some areas there are stations (currently served) that are in the middle of a field with nothing around it. It also disrupted some well used bus lines. It's been more of an inconvenience than convenience at this point (for most). Seems they could have consulted with companies in Japan, etc to get a better plan in place.

[@benf91]

That's what all the conversation from outside the state doesn't get. It's not the graft, the slow progress, the screw-ups. That's to be expected. It's that it doesn't go where it's needed and there's no plan to get it there. The C bus is literally faster than the train. Trains are for where it's super dense, like town, not East Kapolei FFS. "B-but transit-oriented development!" Yeah, let's do a bunch of new greenfield development instead of densifying the massive tracts of single-family homes, that's what's best for the island.

[@ianhomerpura8937]

@@benf91 good luck densifying existing single family homes. NIMBYism is insanely bad across the US, especially since it's become front and center of the ideological culture wars.

[@WilliamMurphy-uv9pm]

The mindset was to get people from outside into Honolulu (and onto Waikiki) and off the roadways while doing it. I doubt if folks like you were ever in the equation.

[@lukec2576]

@@WilliamMurphy-uv9pm I definitely understand that. Seeing the traffic backed up on the H1 from the west side all the way into Honolulu, I DEFINITELY get that. The problem is, even when the whole thing is finished, it will only run to a little bit west of Punchbowl. If I work in Waikiki or nearby Waikiki, I still have to take the train all the way to the end of the line...then transfer to a bus. While some people will do that, a lot more won't. I'm all about the train, I love trains. But, if we really want to help get rid of the H1 commute nightmare, the train needs to go further into the heart of Honolulu, possibly even to Kahala. It's not even going to Ala Moana like originally planned. If people can't use the train to at least get close to where they work in Honolulu, they aren't going to use it. It doesn't go far enough into town.

[@Komainu959]

@@WilliamMurphy-uv9pm But that's part of the problem. It doesn't do nearly enough to be effective. Like the OP i've been to Japan and NYC and LOVE trains. It works extremely well- IF there is enough of them with enough stops. But for that to happen you need the population density and Oahu just doesn't have it. We have too much population for the road infrastructure but really not enough to support a large rail project. It was and will most likely be a bad solution unless something else drastically changes.

[@Aloha_XERO]

Mahalo Fred, Your videos are legendary, I was wondering when you were gonna make a video about our transit system, how about our dead stupid ferry or how about all the new condos

[@C.Q_Wilkenson]

6:00 trains must always run 24/7 or at very least up until just after midnight. We really need standardized public transit in the USA. Every city always ends up trying out their own mode of heavy/light rails.

[@Special_K_42069]

Good video. Informative and interesting. Cmon Hawaii!

[@JasonB808]

Dispite all of its construction woes. Two things that I never expected. The stations are better than I expected them to be save for some weird quirks. The ride quality of the trains is sub par as it shakes quite a bit. Pros The train comes on time every 10 minutes. Which is far better than a bus which comes every 30 minutes to 1 hour, the bus and cars get stuck in traffic. Train glides right over traffic. The views from the train is amazing. Breathtaking views of Hawaii can be seen from up high on the train. It can beat a car from the Aloha Stadium to Its terminal station in kapolei. That is if your goal is the station it’s self and you started from Aloha stadium. My brother’s fiance is from Japan and when we rode it (my brother’s first time riding it, and his fiancé’s first time in Hawaii. They both live in Japan). She loved the whole experience. Because the train was mostly empty, she loved the experience. She is used to tightly packed trains in Japan. The shaking didn’t bother her. Cons Hawaii is still America so transportation was developed for decades for cars not trains. Thus to even get to the train station. A rider would first need to either ride a slow bus or drive a car to a park and ride. Only two park and rides exist currently. Making it more inconvenient than just riding the bus to begin with. The ride quality. The train shakes quite a bit. For someone who rode silky smooth riding train in Japan. This con has me most annoyed because it sets a bad example for rail travel. People who don’t know any better will assume that the ride quality of trains are bad in general when it’s not the case at all. Rail stations are better than I expected but some design choices are weird. There is only an escalator up but not down. There is an elevator but only one. On each side. If they are out of service a person with a wheel chair would be out of luck. The elevator is also on the small side making bring bikes on there is a chore. There are bike racks in the trains themselves. It’s not finished yet. It hasn’t reached Honolulu yet and that is where the traffic from west bound locations in Oahu to Honolulu and back. So it has very little impact on traffic right now. Hope for the future. Ride quality can be fixed with a suspension upgrade to all trains. Once Honolulu opens up people will realize the trains true potential. Traffic will only get worse. All it takes is a major car accident during rush hour traffic to snare H1 traffic for hours. The train will blaze by while people are stuck in “parking lot on the freeway” traffic. Buses in downtown Honolulu that haven’t got stuck on H1 yet would be able to divert to the closest rail station and drop off their passengers. They can contact west bound trains to pick up passengers at specific train startions. The Skyline would save hundreds of people from getting stranded on the free way for 3 or more hours. That is a major win for rail.

