The planning and project development process for the Honolulu High-Capacity Transit Corridor Project follows the requirements of the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration (FTA) because FTA funds will be used for this project.

The City completed a planning Alternatives Analysis in October 2006 that evaluated four alternatives to provide high-capacity transit service in the travel corridor between Kapolei and UH Manoa. By vote of the Honolulu City Council and with Mayor Hannemann’s signature, the City and County of Honolulu Council selected a fixed-guideway transit system extending from Kapolei to UH Manoa with a connection to Waikiki as the Locally Preferred Alternative (LPA) on December 22, 2006.

The City and FTA issued a notice of intent to complete an EIS and completed scoping for the EIS in April 2007. The City and FTA are preparing the Draft EIS and the City will request approval from FTA to begin the preliminary engineering phase on the portion of the LPA that will be constructed as the First Project extending from East Kapolei to Ala Moana Center.