November
2004 stories:
November 27, 2004.
WHAT
WENT WRONG WITH THE IOS/BRT?
It has been a
debacle from start to finish. Essentially the
concept was totally
wrong.
READ MORE
BOSTON'S BIG DIG
FIASCO A WARNING TO US ALL. Originally
projected as a $2.6 project it is now up to $14.6
billion — and counting.
READ MORE.
OREGON
FINDS "SMART" GROWTH NOT SO SMART.
Voters take issue on
the downgrading of property rights that has been
the result of "Smart Growth." The vote on Measure
37 may destroy much of such legislation. Read
these
OREGONIAN
NY TIMES
FROM
SPIN TO REALITY.
Remember the
original spin on BRT. While everyone had this
image shown below in their heads, the City slowly
morphed the vehicle into the reality — a bus. A
different propulsion system, but still a regular
bus.
November 24, 2004.
ANYONE KNOW
ABOUT THIS HYBRID BUS?
About three years
ago this bus was introduced with the usual fanfare
and since seems to have disappeared. Anyone know
anything about it?
November 23, 2004. IOS/BRT ROUTE 'E' A
DEBACLE.
Waikiki is a
disaster area, the new buses are increasing
traffic congestion even though they are running
mostly near empty and behind schedule. It would
appear impossible for the 'E' to ever run from
Downtown to Waikiki in the scheduled 30 minutes
and, in any case, Route B is much faster at
24 minutes. Who benefits from this
nonsense?
CITY BUS
SCHEDULES
November 22, 2004. LAS VEGAS MONORAIL
FAILS. It
has been nearly three months since the Las Vegas
Monorail was taken out of service for technical
problems. The builder was Bombardier, a Canadian
company, that was involved in the 1992 rail
transit efforts. Keep tabs on
it
HERE
at their website.
November 21, 2004.
LETTERS TO
THE EDITOR.
This will be a new
feature for residents to let us know in detail
what is wrong with traffic in our
town.
The first is
from
BEN
BENEVENTO
of
Waikiki.
November 20, 2004.
WAIKIKI
IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION LAUDS KUHIO
AVENUE.
It says, "Kuhio
Avenue has been transformed into a pleasant new
tree lined and pedestrian friendly environment
that integrates the new bus
service."
READ
IT
Nothing about horrendous traffic congestion.
Nothing about the effect of buses on Kalakaua.
What has WIA become?
November 19, 2004.
EDITORIAL:
INCREASING TRAFFIC CONGESTION WAS
DELIBERATE?
It is difficult to
believe that the increased traffic congestion in
Waikiki was not done deliberately by the Mayor.
For him to argue otherwise Harris would have had
to believe that the Oahu's entire transportation
industry was wrong in its forecast of what the IOS
would do to Waikiki traffic, that Dr. Panos
Prevedouros, UH Professor of Civil and
Environmental Engineering, was also wrong about
it, and that reducing Waikiki's traffic carrying
capacity by 30 percent and adding the new IOS
buses on Kalakaua Avenue would have little effect.
Harris is just not that dumb.
DISCUSSION
November 18, 2004.
A TURN FOR
THE BETTER.
In recognition that
we have won a significant (though partial)
victory, we are revamping our site today to
recognize that we are making a transition from
being totally focused on our short term goal of
fending off the congestion-inducing In-Town
Bus/Rapid Transit (BRT) program to our longer term
goal of reducing traffic congestion on Oahu.
The In-Town
BRT is dead in the water and no longer a threat
even though a partial but very important part
of it, the Initial Operating Segment, will operate
in Waikiki shortly.
As we have
said from the beginning, the narrowing of Kuhio
Avenue and the running of IOS buses on Kalakaua
Avenue would be disastrous for traffic congestion
— and it has been.
On top of
that the City closed off one lane of Ala Wai
Boulevard. In total these changes
have reduced Waikiki's traffic capacity by 30
percent.
Our headline
for the past year has been "Why you should
oppose the In-Town BRT." From today on it will
be "Here's the traffic problem."
One of the
first priorities for Mayor-elect Mufi
Hanneman will be to decide on the changes to
be made in Waikiki to get the traffic moving
again.
TRANSIT BUS (IOS) BEGINS SERVICE TODAY.
After two delays due, we hear, to maintenance
problems, the IOS begins service today from Aala
Park (Downtown) to Waikiki.
The scheduled
time is 30 minutes to Waikiki and 42 minutes for
the return trip
. Since the
Route B City
Express takes 22 minutes to Waikiki and 24 minutes
for the return trip,
one might well ask, "What's the point?"
Other issues are a) how long will the IOS bus
really take, and b) its effects on Waikiki
congestion. We'll see.
November 4, 2004.
WAIKIKI "IMPROVEMENTS" HAVE
RUN AMOK SAYS PBN.
They say,
"
Now
such events are adding to the riot of action in
Waikiki, from the street performers, handbillers
and vendors who clog sidewalks to the
beautification projects that block the
thoroughfares. What started as a well-intended
initiative has now run amok and there's little
that city officials or businesses can do to curb
the frenzy.
"Too much of a good
thing can be detrimental to the extent that it's a
two-edged sword," said Rick Egged, executive
director of the Waikiki Improvement Association.
Egged says he's bombarded with complaints
from businesses. So is Charles Djou, the city
Council representative for the
district."
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