Light-rail system should complement our lifestyle

By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Staff Writer

Light rail isn't just about getting people from one place to another. It's about changing the way we live.

That was the message from two transportation authorities visiting Hawai'i last week, just as the state Legislature prepares to take up the topic of financing for the proposed $2.6 billion project running from Kapolei to Iwilei.

While much of the talk so far about the rail project involves relieving congestion for Leeward O'ahu commuters, Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer and author Jim Motavalli said the real benefits of rail — the ones the public will have to be sold on if the plan is to succeed — have to do with redefining the type of life our suburban residents want to live.

"You can't just declare war on the auto and expect to offer a new transportation project in its place and to be successful," Blumenauer said. "Everything's got to be done in coordination with land-use planning."

That's an area that Honolulu does not seem to be doing well in, Blumenauer said

Instead of developing small, user-friendly communities, Honolulu seems to be pushing people farther apart with new homes that are farther from work, shopping and entertainment than before.

He suggested that still rapidly growing places like Kapolei and Mililani need to develop more housing choices, such as four-story townhouse complexes, to gain the kind of density in which light-rail projects succeed best.

Motavalli, the author of several books about better transportation systems, said he has seen in city after city on the Mainland how new transit systems and smart growth development go hand-in-hand.

"Light rail is just one part of the strategy for decreasing car dependence," he said. Hawai'i also needs to consider pedestrian malls, bike paths, ferries and new types of housing to create the type of community lifestyle that gets people out of their cars.

Motavalli and Blumenauer agree that while a light-rail system is important for O'ahu's future, it shouldn't be sold as a panacea for ending traffic jams.

They both agree that selling people — and their lawmakers — on the need for transit on that basis is going to be a tough marketing job, but one that is both honest and necessary.

"You've got that in common with almost every other community in America that is struggling with transportation and land-use issues," Blumenauer said. "People will always tell you the faults of a rail system first, and then their resistance to raising local taxes to pay for it. But when one is finally put in place it has the potential to revolutionize the way people live and work and then they wonder how they ever lived without it."

Reach Mike Leidemann at 525-5460 or mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.