[@JWB671]

Whole thing seems pretty pointless unless it can get kids from the west side all the way to university of Hawaii campus.

[@TheBooban]

From Sweden and I would refuse to live anywhere more than 6 mins from a public transportation system. Is it possible housing will come to the train stations in the US?

[@T_bone]

Keep up the hopium Hawaii! Nice synopsis though. Better hope they don't shut down your only industry again!

[@ianhomerpura8937]

@@JWB671 there is another UH campus at East Kapolei, and one of the new stations is located right beside it. But yeah, it would be nice to have a station serving UH Manoa as well.

[@ianhomerpura8937]

@@T_bone in every country, tourists use mass transit like subways and buses, because it's cheaper than having to rent a car all the time, plus they don't get stuck in traffic.

[@ieattuna]

while your at it, theres a similar system just like it in the Philippines called the NSCR

[@subman721]

This was being planed when I was stationed at Pearl Harbor in the late 90’s. Over the last 25 years is become nothing more than a joke, but I will say this. Unlike California’s high-speed rail which is been being built for the last decade and a half at least they have a running train.

[@Fenthule]

The California HSR is an amazing example of letting politics get in the way of actually building effective infrastructure. All the lobbying of smaller towns wanting to have the line run closer to them, shifted the layout to a SIGNIFICANTLY more expensive route, and they focused on building the stupidest part of the line first. It's a classic example of politicians thinking they know better than experts who were SCREAMING it was a bad idea to deviate from the initial plan, and sure as sh!t the costs ballooned into madness. I will still say the Honolulu train is pretty dumb though, as it doesn't even connect major infrastructure like the airport. It's like a half assed slapped together "look we have trains on rails" type thing, but the system is SIGNIFICANTLY underutilized due to bad routing calls.

[@AL5520]

Both projects are important but also way overdue with huge cost overruns but a 20.2 mi of light metro, with only 10.8 mi in operation with a top speed of 55 mph to a 520 mi of HSR line with a top speed of 220 mph is not comparable,

[@Westerner78]

What is missing is a THIRD TRACK FOR EXPRESS SERVICE. Cost overruns and mistakes are part of highways too. That have unquestioned and never ending funding.

[@italianlifestyle7911]

Wow.. that's a mighty impressive project that will benefit a lot of people!💙

[@BobaBuwan]

Yay my home island is mentioned! I don’t live there anymore but I’m happy it’s come to fruition. There are so many people who simply don’t want to drive. And some people SHOULDNT even be driving. That could be said for anywhere, though. I still remember my 20 miles commute on Oahu during rush hour being a 1 hour and 20 mins drive. Sometimes longer😵‍💫

[@lukasloh2509]

For all its imperfections and controversies, I still believe that it is the great step towards achieving a good public rail transport not just in Hawaii but also to the continental US.

[@davidjackson7281]

How does this project help the other 49 states? Perhaps Guam and Puerto Rico and Oahu land developers.

[@CraigFThompson]

​@@davidjackson7281They can at least learn what to do and what NOT to do....

[@peterengland4745]

The Sky Train serving the Vancouver area is an autonomous system similar in design to this project. It has been operating successfully since 1984. 3 extensions have been constructed since the first phase was built. A 4th is under construction now. It is well used.

[@youtubeguy99]

I rode this skyline in January. It looks almost identical to Vancouver’s skytrain. I’ve read that politicians from Oahu toured Vancouvers system in the planning stages.

[@rrchapman]

@@youtubeguy99 However, SkyTrain is heavy rail cars, like subway cars. Skyline is light rail.

