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 At 3 pm on Saturday, August 31, 1901, the Royal Hawaiian Band played Aloha Oe as Governor Dole flipped a switch energizing the dynamos at the powerhouse. Then the band clambered aboard the first of a procession of streetcars, which rolled some 500 invited guests down the line. As soon as the VIPs had climbed off, the newly-minted motormen and conductors began shepherding an estimated 4,000 people - 2,896 of whom actually paid a total of $144.80 - around the few miles of track. The next two days saw crowds of ten and twelve thousand, and Transit was finally "Rapid." Meanwhile, track gangs labored feverishly to add mileage around the city - a city the rails themselves were creating. In those days people often worked 10- to 12-hour days, and six-day weeks. Before the electric streetcars, they were largely restricted to living close to their place of work. A horse and buggy was an expensive option and needed stable facilities at both ends. Certainly some executives "commuted" that way from upscale Nu'uanu, but for the common man or woman, or even middle manager, it wasn't likely. The concept of a "bedroom community" lay dormant until HRT&L's scheduled service reached empty spaces far from downtown, like moist Manoa and parched Kaimuki. For several decades to come, automobiles were barely a transportation factor, as they were both expensive and unreliable. |
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