Honolulu rail transit tracks, which as still under construction, are too close together in some spots, which could lead to derailments. This is different from last year’s problem, in which the wheels of the railcars were found to be too narrow for some of the tracks.
Honolulu’s high-cost, low-capacity rail line under construction. Click image for a larger view. Photo by Anthony Quintano.
No one yet knows how much it will cost and how long it will take to fix the new problem. But fixing last year’s issue significantly added to the delay and cost of the project, which is currently not expected to be finished until 2031, eleven years later and at more than twice the cost that was originally projected.
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Honolulu doesn’t need rail transit anyway. The city selected a stupid system that costs as much to build as heavy rail but isn’t capable of carrying more than light rail. It then put a bunch of clowns in charge who were smart enough to realize they didn’t know what they were doing but dumb enough to think that turning all major decisions over to consultants would solve the problems.
The consultants did the work that would have been done by various transit agency vice presidents and other senior managers, but each consultant cost the city more than half a million dollars a year in direct costs. The consultants then wrote hundreds of change orders and contract amendments that added hundreds of millions of dollars more to the project cost. Yet the problems with tracks and wheels reveal that the consultants didn’t know what they were doing any more than the city officials did. Honolulu should halt construction now and limit the use of the rail line to the portion that is already build.
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as a kid I had (still have) a fascination with Monorails and wondered if Oahu really wanted to propose a transit they could have built a monorail. In terms of Geographic area, Oahu is 20 miles x 30 miles, not getting any bigger.
Megacities in Japan, Sao Paulo, else where are resorting to monorail, namely because they know digging in cities is a nightmare…. Japan’s shonan Monorail is completely suspended hanging monorail. Was built in the late 60’s, opened by 1971 so it’s construction time was a mere couple of years, NOT DECADES. At a distance of 4 miles; 8 stations and run time 14 minutes at 45 mph. The number of passengers was 11 million a year in 2018 or 30,000 people a day.
he Tokyo-Haneda Monorail has been operating since 1964. This eight-mile dual-beam system is privately owned and TURNS A PROFIT each year.
Using straddle beams, derailment is virtually impossible. Since it’s elevated, accidents with surface traffic and pedestrians are impossible (unless the train derailed and landed on the road; again a highly unlikely scenario). Translates to less system down time, less liability suits and most importantly, a safer public. Street rail systems with grade crossings (light rail, trams, commuter rail or trollies) can’t approach this level of safety since foolhardy people often try to beat the speeding train at the crossing with disastrous results. Also underground rail is prohibitively expensive (tunneling through Hawaiian solid basalt) Running on rubber tires makes monorails relatively quiet compared to the loud clickety clack of metal on metal.The real estate right of way costs are comparatively low if done economically it would be more like a small power line utility easement than a road right of way. Built in Middle of avenues; The aerodynamics, speed and electric propulsion are all applicable… Quick construction times: Las Vegas monorail was built in 7 months.
Building heavy rail in the city means rerouting cables/lines and pipes, digging up infrastructure. Monorail beamway is installed modularly.
Contractors and rail consultants love heavy rail. It keeps them busy for years; sinks Huge capital costs. You pay for it Mr. Taxpayer. As if that isn’t enough, operational costs of heavy rail are so high that Mr. Taxpayer (you again) have to subsidize it heavily for as long as it operates.
Being electrically driven by a power provided from the rail, monorails don’t require the spider web of above ground power lines like trams and lightrail.
Unlike subways; Monorails “Dont flood” because it’s not tunneled. On any given day, NYC has to pump 13 Million gallons of water a day out of the subways.Steel wheels on steel rail grind and wear. Therefore, both wheels and rail require far more care than monorail. This alone makes cost efficient impossible with heavy rail. Frequent vehicle breakdowns during operation also make heavy rail much less reliable than monorail. Monorails regularly operate amazingly at over 90% reliability. No other form of transit can touch that number. The rubber tires get little wear running on smooth guideways. Typically, each load tire gets over 100,000 miles of travel before being replaced and changing it’s tires is as simple as…..changing a tire.
