Building rail lines through developed cities is so difficult and expensive now because of right of way issues, among other things. LA started REbuilding it’s light rail network in the early 90’s with a line from Long Beach where I live, to downtown LA. The network has expanded greatly and continues to, with the pace picking up before the ‘28 Olympics arrive. The sad part is that there was a great rail line called the Red Car that ran all over the city and much of the county and the county south of us, Orange. It was all scraped in the 50’s and early 60’s because we had a better solution... freeways. Now those are jammed up and they’re slowly rebuilding the rail lines but much of the former land has been built on. Very important lesson about not throwing out the old for the new, but rather adding layers to the system.
K Hale wrote: ↑Thu May 20, 2021 9:19 pm
They’re building a massively overbudget light rail line on Oahu now called HART.
Yeah, I heard about that. One of their latest problems is they laid the wrong gauge track so they either have to replace the track or put different wheels on the cars that make them something like 800 pounds overweight. Government incompetence at its best.
K Hale wrote: ↑Thu May 20, 2021 9:19 pm
They’re building a massively overbudget light rail line on Oahu now called HART.
Wow! So they're actually building it. Wasn't sure if that would happen. Not sure what to make of it. On the one hand, the traffic going in and out of Honolulu during rush hour is ridiculous so anything that might alleviate this is welcome. On the other hand, Honolulu is already so overdeveloped that it makes you long for the simpler times long ago. But I guess there's no going back. Plus because it's so expensive there's the tax burden which will befall those who won't even be using this rail system.
K Hale wrote: ↑Thu May 20, 2021 9:19 pm
They’re building a massively overbudget light rail line on Oahu now called HART.
Wow! So they're actually building it. Wasn't sure if that would happen. Not sure what to make of it. On the one hand, the traffic going in and out of Honolulu during rush hour is ridiculous so anything that might alleviate this is welcome. On the other hand, Honolulu is already so overdeveloped that it makes you long for the simpler times long ago. But I guess there's no going back. Plus because it's so expensive there's the tax burden which will befall those who won't even be using this rail system.
Your last line reminded me of fee increases in college years ago. The administration would tout all the great new facilities and services “we” would receive. Of course, the new rec. center or pool or whatever wouldn’t be completed for 3 or 4 years, when you were gone. That’s the nature of it I suppose. We had facilities paid for by previous classes. Either way, my friends and I joked about it more than once.
K Hale wrote: ↑Thu May 20, 2021 9:19 pm
They’re building a massively overbudget light rail line on Oahu now called HART.
Wow! So they're actually building it. Wasn't sure if that would happen. Not sure what to make of it. On the one hand, the traffic going in and out of Honolulu during rush hour is ridiculous so anything that might alleviate this is welcome. On the other hand, Honolulu is already so overdeveloped that it makes you long for the simpler times long ago. But I guess there's no going back. Plus because it's so expensive there's the tax burden which will befall those who won't even be using this rail system.
Your last line reminded me of fee increases in college years ago. The administration would tout all the great new facilities and services “we” would receive. Of course, the new rec. center or pool or whatever wouldn’t be completed for 3 or 4 years, when you were gone. That’s the nature of it I suppose. We had facilities paid for by previous classes. Either way, my friends and I joked about it more than once.
Yep, that's the nature of the beast. Someone has to pick up the tab and usually it's those who won't even benefit from it. Someone who lives and works in Waimanalo won't ever need to use this system. Same for other folks all over the island. I suppose you could just tax Honolulu dwellers but even there probably half or more won't be using it. There's no way to tell who will or won't use it. Yet the the goal is to tax as many people as possible because the costs are so high. I wouldn't even be surprised if they taxed those living on the other islands. If you add this to the state tax then everybody in Hawaii has to pay, right?
Now those are jammed up and they’re slowly rebuilding the rail lines but much of the former land has been built on. Very important lesson about not throwing out the old for the new, but rather adding layers to the system.