[@gsn794]

@@rrchapman “Light rail” in name only, as per the preference of hart. “The Federal Transit Administration categorizes Honolulu’s rail as “heavy rail,” but Toru Hamayasu, HART’s first interim executive director, says this is not entirely a fair description. He writes in an email that HART preferred to call Honolulu’s system a “light metro rail” to fit its image of something that is in between light and heavy rail systems: “Light rail by definition is a system where one car can operate on its own while heavy rail requires several cars with dedicated functions to make a train,” he writes. “HART needs two cars to operate. FTA also defined a heavy rail to have a third rail for power and that’s what HART has too. So for the functionality, HART is more likely a heavy rail. But heavy rail cars are usually longer and consist of more cars. HART cars are about 16 feet shorter than typical heavy rail cars and one train is no longer than four cars. So to avoid the image of a big train running overhead through the shores of Honolulu, it calls itself a light metro rail.” hawaii business 11/9/2021 “FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION PROJECT MANAGEMENT OVERSIGHT PROGRAM Contract No. DTFT60-04-D-00015 Project No. DC-27-5044 FTA Task Order 12 - Programmatic Services Work Order 5G CLIN 0005: Spot Report. The City has referred to the mode as a "Light Metro" vehicle. However, the vehicles can be described as automated short heavy rail vehicles with a tight turning radius. For the purposes of this Spot Report, including the transit capacity analyses, the vehicles are identified as a "heavy rail" vehicle, which corresponds with the modal technology identified in the Standard Cost Category (SCC) workbook estimate provided by the City.”

[@TheNoerdy]

We need a road from LA to Hawaii

[@TheNoerdy]

Maybe a new California law that mandates this? Time to elect a governor who agrees.

[@justinjjoachin448]

@@TheNoerdy😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@I_hu85ghjo]

a road crossing the pacific?

[@keiming2277]

We need a road from Earth to Mars

[@TheDemonicPenguin]

Definitely not a train. The Americans wouldn't know what to do with that.

[@MrMason1993]

Living on Oahu from 2016 to 2019. Everyone had their opinions on the rail, and some thought that it would be just like the inter-island Super Ferry scheme from about 15 years prior. But if it can be executed to the full scheme, and even extended to service more of the island than Oahu's South Shore. It will eventually be a great system. But the logical first step of eliminating the hellish commute on the H1 in the morning is going to be loved by everyone, once its complete.

[@ianhomerpura8937]

So far the Skyline is used mainly by students going to and from UH West Oahu and Leeward. Seems great to me in that aspect.

[@robertdeforest9682]

For anyone else who has lived there, we all know how awful this project has been for us. Over a decade of delays, forever construction that impedes already clogged traffic, and a government that is obviously inept at doing anything. What a joke

[@imkuat]

As a local that uses the rail daily it’s unfortunate that it goes very underutilized despite the benefits. Everytime I ride it almost all the car sections are empty with only 3 to 7 people total scattered across the whole train. Especially with the insane project costs and disruption to the local businesses.

[@zyrexx0012]

Maybe voting out democrats will work

[@jiecut]

​@@imkuatit doesn't even go downtown yet.

[@paulinbrooklyn]

I'm not local (as my username suggests), but I wonder whether you viewed this short video to the end before posting this obvious comment (which was fully anticipated and covered in the video)?

[@OfficialSamuelC]

If you watch on 1.25 or 1.50 speed like many do, this video takes a lot less longer to watch and can comment within the timeframe above.@@paulinbrooklyn

[@syedkhajanayabrasool6111]

You should also make a video on Indias Dedicated Freight Corridor and Bharatamala Road Project

[@TechNoir808]

LMAO aint no way this is getting any where near 100K riders a day. I work near one of the stops and I can tell you it is EMPTY. While the bus station right under it is constantly packed with people. This things route ends too early to be useful to most people, and having a driverless car stop at 7:00pm means no workers are going to be using this. In its current state it just does not work for most people and currently most of the people riding it are just curious. Who knows, maybe this will change once/if it ends up to ala moana. But as of now its just a cause of more traffic because all the construction.

[@darthmaul216]

Today on things that didn’t happen

[@paatooface]

No it’s not not all the stations like Halawa! Go to Waipahu transit empty, west loch not really, kualakai not really, east Kapolei not really

[@gsn794]

If you look at hart’s 6/3/2022 “recovery” plan, the daily estimated ridership to the imaginary “civic center” is now 84,005 since they cut 1.2 miles and two stations off the route. The actual estimate is 71,065, but with “enhanced interim bus-rail integration” they bumped it up to 84,005. If it’s accurate as their other ridership “estimates” they’ll be lucky to hit 25,000.