Polls show monorails are the most aesthetically pleasing of all elevated rail systems.
This is the only monorail I’ve ridden. It’s insanely slow. Maybe it was built to be more of an amusement ride than a viable means of transportation?
Reply to LazyReader …
If users and local taxpayers have to pay for it from local funds, then OK. Although it might be necessary that in the case of financial failure, those responsible for the project would be subject to incarceration.
The two biggest problems, as the antiplanner repeatedly points out, is incompetence and building with OPM — Other Peoples’ Money.
Reasons for Trains
(1) Safety
Trains are way safer than cars.
“[In the US, between 2007 and 2019,] passenger vehicle death rate per 100,000,000 passenger miles was over 9 times higher than for buses, 17 times higher than for passenger trains, and 1,606 times higher than for scheduled airlines.”
https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/home-and-community/safety-topics/deaths-by-transportation-mode/
In Germany, between 2011 and 2020, the average number of killed passengers per 1 billion km for cars was 57 times higher than for trains.
https://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/660839/umfrage/verkehrsmittelvergleich-todesfaelle-von-bahn-bus-und-pkw-fahrern-in-deutschland/
(2) Efficiency
“Passenger rail is around three times more efficient than a car on a passenger-mile basis at current occupancy levels. The lower energy consumption leads to lower greenhouse emissions.”
https://theconversation.com/rail-travel-is-cleaner-than-driving-or-flying-but-will-americans-buy-in-112128#:~:text=Passenger%20rail%20is%20around%20three,leads%20to%20lower%20greenhouse%20emissions.
(3) Capacity
Trains have a multiple times higher passenger capacity than cars.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Passenger_Capacity_of_different_Transport_Modes.png
Main Reasons for Cars
(1) Steerable Wheels
(2) Fuel on board
Cars can steer around obstacles and go an infinite number of places whereas trains can only go where rails and usually electric power are installed.
re. (1): Steerable wheels are the reason why cars are so unsafe. Guided vehicles are superior. The steel wheels of trains are also way more energy efficient due to less friction. Also cars become uncontrollable in bad weather. https://youtu.be/rtF_UiwPRYo
re. (2): Actually fuel on board is a disadvantage. It means you have to go and fill up your gas tank in order to drive around. Or you have to charge your car. An electric train has endless fuel “on board”. Electric trains can go very long distances without any stops. It is also much more energy efficient to use the electricity directly instead of storing it in a battery. There are huge losses of energy in this process. Also batteries are heavy just like a gas tank it makes a vehicle heavier and thus increases energy consumption.
re. (“go an infinite number of places”): You don’t need tracks everywhere to go to these places. This is the good thing about rail. You can combine it with pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, so that you can walk or ride the last mile. Cars on the other hand require lots of space (see 3) and thus require everything to be spread out. This means that walking and cycling becomes less practical and cars become a necessity to go to places. It creates car-dependency and thus also requires massive road networks for comfortable transport.
I should add that you can go the last mile by bus also and unlike airplanes trains can go much closer to the endpoints of travel while being faster cars.
(1): Walkable legs are the reason why humans are so unsafe. Humans confined to wheelchairs running on dedicated tracks are safer.
CapitalistRoader,
actually there is no evidence for that.
We’ve been running things on tracks before we had steam locomotives. This has been done for hundreds of years.
Why is this project have trouble getting that right?
Because capitalism. Railroads have continued to evolve, but the American railroad sector has not. This is due to underinvestment and austerity in this technology to satisfy shareholders. This trend intensified in the 1920s and led to the bankruptcy of the entire American railroad industry. In Europe and Asia, this technology has been continuously developed and today has this clear advantage. A few new investments here and there can’t undo that. Europe and Asia have built huge industries around this technology. Modern American railroad companies have to import all the technology and know-how, and even then often lack the expertise in how to properly implement it locally.
Exactly. It’s too bad we can’t all live in in the Peoples Republic of China where the Communist Party of China ultimately determines how citizens can transport themselves. It’s way better. None of our nonsensical federalism and 50 laboratories of democracy where citizens have a modicum of choice in transportation modes.
