Culture
Honolulu Is Building America's First Fully Driverless Transit System
But there are doubts about whether it will inspire other U.S. cities to follow suit.
Perfect weather and sandy beaches might spring to mind when a mainlander thinks of Honolulu. But this metro area of nearly 1 million people is far from paradise for those who get stuck in its notorious traffic, which competes with Los Angeles for the title of worst in the United States.
"Anybody who flies into Honolulu and drives into town—heading to Waikiki, for example—you are immediately struck by the H-1 freeway, seven lanes of traffic going in the same direction," says Dan Grabauskas, executive director and CEO of the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation Â(HART). "And if you land at rush hour, it's a standstill. It surprises people when they come here, to see how much congestion we face."