City officials unveiled the new name of the Honolulu rail: “Skyline.” The manu-o-Kū is its new mascot.
Jon Nouchi, deputy director of the Department of Transportation Services, acknowledged that the public has not always looked favorably at the $10 billion project.
His team decided against naming the project “Rail” because “a lot of people came up and they said, 'You know what? Rail rhymes with fail,'” Nouchi recalled.
The city also considered Hawaiian names, such as Hoku, ʻIlima, and Kui.
In the end, however, they were drawn to the name “Skyline.”
“The more we sat with it, the more we realized that it adequately and aptly described our system,” Nouchi said.
“What's unique about our system, as opposed to many other light rail systems and light metro systems on the continent and elsewhere, is that it is a line in the sky,” he continued. “We are fully elevated.”
The name ties in with the project’s new symbol, the manu-o-Kū.
Not only is the white tern the official bird of the City and County of Honolulu, but it also served as a predictor of a successful journey to Native Hawaiian voyagers.
The bird earned its place in the hearts of officials back in January, when they encountered one at Ka Papa Loʻi ʻo Kānewai, a kalo patch in Mānoa connected to the University of Hawaiʻi.
“A group seated in front of the hālau there immediately discovered a nesting baby manu-o-Kū, who was only about 6 feet above us [and] was very, very curious about us,” Nouchi said.
Nouchi and his team learned that, although manu-o-Kū were endangered in the past, they have become more widespread on Oʻahu.
“This story of the manu-o-Kū reestablishing itself in a changed environment and adapting — it started to echo back to me that significance of the same goals that we had for rail on this island,” Nouchi said.
He envisions Skyline as a tool people can use to do their jobs and support their families.
“We hope to navigate our riders to places that they know and love, and perhaps discover new places that they don’t know yet,” Nouchi said.
This interview aired on The Conversation on June 16, 2023. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1. This interview was adapted for the web by Emily Tom.
