ATI The Alliance for Traffic Improvement

Seeking cost effective ways to reduce traffic congestion on Oahu

  December 29, 2004.
New York's hybrids fall short
General Motors said their hybrid buses would show a fuel economy improvement of up to 60 percent, instead the savings around the country appear to be in the range of 10 percent to 20 percent. READ MORE (need to register with NY Times, no charge).

December 26, 2004.
Say "aloha" to sustainable potholes.
Mayor Harris leaves office and Mufi Hannemann is sworn in as Mayor one week from now on January 2nd.

December 19, 2004.

It's the potholes, stupid!
And the BRT fiasco, and neighborhood signs (so residents know where they live?), and the Hawaii Kai medians (that residents do not want), and Ala Wai narrowing, and Kuhio traffic. But we do wish to thank him for the new streetlights on Kalakaua Avenue; they are really nice. They are much better than the L.A. style ones he put up the first time. (Cartoon: Dick Adair, Honolulu Advertiser, 12/19/04)

December 18, 2004.
BOSTON'S 'BIG DIG' DIGGING A DEEPER FINANCIAL HOLE. Now the feds are saying they will withold funds. MORE For a more complete list of Boston Herald recent articles on the Big Dig fiasco read here.MORE.

December 17, 2004.
OPPOSITION TO SEATTLE RAIL FUNDED BY DEVELOPERS. A surprising fact about the opposition to the Seattle Monorail project is that developers in that city are funding it. They believe it will have a detrimental effect on downtown Seattle. MORE It reminds us of the opposition from downtown Portland businesspeople who also believed transit would not be beneficial. MORE  Those business people thinking that so-called 'light' rail would improve property values might want to investigate this.

December 13, 2004.
SEATTLE POST SAYS HYBRIDS NOT SAVING FUEL. "The disappointing results are a far cry from the rosy predictions made by officials," the newspaper says. MORE

December 11, 2004.
MORE ON THE MAYOR-ELECT'S VIEWS ON 'E' ROUTE. The Advertiser headlines today that "Mayor-elect Mufi Hannemann said he will probably divert new hybrid city buses from their Downtown-to-Waikiki route because few riders seem to be using them and they are competing with private bus companies." MORE

December 10, 2004.
MAYOR-ELECT'S COMMITTEE SEEKS NEW TRANSPORTATION DIRECTOR
For full list of members and their affiliations READ HERE. For a discussion of all the Mayor-elect's search committees and their members read about them at HAWAII REPORTER.

December 10, 2004.
HAWAII HOUSE NAMES TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE MEMBERS.
Joe Souki remains Chair and Marilyn Lee replaces Kirk Caldwell. For full committee members and contacts, READ HERE.

December 9, 2004.
HANNEMANN UNVEILS TRAFFIC PLANS FOR FIRST DAYS.
Get rid of BRT, synchronize traffic lights, work with the state on traffic management and consider redoing Kuhio and Ala Wai. READ IT IN HAWAII REPORTER

December 8, 2004
LETTER TO THE EDITOR SAYS IT ALL
The writer reminds Advertiser readers that, last time around, when voters finally saw through the City's lies, the 65 percent support for rail transit switched to 65 percent opposition. READ THE LETTER

 December 7, 2004
PRO-RAIL SURVEY SKEWED 
The Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization (OMPO) poll released recently was skewed in favor of rail. For example, would you prefer a "difficult and expensive" highway or a "rail rapid transit" system? Especially when the reversible highway option is less expensive and much faster. READ MORE 

 December 5, 2004.
 FHWA ISSUES NEW REPORT ON CONGESTION
The chart below from the report shows the causes of traffic congestion nationally. Oahu has a greater share for signal timing and traffic incidents since we handle these so poorly. READ THE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.

                                    FHWA's sources of congestion:

The Mayor-elect tells Hawaii Reporter that he will meet with emergency service providers and others in Waikiki to assess what changes are needed to improve traffic congestion — in addition to halting the current BRT service. READ HAWAII REPORTER STORY

 TODAY'S QUOTES: "...(busways) permit the operation of high-volume, reliable service at a cost far less than new rail construction...what might be an undesirable two-transfer ride on rail system (auto to rail to walk/bus/subway) could be a no- or one-transfer ride on a bus/HOV system." U.S. Department of Transportation. National Transportation Strategic Planning Study. 1989. pp.12-17.
           "Regardless of how good a mass transit system is developed for Honolulu, no private cars will be taken off the highways, and the vehicle population will continue to increase." Hawaii Dept of Transportation. Report to the 9th Legislature Relating to the Statewide Transportation Council.   December 1977. p.7.

 December 3, 2004.
            HANNEMAN PLANS TO HALT BRT. Mayor-elect Mufi Hanneman told Hawaii Reporter's Malia Zimmerman today that he plans to halt the BRT buses once in office. He said that these large $800,000 buses could be put to better use for local residents on longer city bus runs.