Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Hawaii

Trouble in Paradise: Political Gridlock, Cost Overruns and Taxpayer Fatigue Plague Hawaii Transit Project

By John Besche | May 22, 2023 | No Comments

That original price tag has ballooned to about $10 billion, and the final number might eclipse the inflation-adjusted cost of building the entire Panama Canal.

Kaliko, K?'onohi, and Navahine are among the 14 youth climate leaders suing the Hawai'i DOT. Image courtesy of Earthjustice and Our Children’s Trust

have a right to a "healthful environment" under the Hawai‘i state constitution, but under current state policy transportation pollution will increase to an alarming 9.15 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

Why Kids are Suing DOTs for Driving the Climate Crisis

By Kea Wilson | Jun 15, 2022 | No Comments

Hawai'i children and teenagers are suing their state's transportation leaders for the outsized role they've played in the ongoing climate crisis — and if they succeed, their efforts could empower new generations across America to do the same.

Los Angeles has the worst congestion in the country with drivers sitting in traffic an average of 119 hours in 2017.

Traffic Study Comes Under Fire for Being Too ‘Pro-Car’

By Aaron Short | Sep 9, 2019 | 9 Comments

A landmark report that analyzes traffic congestion and its costs is coming under fire from transportation experts who say its methodology and findings are biased toward cars. The Urban Mobility Report “is a throwback to an earlier age” that “reflects an outdated transport planning paradigm which assumed that ‘transportation’ means automobile travel and ‘transportation problem’ […]

Mayors Seek Transit Funds To Fight Climate Change

By Aaron Short | Jul 23, 2019 | 3 Comments

A coalition of mayors wants Congress to declare a "Marshall Plan" against climate change by spending on mass transit to curb air pollution in their cities. The mayors of Atlanta, Honolulu, St. Paul, Pittsburgh, and Portland, Ore., implored senators at a climate hearing on Capitol Hill last week to invest in renewable-energy programs in order to create jobs and fund bus and rail systems, with the goal of weening people off gas-polluting vehicles.

After a Cleveland council member proposed a law against "distracted walking," a local news station jumped at the chance to produce anecdotal evidence. Photo: WKYC.com

Honolulu’s Pedestrian-Blaming Law Sets Off a Round of Copycats

By Angie Schmitt | Sep 5, 2017 | 57 Comments

Instead of reforming our transportation and land use policies to make walking safer, American cities are doubling down on a dysfunctional system by blaming pedestrians for their own deaths.

I know. Can you believe this bill? Image: KHON

Honolulu City Council Wants Tighter Distraction Rules for Pedestrians Than for Drivers

By Stephen Miller | Jul 18, 2017 | 12 Comments

The bill would prohibit people from "viewing a mobile electronic device" while crossing the street. Meanwhile, Honolulu drivers can take their eyes off the road to look at their dash-mounted devices, issue voice commands, and so forth while plowing through an intersection.

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