[@donwest5387]

We have one in Vancouver Canadam (sky-train) and it's wonderful!

[@Direkin]

I've worked on the East Rail line in Hong Kong, and I never saw such cock ups there. Sure, there were construction problems, which is inevitable in any JV involving the cowboys at China State CEC, but that went relatively smoothly, and it was about 2.6 times longer.

[@_Breakdown]

THANKS FOR ANOTHER GREAT VIDEO FRED + B1M TEAM 😎👍👍 SUGGESTION: PERHAPS A FUTURE VIDEO on CONCRETE vs STEEL (comparing longevity, costs, weight, strength, recycle-ability, etc) 4:32 - - concerns about cracks in the concrete.

[@paulmullins1589]

For such lengths of urban viaduct, steel is extremely rare. Rate of construction for precast segmental is far higher.

[@akshaysr997]

So its basically a metro system. Only in the US can an incredibly common rail project in most european and asian cities be so complicated and deserving of a video for it xD

[@frikitiki]

Here's the funny thing...instead of constructing it from the city center where most of the people would land and then work out, they did it the other way so what is partially constructed really doesn't help because the last 3 miles into the city center aren't there.

[@MaggieKeizai]

Only in Hawaii can an incredibly common rail project in most US cities be so complicated and ineptly implemented.

[@tetedur377]

@@MaggieKeizai Well, it is overwhelmingly Democrat.

[@desertmodern7638]

I didn't understand the statement that elevated tracks are often lighter and narrower than standard or underground tracks, as all three are almost universally Standard Gauge (which has the rails 4 ft 8.5 inches apart) in the United States and many other countries. (BART is the sole noteworthy exception in the USA, using a 5 ft 6 inch broad gauge.)

[@brianmorris8045]

Trouble with a lot of projects, they are not only practical driven, but mostly ego...the people in government pushing these projects put unrealistic time limits on them so they can hope to be the first ones to officially open said projects, and take all the glory. I see it all the time. Why don't politicians just plan something for the people they are supposed to serve, instead of serving their own egos? I see it too often. Doesn't matter what part of the world it is in either.

[@dickgrayson4237]

You can't get a realistic timeline in these large projects. The reason behind isn't ego but unique problems that could only be find out once the actual building occurs like the power line problem. However the biggest issue is usually the legal battles, they are by far the biggest deterence. Every enviromentalist has to prove the worth of their jobs by delaying these projects with bs claims

[@NickThiller]

100% ego and legacy driven.

[@NormBraidwood]

Very similar to Vancouver lower mainland's Skytrain. Been running since 1985. More than doubled in size since then.

[@liamwinter4512]

Youd think Hawaii, being so small would have become some kind of eco utopia by now.

[@turbodarkle]

Everything has to be imported here. Not to mention our government here is awful

[@TheHelmsD]

they should put beautiful hanging vines from the outerfacing portions of the system and make it like a "hanging garden" around the island

[@davidjackson7281]

Finally a good comment. Great idea.

[@stints]

This is a long time coming. I do wish they'd open rail lines across the island but this is the best first step they can take to help those that actually live in the populated area(s).

[@roachtoasties]

I wonder why it's being built from out in the boondocks to Downtown, instead of the opposite direction. I can't think of a rapid transit system built from the outskirts in. All I can think of is it was cheaper to start construction this way, so HART would have something to show fairly quick and cheaper. Tunneling downtown is obviously the most intensive.

[@gsn794]

They could have started 6 miles closer to town by building the maintenance and storage facility at LCC first and then building east. There’s a very specific reason they didn’t. “Mayor Carlisle, now a lame duck, says he will ‘do everything [he] can to get rail far enough along so that it cannot possibly be stopped’” thetransportpolitic 8/18/2012 Their intention was to build as much as possible as quickly as possible so it would become increasingly difficult to stop. The best way to do that was to start in the easiest terrain with the fewest utilities to deal with.

