Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann is anxious to break ground on Oahu’s proposed mass transit system and believes a panel of experts made the right decision Friday by choosing steel wheel on steel rail technology for the $3.8 billion, 20 mile project.

“I think they were very deliberate and very thoughtful,” said Hannemann. “Obviously we wanted an expert opinion and that's what we got.”

The panel’s vote was 4-1 in favor of steel on steel technology. The lone dissenter was University of Hawaii Professor Panos Prevedouros, a civil engineer who voted for express buses on managed lanes, saying such a system was less costly and more flexible than light rail.

In a Tuesday interview with Khon2 Hannemann questioned Prevedouros’ expertise and said he put his trust into the four members of the panel with extensive backgrounds in light rail projects. “He just talks about it, he just studies or analyzes it,” the mayor said of the UH professor. “He hasn't been in the real world of engineering; actually doing those projects.”

With the expert panel’s vote now behind him, Hannemann hopes the City Council will act quickly to affirm the steel on steel option. “People are tired of studies, they're tired of being stuck in traffic and they want action now,” the mayor said. Hannemann also chastised three vocal members of the Council who have raised objections about the project. Council members Donovan Dela Cruz, Charles Djou and Ann Kobayashi have questioned if Honolulu taxpayers can afford the high cost of building and maintaining a light rail system.

“We can't continue to have people who are going to block and delay,” the mayor said. “We need to do this - we need to do this now.”

One of the objections raised by Prevedouros about an elevated light rail system is noise levels. With twenty transit stations along the proposed route from Kapolei to Ala Mona, trains on an elevated guideway will stop and go frequently. Prevedouros says noise levels could reach 75 decibels.

“All of you know steel wheel and steel rail is noisy,” the professor said Friday, during a debate session with fellow committee members. “Seventy-five decibels is noisy,” he added.

Prevedouros believes noise from a light rail train may be similar to a heavy-duty lawnmower, which registers 70 to 77 decibels on a handheld decibel meter from 60 to 100 feet away. Sixty to a hundred feet is also the proposed distance for businesses and homes that would sit next to the rail line.

Ron Tober, the chairman of the expert panel disputed Prevedouros' claims saying steel on steel technology is not what it used to be. "The new vehicles, the new technology is in fact very quiet and can be made to be nearly vibration free," Tober said.

Hannemann meanwhile believes the noise issue will work itself out during the design phase of the project. "When we do this and we bid out an RFP (Request for Proposal),” said the mayor. “We'll obviously raise that as a concern and we'll see how we'll adjust and adapt."

In the end Hannemann believes any noise issue associated with the proposed mass transit system is just that – noise. “I don't see that as a show stopper,” he said. “I don't see that as something that's going to get in the way of doing what we need to do."

The mayor still hopes to break ground on the first phase of the mass transit project in 2009 and wants the construction to begin in Kapolei.

“To come from the west side allows us to build quickly because there's open land,” says Hannemann. “There are willing developers to partner with the city and that's where the expanded growth is going to be.”

Andrew may be reached at apereira@khon2.com or ph. 591-4263.