By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer

Here we go again. There's something eerily familiar about what people are saying about mass transit these days.

As University of Hawai'i engineering professor C.S. Papacostas said last week: "It's déjà vu all over again."

Indeed, when you take a look and listen into Honolulu's transit past, it's often hard to tell if you are in 1963, 1983 or 2003.

There are no prizes, just the unsatisfactory feeling of having been there, heard that.

THE QUOTES

1. "We share in some of the frustration that after 12 years there does not seem to be an agreed-upon long-range public transportation program here."
2. "Presently, it is more convenient to drive a car to and from work, in spite of the traffic jams. A good mass-transit system must overcome this balance of convenience so that most who drive will want to escape the rush-hour ordeal by taking the train or the bus."
3. "We can't wait any more. I would urge all politicians to state their position on transportation — it's that vital to the future growth on O'ahu."
4. "It doesn't make sense to start all over again. If you go back to ground zero, nothing will get done in your lifetime."
5. "Rapid transit is not dead in Hawai'i or Honolulu. We can't afford not to build it."
6. "If we wait, we lose the federal money."
7. "This does not mean that the city of Honolulu will never build (a mass-transit system). It may happen in the future, but at this point in time, we think it not wise to proceed with the preliminary engineering."
8. "The transportation problem will not go away, and addressing it three or four more years down the road will not help."
9. "It's not clear in my mind that this rail project is dead. But good ideas always come back. And rail transit is a good idea for the people of Honolulu."
10. "It's not a question of highways or mass transportation — we need both. And we can't ignore one at the expense of the other."
11. "It is so obvious, there must be a simple explanation why it hasn't been more strenuously pursued: Build an elevated fixed-rail system above the H-1."
12. "Don't expect any major improvements in traffic. We'll simply have to wait until traffic gets so bad that the now-unpopular alternatives begin to look good."

THE QUOTED

• Honolulu Mayor Frank Fasi, 1985.
• Honolulu newspaper editorial, 1996.
• Gene Tyndall, a national transportation expert, addressing the Honolulu City Council, 1982.
• U.S. Rep. Thomas Gill, in a speech to Congress, 1962.
• Robert Fishman, Gov. John Waihee's communications director, 1992.
• City Council member Daniel Clement, 1981.
• Karl Kim, University of Hawai'i planning expert, 1998.
• City Transportation Director Cheryl Soon, addressing the City Council in 2003.
• Honolulu Advertiser editorial, 1965.
• Gov. John Waihee, 1994.
• Honolulu Mayor Neal S. Blaisdell, 1970.
• Mayor Eileen Anderson, 1981.

Answers:

1. Tyndall
2. Gill
3. Blaisdell
4. Soon
5. Fasi
6. Waihee
7. Anderson
8. Clement
9. Fishman
10. Advertiser editorial 1965
11. Kim
12. Editorial, 1996

Mike Leidemann's Drive Time column runs Tuesdays. Reach him at 525-5460 or mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.