Most products American capitalists consume are somehow made in China these days. So much for your attempt to ridicule China. Even most modern car technology comes from foreign countries. There is a pretty high chance your car is not American. Asia has become a manufacturing powerhouse thanks to its industrial policies. Europe has preserved more manufacturing thanks to its socialist banking systems. But America has ruined its industry thanks to capitalism. Now America has become a sweatshop for foreign manufacturing companies putting together parts and then label it “Made in America” to make Americans feel better about their disastrous capitalism.
UTISOC,
Trains are only safer if they have dedicated rights of way. Most British railroads have such rights of way as do heavy-rail lines in the U.S. Light rail, Brightline, and other trains whose rights of way frequently cross streets are very dangerous. Light rail in the U.S. kills about 13 people per billion passenger miles; cars in urban areas are about 8; cars on urban freeways are about 4. If safety is a primary concern, then you should support more freeway construction.
The Antiplanner,
if you follow basic traffic rules the probability of getting killed by a train or light rail is zero. A lot of these fatalities are also suicides. Most of the crashes at rail crossing is due to the stupidity of the drivers/pedestrians/cyclists. The problem with cars is, you can still be killed even if you follow the rules.
”
Railroads have continued to evolve, but the American railroad sector has not.
” ~utisoc
One of millions of patently false claims by the utisoc.
Seek mental health treatment. You need it. No one denies the basic realities of the world at this volume and scale without suffering from several mental disorders.
DFTT.
Mode of transportation …
No one mode is best. I can walk to the mailbox. I can bicycle to the store … unless it is raining. I can drive to my favorite restaurant no matter the weather and no matter how I’m dressed. I can fly across the country or halfway around the world.
I once took an inter-city bus 90 miles to pick up a motorcycle which I drove back home. I once flew 600 miles to pick up a car which I drove back home. I once took an Amtrak 1200 miles to visit friends — then I flew back home.
It’s nice to have choices especially if the modes are in competition and therefore continuously improving their product and reducing costs and prices.
If costs are accurately and automatically attributed to the transportation product, the best will succeed and the worst will follow the horse-drawn carriage into history books and museums.
Further to Mode of Transportation … Things change.
I no longer ride motorcycles — risk too high for the reward.
I don’t ride bicycles anymore — too dangerous.
I can’t imagine that I’ll take another long Amtrak train trip — too slow and boring. If I want to see the country I’ll drive.
It’s great to have options.
“Railroads have continued to evolve, but the American railroad sector has not.”
Evolution doesn’t “Find a need and fill it” Why evolve if you’re doing it right, the Crocodile and shark have been around 300 million years, largely unchanged….
America’s railroads….do a great job moving a TRILLION TONs of cargo….a no deficit to taxpayers.
Mono-DOH!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGg5rfBfWT4
Oahu is roughly 20×30 miles, so hypothetically, there’s No where you cant go non-automotive means in an hour and a half.
EV bikes and EV scooters may sound ridiculous but they are and will be a critical aspect of pollution reduction strategies. An mitigating long term geopolitical energy trends….Especially for a state 100% dependent on imports for its fuel supply.
US Gas prices average: $3.60
Hawaii’: $4.50
Since 1995, the growth in registered vehicles on Oahu has far outpaced the population increase — making any attempt to keep up with new roads futile. With a population of 750,000 Oahu has 792,000 registered vehicles. Theres one vehicle for every person in the state, and 1.05 cars for every Oahu resident. No amount of road construction can keep pace with that.
LazyReader wrote …
“EV bikes and EV scooters may sound ridiculous but they are and will be a critical aspect of pollution reduction strategies.”
The CDC wrote …
In 2015 in the United States, over 1,000 bicyclists died and there were almost 467,000 bicycle-related injuries.
…
Data from 2010 show fatal and non-fatal crash-related injuries to bicyclists resulted in lifetime medical costs and productivity losses of $10 billion.
https://www.cdc.gov/transportationsafety/bicycle/index.html