page_title: Honolulu Rail Transit
section_title: Studies
hierarchical_section_title: Honolulu Rail Transit / History / Studies
caption_attribution_description: English: Marker for the Honolulu High-Capacity Transit Corridor set at the intersection of Kapiolani Blvd and Keeaumoku Street in Honolulu, HI.
context_page_description: The Honolulu Rail Transit Project is an urban rail rapid transit system under construction in Honolulu County, Oahu, Hawaii, U.S. The mostly-elevated system features design elements from both heavy rail systems and light metros, with a commuter rail-like design incorporated into trains and suburban stations. It will become the first large-scale publicly run metro system in the United States to feature platform screen doors and driverless trainsets. The first phase of the project, linking East Kapolei on the ʻEwa Plain and Aloha Stadium, is scheduled to open in late 2020. Its second phase continuing the line across urban Honolulu to Ala Moana Center is due to open in December 2025.
  For more than 20
  years, debate over the development of a rail system in Honolulu has been a major point of contention in local politics, especially leading into the 2008, 2012, and 2016 election cycles. Proponents of the system say it will alleviate worsening traffic congestion, already among the worst in the United States.
context_section_description: The City and County of Honolulu Department of Transportation Services released the first formal study related to the HHCTCP on November 1, 2006, the Alternatives Analysis Report. The report compared the cost and benefits of a "fixed guideway system", along with three alternatives. The first expanded the existing bus system to match population growth. A second option called for a further expansion to the bus system, with improvements to existing roads. The third alternative proposed a two-lane flyover above the H-1 freeway between Pearl City and Honolulu International Airport, continuing over Nimitz Highway, and into downtown Honolulu.  The report recommended construction of the fixed guideway, and is considered the city's official justification for building a rail line.
  A second planning document, the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), studied possible natural and social impacts of the construction and operation of the HHCTCP. The DEIS was completed and cleared for public release by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) on October 29, 2008. After minor changes were made to comply with state law, the document was distributed via the city's official project website four days later.  The DEIS indicated that impacts of the rail project would include land acquisition from private owners on the route, displacement of residents and businesses, aesthetic concerns related to the elevated guideway, and noise from passing trains.
  The city was criticized for timing the release only two days before the 2008 general election. City Councilmember Ann Kobayashi, running as a mayoral candidate against incumbent Hannemann, suggested that the city deliberately withheld key information to early voters who had already cast their ballots for the mayoral candidates, and a city charter amendment related to the project.  The anti-rail advocacy group Stop Rail Now criticized the report for not further discussing bus rapid transit and toll lanes, options studied earlier by the city in its Alternatives Analysis.
  The third and final official planning document, the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), was approved and cleared for public release by the FTA on June 14, 2010. The FEIS addresses and incorporates public comments received regarding the DEIS.  The FTA subsequently declared the environmental review process complete in a record of decision issued on January 18, 2011.
caption: Honolulu High-Capacity Transit Corridor survey marker in the sidewalk at the corner of Kapiolani Blvd and Keeaumoku Street in Honolulu
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