I am one of the very fortunate people that live in Hawaii that when I leave for work at 6am the direction I am driving is away from downtown and traffic is light. I am able to quickly jump on the expressway and enjoy a beautiful drive across to the other side of the Island. Total commuter time from when I walk out the front door till I sit down at my desk 25 minutes.
On the other hand I have co-workers who leave there homes 1 hour earlier than I do and arrive at the same time. That is my definition of commuter hell. For those of you that live in and around San Francisco many would label that 90 minute commute as life.
The traffic has gotten so bad here in Hawaii that they are thinking of putting in a rail system (20 years to late) it has gotten some bad press but I think it is a wonderful idea.
My wife and I have been talking of buying a new home as our family is outgrowing our current home. The area we can afford to buy in is close to the area that the rail would originate. I am all for it but local populace would rather suffer through gridlock than have section of the rail raised as they are afraid it will reduce the beauty of Hawaii. The State has a hard decision to make taxes will have to be raised but I hate the idea of having to wait 5-10 years for them to get it built. I will suffer in my current home versus fighting the traffic.
I envy those that do have speedy mass transit with easy access points. I do not qualify riding the bus as speedy as Hawaii has a wonderful bus system but it competes with other motor vehicles.
It is nice to know that some of you are finding ways to make your mass transit time productive. [ZDNet]
Hmm… didn’t know that about Guam.
Well, either way you cut it I gotta say “Lucky you live Hawaii”, even though sometimes the local BS infuriates me because it restricts Hawaii’s technical growth. I’d like to go back, but there aren’t many decent IT positions over there.
I had a tech recruiter explain to me once that you need to have a strong university in order to build a “technical base” of skilled people in a geographical area. What this does is attract potential hi-tech firms because they will have a ready pool of trained labor with which to work with (vs. shipping everyone in from the mainland).
It’s a lose-lose situation, actually. First of all, Univ. of Hawaii isn’t really highly recognized in the technical fields PLUS anyone who graduates from UH in Engineering or some other technical field generally looks to the mainland for a job. With this combination, it is really hard to develop a technically-savvy base of people to attract high-tech firms. Now toss in Hawaii’s VERY business-unfriendly (i.e. high taxes, no breaks for new companies) climate and you will get the expected results. Places like Phoenix and Vegas attract high-tech firms by offering very sweet deals like cheap land, no taxes for 3 years, etc. Why isn’t Hawaii offering things like that if they are serious about going “high-tech”?
Ah well, hopefully I can get a job in a hotel somewhere ;)
(BTW, I graduated from UH in Engineering)
I think your perspective is very accurate. Although some of the H-3 delay in opening was due to some legal issues. With the Unions dug in so deep here and their ridiculous working hour restrictions etc. This thing will be stuck at the legislature for several years as you point out while pieces of this are handed out to the good ol boy network.
But at least Hawaii construction politics are not as ugly as they are on Guam where I lived for 8 years corruption rules there and nothing gets done without lining the pockets of politicians with cash.
If you remember how long it took to build the H3 Freeway (20+ years, multi-billion dollar overruns?) – I wouldn’t count on the rail system anytime soon. Unfortunately, my observations of my ex-home state indicate to me that the local government is still too stuck in the good ‘ole boy syndrome. Once the project starts, everyone will want a piece of the “pie”.
If you know about the screw-up on the Haiku Stairs where the state spent $100K to rebuild the stairs, but FORGOT TO PROVIDE ACCESS TO THE STAIRS, you can see where I am coming from.
Ask anyone driving out of Kunia or Ewa whether they would want a rail system or a “pretty view”. I would be interested in hearing what they would say. Traffic out of those areas is worse than most areas in SF or LA, although a shorter distance in general (10 miles max?)… Most people I know try to beat rush hour by leaving before 5:30 AM. If you leave at 6 AM or later, forget it.
My .02