Kelii Akina had a great interview with Panos on why he left Hawaii after 31 years.




https://youtu.be/Zn0s1zol354?t=42

The audit examined the system from its launch in July 2023 to December 2023
and revealed a 77% decline in ridership.

They said contributing factors include the limited service area, inadequate operating
hours, and a lack of integration with other transportation options.

The audit also found that commute times on the rail are slower than driving and
similar to bus travel during morning peak hours.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/audit-reveals-honolulu-rail-system-falls-short-of-ridership-goals/ar-AA1Ab7Sp?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=f4766aa2a3c044cbba5273f07d43b7f2&ei=42

I'll bet no wifi in the cars either.  The train in Taipei has wifi and wifi in the station.  The station also has a restroom, which the HI one's don't have.

If you're like me, you avoid connecting your personal devices to ANY publicly accessible, open WiFi access point.  I may trust is a hotel WiFi AP that requires a different password each week, but i prefer a hard line connection in my hotel room.

Spectrum/RoadRunner has access points all over the island for subscribers.  I would use that if the rail cars/stations offered it, since you need to log in with individual credentials.

Bottom line: I don't see lack of WiFi as a major problem with The Rail.  Just one more thing to waste money on, and an unnecessary risk for users.

There are people who don't trust public wifi and people who do. It's just a small thing, but all the small things add up that make the rail a failure before it even began.

So, adding WiFi for riders, even an insecure and risky version, is a plus when evaluating the success of the rail?

I bet if it did exist, you'd still count it against them due to the chance of having your personal devices hacked/infected.

Given their track record (pun intended), any WiFi solution would be the least robust, most insecure option available but priced at the top end of the market.

I wouldn't call it evaluating the success, more like setting up to have success.  Modern times require modern tech to make life easier.

Again, it's not just the lack of wifi, but other small things that when all added together make the rail suck.

I know there's no restrooms at the stations, but are there water fountains?

I've not ridden The Rail yet.  The one time i was planning to use it for a trip to Kapolei.  The only routes in the 4 hour window I could use it took 45 minutes to an hour longer than taking the buss start to end, there and back.

Ridiculous. 

They should have a few express busses going between bus transfer points and the Rail stations.  That at least would utilize the busses better instead of trying to compete with them.  As this point, Rail's losing bigly.

I wouldn't call it evaluating the success, more like setting up to have success.  Modern times require modern tech to make life easier.

Again, it's not just the lack of wifi, but other small things that when all added together make the rail suck.

I know there's no restrooms at the stations, but are there water fountains?

KSSK this morning said the auditor who did the 2023 rider audit was wrong when they said ridership is down 70%. It's only down 40%.

So regardless of the reduction in riders, why are we paying this auditor?  I get there is some room for error, but not 70 down to 40% type of error.