[@NW255]

I was recently on vacation in Honolulu and I can confirm that traffic is… apocalyptic. The interstates are NARROW and the road surface is that of an ancient Roman road. It was like driving I’m a third world country. Their rail system could solve this problem the only issue is it’s extremely inefficient as described by locals I met there. It’s slow and it doesn’t get you downtown much faster than a car. During rush hour yeah it could decrease this time but the fact is it’s not done yet and it doesn’t even reach most of the city yet. Oahu is an island that grew way to fast in a short amount of time, leaving a mess when it comes to traffic. Hell when I was driving to my hotel I was constantly stuck in the worst traffic I’d ever seen. For an island the size of Oahu Im surprised they’re treating it like it’s the size of central Honolulu itself

[@gsn794]

According to rail’s final environmental impact statement, they estimate that car trips will decrease by 1.7% in 2030, AFTER 10 years of full time operation. Yes, the contract with the FTA specified that 20.1 miles of rail and 21 stations would be complete and in full time operation by 1/31/2020 at a total cost of $5.12 billion, with ridership of nearly 120k per day. An “updated” agreement with the FTA specifies 18.9 miles, 19 stations, a total cost of $9.93 billion, ridership of 84k per day, completed in 2031 (at 65% probability). With projected ridership decreasing by 30%, the projected decrease in car trips will undoubtedly be lower as well. “The plan also includes $2.7 billion for mass-transit projects, including $2.5 billion for a fixed-rail system between Kapolei and Manoa.” Star Bulletin 2/19/2006 Going to Manoa made sense because the University of Hawaii at Manoa is the single largest source of traffic on this rock. Unfortunately, about one year later they shortened it to Ala Moana, and any illusion that the rail system was for traffic mitigation disappeared.

[@Komainu959]

First off, the interstate (H1) isn't that narrow for the vast majority of it's length. It's mostly the section that runs through Honolulu it's self as it's older and they made the lanes more narrow so that another lane could be added. None of that section of the H1 is serviced by the rail. As far as the rail being slow, it's alright and I don't think it's slower/faster than most other commuter service trains I've been on (NYC subs, Seattle Orca, SF Bart, All over Japan (obviously commuter, not the shinkansen). As for the condition of the roads, surface streets can be pretty bad especially when you consider the roads don't have to deal with freeze/thaw cycles or having road salt / tire chains / etc issues that many roads up on the mainland US have to deal with. But for the most part it's ok, just go on Google Maps street view and take a look, about the same as many modest sized urban areas.

[@Planettransit]

After all the extensions are complete, Hawai’i should be getting another new line based on GPE or the Elizebeth line that runs under the congested Britannia street and eventually be integrated as a “blended corridor” to a Hawai’i HSR project.

[@MasterWhimp]

It makes me soo angry seeing the mismanagement and mistakes that lead to ballooning costs. But I love transit so much, I never want to abandon a project

[@ktt1977]

All intentional to satisfy the construction lobby $$$

[@Marcus1074]

I am not an engineer, not even when I dream while sleeping but I've been wondering if one elevated system like this can be built to be used with an hybrid system, that is having the rail trains, but also allow buses or freight trucks, with specific ramps to go in and out, i wonder if the revenue generated by a pay toll for trucks going in can help compensate for the extra cost it will involve to make the rail at surface flat-level ( like we have on some streets)?

[@NickThiller]

Careful with that logic!!! Gov’t projects aren’t about making sense.

[@CraigFThompson]

Buses would make no sense whatsoever; they're nothing but automobiles....

[@skysthelimitvideos]

Always happy hear about new rail projects in the US

[@NickThiller]

I too love grifting the taxpayer.

[@chadh2277]

This reminds me of the smart train in Marin Count and Sonoma County. I'm curious will this help commuters in Honolulu? The map seems limited.

[@turbodarkle]

It's highly limited and the extension of the project to the significant parts of the island are probably more of an if than a when

[@gsn794]

hart’s initial daily ridership estimate was 15k, soon downgraded to 12.6k. After DTS started operating it, they estimated 8-10k daily riders. Actual ridership is just over 3k.

[@nowistime8070]

our skytrain in the greater Vancouver. area is awesome

[@bryan89wr]

Yep! Vancouver's system, currently at 50 miles of track, cost $8.6 billion USD to build (adjusted for inflation). Another 14 miles of track is currently under construction at a cost of $5.1 billion USD. It's crazy how mismanaged Hawaii's project has been to spend a billion per mile!

[@Bluboy30]

I hate hate hate the traffic in Honolulu. If this thing can me all over the island, I'd be very happy when I visit Hawaii again.

[@NickThiller]

You don’t live there, your opinion means jack.

