Column: If we must have a rail system, at least we can ‘build it better’

As one of the founders of Stop Rail Now in 2007, I am the last person to be a cheerleader for rail, but we all realize a need to solve the problem with the least harm, while squeezing some value out of this epic blunder. Damage has been done, but there are real solutions possible, such as ending at Middle Street or Chinatown, and perhaps using alternative technologies. Continuing to beat the dead horse and extend heavy rail to Ala Moana Center is just not viable.

This antiquated technology of elevated rail was first proposed by Mayor Frank Fasi 45 years ago, and pushed by sucessive mayors, Mufi Hannemann and Kirk Caldwell. But since then, new transportation technologies have developed, including autonomous vehicles and lightweight self-driving electric buses that could ride on the guideway then come down to street level. Remove the tracks, repurpose rail cars for the homeless, and develop some new transportation options.

Our rail clown show is falling apart, with the city now at war with itself, not having a clue how to end this nightmare. Today’s confused mayor, Caldwell, has become unglued, abandoning his fatally flawed public-private partnership scam — the “PPP” advocated by the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation — that would only push costs into some neverland future, but he provides no other option. What happened to “build rail better”?

After all these years of epic failure, at the end of his terms, Caldwell is now suggesting some unknown, last-minute, desperate plan, while still stubbornly “committed 100% to building rail, all the way down to Ala Moana.” This is the height of absurdity. No plan, no funding, behind on schedule, yet pushing the ridiculous goal of Ala Moana.

What is the point of going through Kakaako to Ala Moana Center anyway? Dwellers in the luxury condos will never use rail, and the luxury shopping mall is not even open during morning rush hour.

There is no way around the reality that costs would continue to escalate, with ridership nowhere near the rosy projections. We are facing a long-term economic crisis, with new patterns of work and social distance.

Public opinion is difficult to judge because the media, curiously, have not published any rail polls in several years. What are they afraid of? Thousands of reader comments about rail stories in recent years have been overwhelmingly against rail. Reader letters and comments might be unscientific, but are a useful gauge of feelings by those who are informed and care about what is happening.

Reader consensus is that rail was born in corruption and incompetence, and sold to the public with lies about traffic reduction. It got hijacked by rich developers, powerful unions with greedy self-interests and connected insiders.

It is time to end the madness and salvage something useful. This requires an immediate stop to all rail work and contract negotiations. We can then hope that our new mayor and City Council, with help from the public, can come up with a winning solution.

There are many advantages to a Chinatown terminus, as some have recently broached:

>> Gets travelers to downtown, who can then walk to work.

>> Honors all existing contracts.

>> Easy transfer to nonstop buses to the University of Hawaii- Manoa and to Waikiki.

>> Express bus routes can drive along King and Beretania streets, Nimitz Highway, and Kapiolani and Kalakaua avenues.

>> Not building an elevated rail structure through downtown would save billion of dollars, and protects the beauty of the city we cherish.

>> Aala Park, River Street and Chinatown would be enhanced and brought to life, with new foot traffic and transit-oriented development.

Dennis Callan, a Punchbowl resident, is a co-founder of Stop Rail Now.