Governor Abercrombie Approves Final Honolulu Rail Transit EIS

Hawaii’s Governor Abercrombie accepted the final environmental impact statement (EIS) for the proposed Honolulu Rail Transit project on December 16.  With the governor’s acceptance, the City of Honolulu anticipates that the FTA will issue a record of decision (ROD), which will allow the City to begin construction.  The project, which consists of a 20-mile-long elevated rail line, will carry 200-foot-long trains and will be capable of carrying more than 8,000 passengers per hour in each direction.  The Federal Transit Administration is contributing $1.55 billion of the total $5 billion project cost.
By 2030, the line is expected to carry over 115,000 riders each weekday, eliminating 40,000 cars from area roadways and reducing traffic delays by 18 percent.
All documents for the environmental documents can be found the the Honolulu Rail Transit web site.