FOCUS
Car or rail? Both is best

By Randy Leong

A Census Bureau report released Sept. 25 gives rise to serious doubt about the wisdom of building rail transit in Honolulu.

In the RUF dual-mode transport system envisioned by Palle Jensen, all vehicles have both road and rail wheels, running at the same speed so transitions don't burn rubber. The wheels could hug the rail to climb hills. A special rail brake would provide emergency braking. Image courtesy www.ruf.dk

The underlying assumption (or hope) of rail proponents is that an efficient rail system will coax drivers out of their cars and into trains, and thus relieve traffic congestion. As a young man, I harbored this assumption and supported rail transit. I have since come to realize that this assumption is not realistic.

In the real world, we need the flexibility, security and convenience of private vehicles. With our time-starved lifestyles, we try to do errands on our way to work, on our way home or sometimes even during the workday to leave more time for ourselves on weekends. Picking up laundry, grocery shopping, doctor visits and other routine tasks can hardly be done reasonably using rail transit.

People with children or pets also must make a multitude of mini-trips, such as school dropoffs/pickups, doctor visits, practices, performances, school events, etc., for which rail transit simply is not the solution. Can you imagine trying to board a train with your groceries, your dry cleaning and 2-year-old (child or Labrador), not to mention walking to and from the stations with them? Unfortunately, our workplaces, doctors, schools, playgrounds and favorite stores are not all in one location or even along a single transit corridor.

And how about those who must work nights, or who finish work late at night? Would you want your spouse, daughter or sister walking urban streets and waiting at rail stops at 2 a.m.? Or how about walking to and standing at a rail stop on rainy days?

We need private vehicles.

Yet we really cannot afford to continue to build more highways and roads endlessly just to accommodate them.

Is there a solution?

I believe Gov.-elect Linda Lingle's plan for an elevated highway using the proposed light-rail route is a good temporary solution for central O'ahu commuters. I say "temporary" because I believe the real solution lies in the not-too-distant future, and that we must start laying the foundations now for what is called a dual-mode transportation system.

Best of both worlds

The Maxi-RUF, envisioned by Palle Jensen, has a hybrid electric motor. It runs on electricity in the city; on the track it can recharge. Elsewhere, it uses the hybrid motor. Image courtesy www.ruf.dk

"Dual-mode transportation concepts feature vehicles that can be driven on conventional streets and can also operate on a high-speed automated guideway under computer control. Both passenger and freight vehicles are envisioned. In some systems, vehicles are carried on pallets, on others no pallets are required."

What dual-mode will do is let us have the best of all worlds: Commuters from the Kapolei area would have the flexibility, security and convenience of driving their own vehicles for shorter trips (i.e., less than five miles) or to off-the-corridor destinations. For the commute to town, these vehicles could enter or board an exclusive guideway under the control of a computer system (a fully automated, hands-off operation), to whisk them nonstop into town. The total commute during peak rush hours would be 35 to 40 minutes, door to door.

As a bonus, commuters would not have to drive while on the guideway. They would be able to use the 25-odd minutes to eat, read, surf the Web, talk to other passengers or on their cell phones, even catch quick naps.

The guideway also could accommodate pool vehicles that could pick up eight to 12 passengers in a given neighborhood and then get onto the guiderails for a nonstop run downtown. Multi-passenger public vehicles could be integrated into the system and would operate just as our park-and-ride bus system, but much faster.

Clear advantages

Families would have more quality time; commuters would make more productive use of their commute time; businesses and organizations would have better-rested workers. The hours saved on the road each day would increase work force productivity and have a positive effect on the economy.

Our environment would be cleaner and quieter because the dual-mode vehicles would be electric or hybrid-powered. To minimize the visual impact of the guideway, low-maintenance plantings could be part of the elevated highway/guideway structure.

For an excellent overview paper on dual-mode transportation by Francis D. Reynolds, originally published in the September-October 2001 Futurist magazine, visit faculty.washington.edu/jbs/itrans/reynoldsfuturist.htm.

Start planning now

Dual-mode technology is still a few years away. Two technologies are in the testing stage: Palle Jensen's RUF, which can be reviewed at www.ruf.dk, and the MegaRail system headed by Kirston Henderson, at www.megarail.com.

In the last two years, I have communicated by e-mail or telephone with Reynolds, Jensen and Henderson, all intelligent, clear-thinking gentlemen. They've been working hard to share their vision with the world, some with no thought of financial gain. In fact, Reynolds, who has regularly visited the North Shore of O'ahu, is now in his 80s and has expressed doubt about ever seeing a dual-mode system in full operation during his lifetime. Yet he is putting the finishing touches on an excellent book on the topic and hopes to have it published soon.

I am convinced that dual mode is the best hope for a long-term solution to our traffic problems. I hope our leaders will have the wisdom to start laying the groundwork for it today.

Because the technology has not yet been commercialized, I suggest that we consider designing Lingle's elevated highway such that it could be converted to an automated guideway later, when dual-mode technology is commercially operational.

In other words, let's keep our options open. We have before us an opportunity to install a path to our traffic solutions for the short as well as the long term. Let's not blow it.