Honolulu
Our response to AIA Honolulu re.
At-grade vs. Elevated Light Rail
 Originally emailed to AIA 04.23.09,
updated with recent information.
PRT Essentals
 A brief PowerPoint defining Personal
Rapid Transit.
eMail to Councilmembers Cachola and
Bainum
 2/6/2025 email encourages a look at PRT.
Response from Councilman Bainum
  
eMail to Councilmember Kobayashi and
University of Hawaii Professor Panos
Prevedouros
 2008 email suggest how PRT is a better
solution for transit in Honolulu than light
rail.
Original eMail to City Council members
 2008 email suggests a look at
alternative technologies is appropriate
before committing to an enormously
expensive light rail system.
Kamehameha Schools study (Philip
Craig) discusses at-grade vs. elevated
alternative.
 Study reviews rail technologies, and no
other alternatives.
AIA Task Force Report: Suggested Light
Rail Transit (LRT) for the Honolulu
High-Capacity Transit Corridor Project
 Download from AIA Honolulu's website.
More Cost Comparisons!
Government
proposes,
bureaucracy
disposes. And the
bureaucracy must
dispose of
government
proposals by
dumping them on us.

P. J. O'Rourke
PERSONAL RAPID TRANSIT (PRT)
$600 million
$23-30 million
Four-five years
Far less than either rail alternative
(guideway is not manufactured on site)
<$18 million due to full computerization,
maglim propulsion
Minimal
Significant given NO practical limit in
number of pubic or privately funded offline
stations
Very low, pylons sunk ~90 feet apart
Morgantown, West Virginia since 1970s
The table below was originally published in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin in April, 2009.  To illustrate the
significant advantages which PRT offers compared to older, heavier, linear and far more expensive rail
technologies, a new column with relevant information is added.
                                   This...                                                                       this...                                                                           this...                            
or this?