Sorry, Dave.  The basic reality (sans all that academic verbiage) is that we need a good mass transit system or we will strangle in our own traffic. Just look at the 5:15 traffic cam shot from H-1-H2 every morning.  Without rail, our Honolulu roads will be like LA within 5 years.  The problem lies not in rail but in the handshakes among politicians, private industry and construction, and the multi-million dollar consulting industry. It also lies with a public which pays little to no attention to what its government does and generally fails to vote.  When no one is watching the cookie jar, lots of hands are in it, stealing the cookies. The H-3 project proved that and we learned nothing.