honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, August 12, 2005

For what will we be paying?

By Lee Cataluna
Advertiser Columnist

spacer

Wait, wait, did we miss something?

Between the epic journeys into work every, every day, the mad crush at the grocery store just to grab $80 worth (a two-day supply) of milk and cereal, and the soul-corroding pressure to keep up with the omnipresent "top 10" lists that tell us what we should have, how we should act, what we need to worry about and who we ought to admire, perhaps something might have slipped by.

Wait, what's this rail thing?

There has been the low rumbling talk about rail and mass transit for so many years that it's easy to tune it out, like, "Yeah, yeah, those folks at Honolulu Hale are just trying to avoid talking about potholes and garbage dumps, no? Whatevers."

Every so often, there'd be crayon sketches shown in the news of something that looks like the Peoplemover at Disney with potted bushes on the side and slim people of no discernable ethnicity (except you can tell they're not from here). Or video from someplace cold where tall, expressionless people wearing coats are efficiently getting on and off a train and leading productive, orderly lives. Hmm, doesn't look like 'Ewa Beach. They going bring that thing here? For real? Nah.

After the Big Plans got Mansho'd a while back, it seemed like yet another thing that wasn't ever going to happen. Ferry system, right. Third interisland airline, sure. Put rail in the "I'll believe it when I see it" category.

But now, though we can't see it, we're going to have to pay for it.

Pay for what?

Nobody knows.

They'll tell us later. After they come up with something. Plans and stuff. Don't worry, it'll be great. Just remember to save up a little more cash for those milk and cereal bills.

And so goes the bumbling, numbing way in which Hawai'i becomes more and more crowded, developed, urban and expensive. We have to have rail because of the traffic problems that have resulted from all the housing development, and by the way, this will allow more housing to be developed. Fabulous.

Sadly, there isn't much choice. Paradise has been paved and the parking lot is overflowing. Growth must follow growth to lead to more growth, which, don't forget, is the constant goal.

Will a rail system make a difference in O'ahu traffic? Sure. It'll mean more people can live in new just-alike Kapolei houses built so close together that when the neighbor sneezes you can reach across your sofa into his bedroom to wipe his nose; they can ride the rails to work in town in service jobs they loathe while their latchkey kids zip over to mill the mall at Pearlridge honing their American consumerism value system on Hello Kitty rhinestone-covered cell phones and soft porn T-shirts.

Quality of life? Yeah, this'll make it all better.