Posted on: Wednesday, May 1, 2002

State restores money, saves vanpools

By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer

A state program that provides vanpool rides for more than 1,000 residents has been saved for another year.

State House and Senate conferees agreed late last week to restore $250,000 for Vanpool Hawai'i, program director Vicki Harris said yesterday.

"I really chalk this decision up to the participants, who went to their lawmakers and convinced them it's a worthwhile program," Harris said.

Earlier, the conferees had stripped the program from the Transportation Department budget, saying the vanpool service had been developed as a trial program and should have been turned over to county governments years ago.

That threatened the existence of the eight-year-old program, which provides vans to drivers who share expenses with others making the same commute.

The program, which also receives more than $2 million from the federal government, is especially popular in rural areas not well served by public transportation, Harris said.