In a historic day for public transit, Skyline Rail, a project once deemed the worst transit project in the United States due to extreme cost overruns and construction delays, finally opened to the public at the end of June.
The Honolulu Rail Transit Project, now named Skyline Rail, opened to the public on Friday, June 30, culminating a half century of planning and overcoming serious obstacles with delays and funding shortfalls in the final years.
Honolulu’s new rail service “seemed a near impossibility just 2-1/2 years ago when it was digging a deeper financial hole and federal transit officials had lost faith and were withholding millions of dollars in badly needed funding,” reports Dan Nakaso in a paywalled article for the Star Advertiser.
The opening is just the first phase of a $9.8 billion plan. Nakaso’s article focuses mostly on how the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation and city leadership overcame funding obstacles to get this first leg of the project open, including adopting a new county hotel tax aimed at tourists, approved by the State Legislature, and reducing the scope of the project. A 2012 iteration of the plan called for the entire project to span 20 miles and include 21 stations, from East Kapolei to Ala Moana Center. The current plan will build 19 stations and 18.75 miles of track, ending in Kakaako at the Civic Center Station, or Ka‘akaukukui.
The paywalled article, linked again below, also offers more guidance on the how to use the system, including info about parking (there is only limited parking available at three of the new stations). According to a separate article by Hawaii News Now, 9,000 people rode Skyline on its first day of service to the public.
FULL STORY: Honolulu’s Skyline is ready to roll
Honolulu Light Rail to Open in June
The city’s first light rail line will finally begin service after more than a half century of planning.
Honolulu Rail Cost Overruns Now Exceed $1 Billion
Add another $200 million to the $910 million shortfall already facing Honolulu's rail project. The changing circumstances surrounding the project won't make it any easier to create a viable funding plan to make up the difference.
$2 Billion Federal Grant for Red Line Extension Project to Chicago’s South Side
A plan to extend the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) Red Line 5.6 miles to the south won a $2 billion grant from the federal government.
Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
In Urban Planning, AI Prompting Could be the New Design Thinking
Creativity has long been key to great urban design. What if we see AI as our new creative partner?
How Trump's HUD Budget Proposal Would Harm Homelessness Response
Experts say the change to the HUD budget would make it more difficult to identify people who are homeless and connect them with services, and to prevent homelessness.
The Vast Potential of the Right-of-Way
One writer argues that the space between two building faces is the most important element of the built environment.
Florida Seniors Face Rising Homelessness Risk
High housing costs are pushing more seniors, many of them on a fixed income, into homelessness.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Jefferson Parish Government
Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Claremont