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Traffic from Kapolei heading into downtown Honolulu in the mornings is bad.

We all know that.

But how bad?

Mayoral candidate Peter Carlisle contended on a last week: “You have to be able to see what’s going on with those people when they come in the morning. It’s not unusual for somebody to have get up at 4:15 in the morning and then get to Fort Street Mall for classes at HPU, not being able to get there until 7:45.”

Carlisle’s comment was an effort to explain his support for the proposed $5.5 billion rail-transit project.

But is it possible that some Honolulu residents have to wake up three and a half hours early to cover the approximately 20 miles between Kapolei and the city?

For argument’s sake, we’ll grant Carlisle some buffer room here.

First, let’s assume that the student that the former prosecutor is referring to is a particularly lethargic individual. We’ll grant him a solid 20 minutes to actually get to his feet after the 4:15 alarm.

Let’s also assume that the student has a lengthy morning ritual including showering, dressing, eating a bowl of cereal, reading an article or two on Civil Beat and then sipping a cup of coffee. We’ll say that takes about 45 minutes.

Heck – let’s give him a full hour just to be safe.

By 5:35 a.m., with the benefit of a leisurely morning, the student should be alert, dressed, clean, fed and ready to go.

With the down economy, our student has also been saving money on gas by taking public transportation.

So that’s another 10 minutes off the clock to walk to the bus stop.

Luckily for the student, he won’t have to rush. According to the route offered by for the morning of Aug. 26, 2010, Bus 102 – Villages of Kapolei Express – will arrive at the station on Kekuilani Loop and Opuku street at 6:01 a.m.

It will then arrive at the station on South King street and Bethel street at 6:44 a.m., four blocks from Fort Street with a good hour to spare before Carlisle’s estimated 7:45 arrival time.

He could even catch a 6:15 a.m. bus and make it downtown just before 7:10 a.m.

Now, we know that not everyone takes the bus. Many people will drive their cars downtown from Kapolei and the scenario does present a slightly longer commute.

According to on the website, the average commute time for vehicles traveling from Kapolei to downtown during peak hours – 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. – is approximately 89 minutes.

So the student leaving at 5:45 (we gave him an hour and a half to get ready for school), would arrive downtown at 7:15, and that’s leaving home 15 minutes before the peak hours begin. So he’s actually probably going to get there faster than 89 minutes.

He could leave as late as 6:15, and most students probably don’t need two hours to get ready to leave the house. So it’s likely he could get up as late as 5:45 or 6, and still get on the road in time.

There are no doubt cases of individuals who do indeed get up at 4:15 in the morning and feel pressured to get to work by 8 a.m. Perhaps some need to make breakfast for a family or take children to school.

But is that situation really “not unusual?” We’ll leave that judgment up to you.

The fact is that most people in Kapolei don’t need to get up at 4:15 in the morning to make it to Honolulu by 7:45, as bad as the traffic is.