Political Cartoon

John Pritchett: Ghost Riders In The Sky

Honolulu rail hit a peak of 18,108 riders on July 4, shortly after it launched and the last day fares were free. But daily ridership today hovers around 3,000 — a long way off from the daily goal of 10,000 passengers by the train's one-year anniversary in late June.

By John Pritchett

February 4, 2024 · 1 min read

About the Author

John Pritchett

John Pritchett is an award-winning cartoonist. He has created artwork in Hawaii for decades, including 20 years at the Honolulu Weekly. See his portfolio on the web at: pritchettcartoons.com. Opinions are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Civil Beat’s views.

Honolulu rail hit a peak of 18,108 riders on July 4, shortly after it launched and the last day fares were free. But daily ridership today hovers around 3,000 — a long way off from the daily goal of 10,000 passengers by the train’s one-year anniversary in late June.

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About the Author

John Pritchett

John Pritchett is an award-winning cartoonist. He has created artwork in Hawaii for decades, including 20 years at the Honolulu Weekly. See his portfolio on the web at: pritchettcartoons.com. Opinions are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Civil Beat’s views.

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January numbers are out, and the trend continues. 91,634, or 2,956 per day.

FesterBestertester · 2 months ago

This is not a surprise at all. From the start ridership estimates where simply created to justify the project, it was never going to be close to realistic. Not only are ridership numbers much lower, but they fail to consider the regular bus riders that are not using rail instead. Those riders should be counted as bus riders because to get to their endpoint commute the still need to transfer to the bus to arrive. Lastly, lets make sure HART doesn't have the authority, or money to unilaterally attempt to extend rail anywhere beyond Kaka'ako, unless of course Mark Zuckerberg, or Jeff Bezos decide they are going to fully fund it and bring in Chinese builders that will actually get a project done on time and budget.

wailani1961 · 2 months ago

Is ridership 3,000 people or 3,000 1-way tickets?

surferx808 · 2 months ago

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