[@Bluboy30]

@@NickThiller Well, I never said my opinion is meant to be meaningful to anyone. But since YOU read it and AND replied, it meant something to you! 😂

[@turbodarkle]

Unfortunately it can't take you all over the island. It won't even get you from the airport to anywhere, or to Honolulu, and definitely not to the Windward side of the island.

[@ryanvoight2201]

As a drone pilot, some of this aerial footage is killing me. Maybe I should take a little trip to HI and see if Honolulu Rail Transit is looking to upgrade some of their marketing materials.

[@shinote4]

Important to mention that the train service doesn't quite reach the airport yet. Once it does, that may completely flip the usage and perception. Fully 50% of the people in Oahu are tourist visitors, so giving them a way to get in and out from the airport should be a giant benefit. Maybe the train will turn out to be primarily a tourist thing, which could be fine since that's the main industry.

[@WilliamMurphy-uv9pm]

Yes the taxi drivers will love the loss of revenue.

[@turbodarkle]

​@@WilliamMurphy-uv9pmand rental car companies. Which I have to wonder if theyre playing a part in keeping the rail out of Honolulu. They have a stranglehold on Oahu and basically all the islands, especially the outer islands which seems like there are almost more rentals on the roads than actual residents

[@nathanbakken5468]

I rode it in January of this year, it’s a smooth awesome ride. Once they finish the whole line into downtown Honolulu the line will be bustling with riders! Construction sucks, but it will be well worth it in the end.

[@MrSSSamuelll]

0:24 What a beautiful landscape... Now tell me cars didn't COMPLETLY DESTROY our citys.

[@dennyroozeboom4795]

They literally paved over paradise, so yeah I agree

[@xeroxero179]

Hi B1M, Can you also create videos on cruise ships and their construction, as they are just big skyscrapers floating in the seas.

[@user-propositionjoe]

Congratulations to the USA on the construction of a single metro line in a city of over 1 million, and all by the impressive date of 2031 no less! Now you just need to construct 4-5 more lines for a functioning city wide metro system like almost every decent city outside of the US already operates. Never ceases to amaze me just how backwards the US operates really.

[@afroabroad]

Look at the geography of Honolulu and then tell me why it needs 4 / 5 lines. Maybe it would need a second line at most. Now if you were talking about Miami, Atlanta, Phoenix, Detroit, Dallas or Houston then yes they could support 4 or 5 lines.

[@frikitiki]

The City and County of Honolulu are not over 1 M. They are close but last count was 800,000.

[@randybutler4772]

Very interesting! Thank you for sharing.

[@randompersondfgb]

Drop everything guys B1M dropped a new video 🗣🔥🥶💯

[@Moocowsia]

There's a couple automated systems in the US already. New York and Detroit both have their versions of Vancouver's automated skytrain system.

[@wavesnbikes]

OK, the boring part is done. Let's rebuild the Oahu Railway, now! 😎

[@ianhomerpura8937]

From Honolulu to Laie, yes

[@hebneh]

Not gonna happen, friend.

[@wavesnbikes]

@@hebneh :(

[@Fujjums]

Since it began operation the number of riders has been something like a third of what the city expected. Hopefully, that'll improve as access into downtown and the business districts are established, allowing people to truly use it as commuter transport from the west side of the island. We'll just have to wait and see.

[@davidjackson7281]

Love how the way inflated projections were 100k daily riders. Not gonna happen. lt seems the local population is not high enough and there aren't enough tourists to support that gross guesstimate now and in the future.

[@gsn794]

“The latest forecast further reveals that HART expects to see some 12,600 daily boardings for rail’s initial, interim launch from east Kapolei to Aloha Stadium. That’s down from the nearly 15,000 boardings it expected from modeling done last year” Civil Beat 7/23/2021 “According to (DTS chief) Morton, the city expects about 8,000 to 10,000 riders per day by the end of the year” Star Advertiser 7/2/2023 According to DTS, they had 1,165,821 riders in the first year, for an average of 3,194 per day. Kapolei to Ala Moana estimated daily ridership varied from ~116k to 122.8k. The shortened route to the imaginary “civic center” is projected at 84,005.

[@Downtown.Don90]

This is good. I will never understand why a modern city would skimp and not get driverless light rail / rail in 2024.. so glad to see Hawaii start the trend in the states. Vancouver's Skytrain is the best in Canada due to the automation.

