It's Light Rail Versus BRT in Honolulu's Mayoral Race

As election day approaches in Honolulu, the Hawaiian capital's mayoral race has centered around transit. The incumbent has been pushing light rail, but now the challenger has unveiled a cheaper bus rapid transit system.

1 minute read

October 16, 2008, 2:00 PM PDT

By Nate Berg


"Mayoral candidate Ann Kobayashi unveiled her new mass-transit plan yesterday to build elevated three-lane highways for zipper lanes and buses that she says would be 62.5 percent of the cost of Mayor Mufi Hannemann's proposed rail transit system."

"Her plan would cost $2.5 billion, as opposed to Hannemann's projected cost of $4 billion, to build a 15-mile elevated highway beginning at the H-1 and H-2 freeway merge in Waipio to downtown Honolulu."

"Kobayashi's proposal comes three weeks before the Nov. 4 general election in a mayoral race that has focused primarily on Hannemann's planned rail transit system from Kapolei to Ala Moana."

Wednesday, October 15, 2008 in Honolulu Star-Bulletin

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