In the early '60s before H-1 was constructed, I participated as a student member of the Transportation Committee of the old three-M (Makiki, Mo'ili'ili, Manoa) council in discussions with Mayor Frank Fasi on his rail transit proposal. By my accounting, that means rail transit has at least been before us — unresolved — for going on five decades. As a result, I think I can say with authority that we don't need yet another study; we need a practical way forward on rail transit.

Merely to say go or no go as the present referendum campaign proposes does not help us arrive at an informed basis for such a decision. Right now, we have the spectacle of a standoff between the mayor and an opposition citizens group. The governor and lieutenant governor make a surprise appearance, throw rocks, and then leave the stage. The public at large is left on the sidelines, reluctant observers of an unseemly brawl. The public has no way of making clear-sighted judgments in the midst of a fog of accusations, assertions and counter-claims.

The referendum language has the additional disadvantage of not providing an alternative to rail. It simply forbids it and leaves the question hanging of what is to be done and how to pay for it.

Rail transit is not just the map of a route printed in the Sunday Advertiser; it is a way of living, and the public needs to know what it will mean for the Honolulu of the future.

Rail transit will have a major impact on neighborhood development and redevelopment. Higher density, mixed-use neighborhoods located around transit stations will do more than revitalize older communities and create new places to live, work and play. It will provide badly needed affordable housing that will be mandated under the project rules. The smart-growth development philosophy incorporated in transit-oriented development will create new homeowners in revitalized communities.

Equally important, placement of new neighborhoods along the rail route will protect green space and agricultural lands from urban sprawl. The benefits of keeping the country will help preserve much of the lifestyle we love and maintain the special quality of life we want to pass on to our children and grandchildren.

Many parts have yet to be determined, including the exact placement of the guideway, station locations and their design, and character of the community development that will a major component of the construction.

NEED TRANSIT AUTHORITY

In other words, as of today, we have the rail transit cart before the community horse. I have long contended that we must have a Transit Authority that will, in conjunction with a Citizens' Advisory Task Force, present a Transit Oriented Development Plan to the public. A Transit Authority creates the opportunity to take a big step away from political agendas and the clash of political personalities. It gives the public ownership of the issue. It allows for the various communities affected by the rail route to guide development and manage the social consequences of that development. It encourages participation by organizations, businesses, nonprofits and individuals for the best and most compelling of reasons — their fate is on the line and in their hands.

The Transit Authority will meet with architects, engineers, child-care providers, workforce housing advocates, commercial property managers, Realtors, developers, large and small landowners, corporate CEOs, union leaders and rank-and-file union members, small-business entrepreneurs and dog park advocates — you name it! Believe me, the public wants to be involved and is ready to make rail transit work. Proposals need to be put on the table. Community input needs to be transformed into workable design.

IMPACT ON OUR LIVES

Whether it's developing housing for people along the route; providing land for housing and commercial activity in return for developers building a new stadium at their cost either on the present site or in West O'ahu; revitalizing Varsity Circle and the university area at Manoa; taking a spur from Ala Moana or the university into Waikiki; extending the line to Mililani, Ko Olina or 'Ewa; making sure the airport, the Arizona Memorial and Pearl Harbor are served; creating downtown Honolulu as the new community of choice — everybody has ideas and wants to help make good decisions.

A Transit Authority takes the politics out and puts the people in. We can tone down the rhetoric and tune in the public. This isn't idealism, it's realism. If we genuinely want to bring the rail transit issue to a conclusion we need to give ourselves the chance to judge its benefits and its challenges on the basis of its impact on our lives. A Transit Authority's sole purpose is to examine and present exactly that perspective.

The alternative, I fear, is what I call the Natatorium Syndrome. Everybody knows what they don't want, defeats whatever is proposed, then goes away until the next time. In the meantime, the Natatorium gradually crumbles, its purpose forgotten, its appearance a public disgrace.

Traffic congestion and pollution in urban Honolulu are real and are not going away. Family stresses both fiscal and in terms of quality time together are growing. We need a way forward on rail transit. We need a Transit Authority.

Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, is a U.S. representative. He wrote this commentary for The Advertiser.