[@erickdupuis2503]

This video makes me think of the REM in Montreal (Canada)... The current big automatic railway being built there. It is suppose to be one of the biggest automatic line in the world. It is also a project finance partly by private interrests and it have faced a lot of problems during the construction like the discovery of explosives in an old tunnel. Could be a good video to do!

[@RipCityBassWorks]

This project should be a much larger national priority: show the world that the US can build a successful new rapid transit system with modern technology.

[@mrxman581]

There are Metro systems being built in various places in the USA including Los Angeles which is also building an automated people mover that will connect the airport to LA Metro.

[@NickThiller]

😂😂😂

It looks like the tracks and the construction equipment are surplus from The Sky Train project in Vancouver BC

[@eviljonbob_]

“However, that wasn’t always the case” Basically describes every North American city and their now poor public transportation. What pisses me off equally, is how you have these insanely beautiful islands and yet they choose to develop the same Suburban/ big box store developments. Cuz when I'm in Paradise, the first thing that comes to mind is wheres the WaLMaRt.

[@hebneh]

You do realize that the Walmarts and Targets and Home Depots and Costcos are not there for you, the tourist. They are there for those of us who live here and use them just like you do wherever else you live in the USA.

[@meijiishin5650]

To everyone wondering if there’s going to be TOD: yes. Hart has explicitly stated that is why it starts in empty farmland. Right now it’s estimated about 40-50k units in the works along the line.

[@davidjackson7281]

Yes, Skyline may double or triple Oahu's population.

[@rrchapman]

@@davidjackson7281 The population is already growing without Skyline. Expanding H1 wouldn't solve the problem. Once the initial system is finished and the kinks worked out, Ewa Beach, UH Manoa, Kahala Mall, and maybe even Hawaii Kai can be added to this system in the years to come.

[@davidjackson7281]

@@rrchapmanYes, Oahu's population seems to be increasing by about 5,000 per year. lt would be great for the system to expand as much as it can in the years to come. Great travel option.

[@onlineo2263]

It's a good story. The train is desperately needed. Yes the cost is expensive, but you always see some freeway widening here for $2bn, some over there for $5bn. No one cares, or are bothered why they cost so much. No one cares if they run over budget by $1bn. I bet a similar road could not be built for any cheaper, yet no one would complain about the cost or mention it in. KZbin video.

[@gsn794]

2/19/2006 28 miles Kapolei to UH Manoa $2.5 billion 3/1/2007 20 miles Kapolei to Ala Moana $3.6 billion 2/22/2011 rail groundbreaking 12/19/2012 20 miles, 21 stations, Kapolei to Ala Moana, complete 1/31/2020 $5.12 billion 11/9/2021 20 miles, 21 stations, Kapolei to Ala Moana, complete 2031, $12.45 billion 6/3/2022 18.9 miles, 19 stations, Kapolei to Ala Moana, complete 2031, $9.933 billion 9/5/2024 18.9 miles, 19 stations, Kapolei to Ala Moana, complete 2031, $10.065 billion Nagano -Kanazawa Shinkansen: 160+ mph, 142 miles (60+ miles in tunnels) seven stations, 21 years, $17 billion actual

[@AlphaAurora]

So far, it goes nowhere, with the communities it is serving already close to each other and connected via road. The Stadium's the East terminus for now, which means the line stops short of the NEX and Airport. The Stadium proper is closed, meaning it's purpose for a station is limited. Meanwhile on the West end, the Westernmost 3 stations are pretty far out, with a station out in the middle of nowhere, waiting for the suburb to develop around it. Best stations seem to be around Waipahu, Pearl City and Aiea, which themselves are pretty close together. But without the NEX, airport or even Ala Moana/Waikiki, it doesn't get people from the West to East of Oahu.

[@90330]

Free Hawaii !!

[@kenseitakesi4521]

Hawaii use to be inpedent country. Usa invaded it and take it!! Free hawaii NOW!!

[@akashbhatnagar394]

I don’t like to suggest things, but I’d love to hear your take on Boston and their MBTA system where there are many many issues

[@yourbrojohno]

I lived in Hawaii 12 years ago and remember them putting up a few of those pylons then stopping. I kinda want to see it eventually though, but I was there 6 years ago and the break on my favourite surf spot was gone because of shifting water level/coral reef destruction.

[@Marquis-Gibbs]

You should also make a video on Indias Dedicated Freight Corridor and Bharatamala Road Project