Honolulu High-Capacity Transit Corridor Project

Honolulu High-Capacity Transit Corridor Project

West Kapolei Kalaeloa Boulevard Kapolei Transit Center Kalaeloa Fort Barrette Road Kapolei Parkway East Kapolei UH-West Oahu Hoʻopili Fort Weaver Road Route continues above Farrington Highway West Loch Waipahu Transit Center Maintenance facility Leeward Community College Interstate H-1 Route continues above Kamehameha Highway Pearl Highlands Interstate H-1 Pearlridge Center Airport/Salt Lake fork Salt Lake alignment above Salt Lake Boulevard Aloha Stadium Arizona Memorial Pearl Harbor Naval Base Honolulu International Airport Ala Lilikoʻi Lagoon Drive Interstate H-1 Route continues above Dillingham Boulevard Middle Street Transit Center Kalihi Street Kapalama Iwilei Route above Nimitz Highway Chinatown Downtown Route continues above Halekauwila Street Civic Center Kakaʻako Ala Moana Center Convention Center Waikiki/UH-Manoa fork McCully Kalaimoku Street Date Street Mōʻiliʻili UH-Mānoa Liliʻuokalani Avenue

: Station part of initial line : Station part of planned extension

The Honolulu High-Capacity Transit Corridor Project (HHCTCP) is the official name for the plan to construct an elevated rapid transit line serving the City and County of Honolulu on the island of Oahu. Plans for a mass transit line to connect Honolulu's urban center with outlying areas began in the 1960s, but funding was not approved until 2005. The controversy over the rail line was the dominant issue for local politics leading into the 2008 Honolulu elections, and culminated in a city charter amendment which left the final decision to the citizens of Oahu. The amendment passed with 53% of voters in favor. A ground-breaking ceremony to signal the beginning of construction was held on February 22, 2011.

The project, as planned, will construct an elevated rapid transit line from the eastern edge of Kapolei, near the University of Hawaii-West Oahu campus, to Ala Moana Center. The line will pass through communities along southern Oahu, via Honolulu International Airport and downtown Honolulu. The plan also includes extensions west through Kapolei, and a link through Salt Lake. In addition, there will be extensions east to the University of Hawaii-Manoa campus and Waikiki. The line will use 128 ft (39 m) trains carrying about 390 passengers each, similar in weight to light rail systems elsewhere in the United States (such as the MAX in Portland, Oregon, as opposed to heavier, and thus more expensive, lines found on rapid transit systems like the subways and elevated systems of Chicago and New York City. Physically, the Honolulu system will have a good deal in common with light rapid transit systems such as SkyTrain in Vancouver, British Columbia or the Copenhagen Metro, as well as the Docklands Light Railway.