Employers scrambling to arrange transportation

By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawai'i employers were scrambling yesterday to prepare for a possible bus strike on Tuesday, with hospitals and government agencies urging workers to organize car pools and Outrigger Hotels & Resorts even creating its own shuttle-bus system.

There were no new developments yesterday in the contract talks. Discussions broke off Thursday and a meeting of Hawaii Teamsters and Allied Workers Local 996 representing bus workers, and O'ahu Transit Services, which runs the city buses, is not scheduled until shortly before the strike deadline.

"It is very serious," said city Managing Director Ben Lee, who will meet again with business leaders about the bus situation on Friday. "We encourage all businesses to come up with a contingency plan to be responsible for getting their employees to work."

Outrigger has one of the most ambitious answers — a private shuttle-bus system for an estimated 150 to 200 employees. Outrigger would subsidize $5 of the daily $8 round-trip cost. The $3 round-trip cost for workers would be 50 cents less than the normal $1.75 one-way city-bus fare.

Outrigger's plans involve nine pickup spots from as far away as Kapolei and three Waikiki destinations.

"We've always treated our employees as family," Outrigger spokesman Jim Austin said. "If something's going to bring them hardship, Outrigger's always been a company that steps up."

Most other Honolulu employers interviewed yesterday are urging employees to make their own carpool arrangements, pointing out paid parking lots or vowing to be tolerant of tardy workers.

None of it may help Marilyn Custodio, who rides the Route 201 Express every day from her home in 'Ewa Beach to get to her housekeeping job at the Hilton Hawaiian Village by 7:30 a.m. Every night she climbs onboard again for an hourlong bus ride home.

Custodio put her name on a piece of paper circulated by the hotel's human-resource department inquiring about employees who need alternative transportation. She's anxious to hear whether the hotel has any ideas for her to get to work.

"That's why I'm worried," said Custodio, 42.

But Custodio — a member of the Local 5 Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees union — said she stands by whatever decision bus workers make.

"It will be hard," Custodio said. "But I support the strike by TheBus."

As the potential for a strike draws closer, even employers such as the state Department of Transportation have started to identify employees who rely on TheBus — and how they'll continue to show up during a possible strike.

On Monday, DOT officials sent an e-mail message to all employees asking how many ride TheBus and invited them to call in if they can't find alternative transportation.

"We're still trying to find out who rides TheBus and whether there are willing co-workers who will give them a ride," said DOT spokesman Scott Ishikawa. "We're even looking at whether we can use state cars for ride sharing, but that's not finalized."

Many employers interviewed are making preparations like Hawaiian Electric Co., which has sent e-mails to its 102 regular bus users — out of 1,300 employees — encouraging them to car-pool to work.

Officials with the power company worry about a sudden influx of extra cars at its Ward Avenue, King Street and Central Pacific Plaza Building operations.

"We're concerned that our employees want to come to work and may not be able to," said HECO spokesman Jose Dizon. "We're looking at ways to squeeze in some more cars in our parking lots."

Hawai'i Pacific Health officials have pinpointed parking areas adjacent to Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women & Children, Kapi'olani Medical Center at Pali Momi and Straub Clinic and Hospital and are giving employees information on alternative transportation, such as the state's VanPool program.

Hawai'i Pacific Health has about 300 workers who use TheBus, representing 5 percent of its work force.

Hospital officials particularly worry about bus riders who suddenly bring their own cars to work and take up parking spaces normally used by patients.

"Right now, we're going to have to ask employees who take TheBus to arrange rides with friends and family," said Gail Lerch, vice president of human resources for Kapi'olani Medical Center for Women & Children. "We can't rent buses because of our schedules and the vast geography of the island. To have them drive around and pick up employees, it just wouldn't work."

But Outrigger is willing to try.

An estimated 300 of Outrigger's 1,000 Waikiki employees use TheBus regularly. Outrigger estimates that 150 to 200 of them would use the temporary shuttle system.

Austin declined to name the private bus company that will be used or the estimated, overall cost.

The shuttles would only run for workers on the 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. shift, which covers the bulk of Outrigger's employees.

The tentative pickup sites are scheduled for Kapolei, 'Ewa Beach, Waipahu, Pearl City, Salt Lake, Chinatown, Kalihi, Liliha and Makiki. The employees would then be dropped off in Waikiki at the corner of Saratoga and Kalia roads near the Outrigger Reef and Ohana Reef Lanai; along Kuhio Avenue between Launiu and Kalaimoku streets; and at the Ohana Waikiki West Hotel on Kuhio Avenue.

Many details still need to be worked out, Austin said, such as the size and number of buses and the exact locations of the pickup points.

But Outrigger's announcement to employees solved a lot of potential problems for Lily Ragasa, who works in Outrigger's accounts receivable department.

Ragasa, 40, has been riding TheBus into work for the 17 years she has worked for Outrigger because she, her husband and their two daughters — ages 8 and 10 — depend on a single car.

In the event of a strike, Ragasa had planned to take the car and drop off her husband and children in the morning. Her in-laws from 'Ewa Beach would pick up the children at the end of the day, but her husband would have to find someone at his job in Pearl City to take him home each night.

"It was really complicated," Ragasa said.

The $3 Outrigger shuttle fee could turn out to cost more than the $30 monthly bus pass Ragasa normally buys. But to Ragasa, it's a bargain.

"I was really worried," Ragasa said. "Now I'm relieved."

Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8085.