Managed Lanes are Oahu’s Future
Hidden in the rail debate is a potential alternative for Oahu that is superior to rail in almost every category. This alternative is Managed Lanes. The city claims it studied Managed Lanes and found the concept less favorable than rail. Rail critics have clearly pointed out that the city’s analysis of Managed Lanes was not done properly.
There are approximately 20 cities on the Mainland building or planning some form of Managed Lanes (Managed Lanes can have different designs for different communities). There are zero cities on the Mainland working on new elevated heavy rail systems.
Managed Lanes on Oahu would be elevated High-Occupancy Lanes. These lanes could go from Waipahu to Downtown Honolulu. Our current buses would travel on these lanes at approximately 55 miles per hour. One important characteristic about Managed Lanes is that the traffic allowed on the lanes always flows at or near the speed limit.
For transit commuters, express busses on Managed Lanes are superior to rail in every category and would therefore be more attractive to new riders. Express buses would travel at approximately 55 miles per hour – rail averages approximately 25 miles per hour. Rail offers no express trains since each train stops at each station. Express buses could enter and exit these lanes (there would be several entrances and exits just like H-1) without forcing its riders to transfer to rail. Full express buses require about half of the riders to stand. Full rail cars (Ansaldo) require about eighty percent of riders to stand.
You can carry more riders per hour with express buses than rail. Express buses have a driver, therefore providing a level of security that the driverless rail cars cannot provide. Express buses are cheaper to build and maintain than rail. Express buses in Honolulu would use less fuel to move one passenger one mile than rail. Local workers can build and maintain Managed Lanes – not so with rail.
Now here’s the really interesting part, the city (the city is the Manager) can decide which other vehicles besides express buses can use the Managed Lanes. If you take the projected transit riders for rail and you put them into express buses, you have approximately two buses driving by each minute. So, the city can then decide to allow other high-occupancy vehicles like school buses and vanpools to use the lanes as well. How about emergency vehicles? How about carpools? There will still be lots of empty space (remember rail cars come by only every 3-6 minutes).
As the manager, the city can close the lanes to all traffic in order to allow for the presidential motorcade to use the Managed Lanes and leave H-1 open (rail cannot do that). As the manager, the city can open the Managed Lanes to all traffic when there is an accident on H-1 (rail cannot do that).
Including express buses, vanpools, school buses, emergency vehicles and carpools, there will still be a lot of empty space on the Managed Lanes. It is at this point that other communities on the Mainland consider offering the remaining space to cars and commercial vehicles for a toll. The technology exists for vehicles to enter these lanes and pay a toll automatically. The technology also exists to raise the toll if too many cars are willing to pay the toll (the concept being that if you raise the toll fewer cars will choose to pay – this is called congestion pricing – remember vehicles on the Managed Lanes are guaranteed to travel at or near the speed limit). The tolls per vehicle would start around $1.50, rise during rush hour to keep the lanes flowing, and then return to the basic fare after rush hour (the manager will want to keep the price low to attract low-occupancy vehicles willing to pay).
Would local drivers be willing to pay? Commercial vehicles would make this decision on a day-by-day basis (rail offers no benefit to commercial companies that use the public highways other than to pay higher taxes and experience more traffic). Would you be willing to pay a toll to be guaranteed a ride at 55 miles per hour during rush hour if you were late for work? How about if you were late to pick up a child and the school has a late fee?
The beauty here is that the decision to pay to use the Managed Lanes by ordinary commuters is a totally discretionary day-by-day decision. It is perfectly OK for drivers to choose not to use the Managed Lanes.
Managed Lanes have the capacity to carry over 1,000 cars per hour on the pay as you go basis. These car commuters will leave H-1 on the day the Managed Lanes are opened (committed car commuters are the big loser if we build rail).
Managed Lanes do not have stations. Therefore, you cannot entice developers and contractors with Transit Oriented Development opportunities with Managed Lanes. Managed Lanes are all about increasing transit and reducing traffic.
Everyone wants a transit system that is fast, affordable and not restricted by H-1 traffic. Managed Lanes offers these benefits better and cheaper than rail. Traffic on H-1 during rush hour is bumper to bumper. We need an alternative route for our non-transit commuters. Managed Lanes offers this alternative route and Rail does not.
About the author: John Brizdle began his transportation career in 1974 when he and a partner started E Noa Tours, an early entrant into the min-bus ecotourism market. In 1986, they introduced the Waikiki Trolley to Oahu. The trolleys offered visitors regular route tours (they ran on a fixed route like a bus) to the Hawaii tourism market. In 2000, Brizdle researched and published the book, “Streetcar Days in Honolulu” with historian Mac Simpson. Today, Brizdle works with a tourism software company. Brizdle has been a student of the city’s rail project since 2006.
