The purpose of the Honolulu High-Capacity Transit Corridor Project is to provide high capacity rapid transit in the highly congested east-west transportation corridor between Kapolei and UH Mānoa, as specified in the Oahu Regional Transportation Plan 2030 (ORTP) (OahuMPO 2007).

The project is intended to provide faster, more reliable public transportation service than can be achieved with buses operating in congested mixed flow traffic. It would provide reliable mobility in areas of the corridor where people of limited income and an aging population live and would serve rapidly developing areas of the corridor. The project would also provide additional transit capacity and an alternative to private automobile travel, as well as improve transit links within the corridor.

In conjunction with other improvements included in the ORTP, the Project would help moderate anticipated traffic congestion in the corridor. It also supports the goals of the City and County of Honolulu General Plan (DPP 2002a) and the ORTP by serving areas designated for urban growth.

The project would improve mobility for travelers who face increasingly severe traffic congestion, improve transportation system reliability, provide accessibility to new development in the Ewa-Kapolei-Makakilo area in support of the City's policy to develop this as a "second city" and improve transportation equity for all travelers.