"Get out of the way."

"Rail is on the way. We've got the money. Get out of the way." says Honolulu Mayor Peter Carlisle.

It sure looks like rail is a fait accompli. Money is moving in congress. The first delivery of steel rails has arrived in Honolulu. Pylons to support the elevated track have been constructed. Archaeological examinations of rails sites are in underway. It looks like a done deal.

But it is a really bad plan.

The credit rating of the primary rail car contractor, the Italian company, Ansaldo is in financial trouble and has been rated as near junk. This is the same company that Los Angeles fired for poor performance. Ansaldo is expected to provide cars and driverless operating systems. Good luck with that.

The route extends from East Kaplolei to Ala Moana Shopping Center. The first station is located some distance from Kapolei, Ohau's so-called second city, in East Kapolei. It will not provide much relief for the residents of Ewa Beach trapped daily on Fort Weaver Road.

The second station is at University of Hawaii's West Ohau campus, students might use it if they can find a convenient station at which to board.

The third station is Ho'opili. Nobody lives there; it is mostly farmland. But a big real estate development was recently, and long after the station there was planned, approved for Ho'opili, further impoverishing our farm land and further enriching developers.

The fourth station and several others from are in low-lying areas, perhaps above the tsunami inundation zone, but within the predicted sea level rise. The low-lying stations include the airport, most in Kakaako and Ala Moana.

The construction plan is to build the stations and the railway is in numerical order. It will start in the west and build toward the city. In a few years we can ride all the way for East Kapolei to Pearl City.

The route does not include the University of Hawaii, Manoa campus or anything else east of Ala Moana. So it won't help get people around in the city itself.

It begins to look like the rail plan is really a further enrich real estate developers plan.

I support rail. I don't expect a rail system to reduce traffic, but I do expect a rail system to help people get to places they need to go. So, If this thing is going to happen, why not revise the plan so it will work. Consider the following steps:
1. Get rid of Ansaldo - there are many alternative suppliers.
2. Revise the route: move it to higher ground; put stations where people need to go, Kapolei, Ewa Beach, Manoa.
3. Reverse the order of construction - build from the center outward - so people can use of the rail system while it is under construction.