Riders, businesses set backup plans
| • | Thousands scramble for rides to school, work |
| • | Fare hike would be the maximum allowed |
| • | Tips for commuters |
By Sean Hao and Jennifer Hiller
Advertiser Staff Writers
For businesses and bus passengers alike, it was a day of finalizing plans or scrambling for options as the hours ticked down yesterday toward a city bus strike.
Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser
Companies were preparing contingencies in case their workers were stranded or late because of traffic, and riders were bracing for long walks or calling friends to arrange car pools.
Pagoda Hotel worker Pedro Laygan, of 'Ewa Beach, calls his sister for a ride home after work.
At the taxi business TheCab, company officials met with drivers late yesterday to get as many as 150 independent contractors to carry passengers along certain bus routes for $3. Other cab companies also are participating.
Getting drivers to work additional hours wouldn't be a problem, said TheCab President Howard Higa.
"If there's business out there, they'll work long hours," he said. The company also planned to add one or two more dispatchers.
Higa said he expected "mass confusion" for the first few days of a strike until people adjusted.
Many were planning to hit the sidewalks or ride bikes as an alternative to TheBus.
"Our plan is to walk everywhere," said Eiko Inui, a Waikiki resident who is retired. But Inui said if the buses stopped running, she would need to skip the piano classes she looks forward to at her community center.
With an estimated 13,000 to 15,000 public school students riding TheBus to school each day, Department of Education spokesman Greg Knudsen said drivers should be extra cautious because more students will walk or ride bikes to campus.
Everyone should also plan on seeing additional traffic around schools because more parents will be car-pooling, he said.
"Some kids might be able to get a ride with their parents, but that might be at 6 in the morning," Knudsen said.
The DOE has asked schools to have a classroom open and supervised in the morning. They are also promoting the breakfast program in case students miss a meal at home to get to school on time.
To make sure employees get to work, Honolulu businesses were putting in place a variety of plans yesterday to cope with a strike, one that could have a major impact on Waikiki hotel employees.
The Outrigger hotel chain planned to bus their employees in from designated pickup points around O'ahu, but many other hotel workers were on their own.
Elsie Sagucio, who rides the bus from 'Aiea every day to her job at the Pacific Beach Hotel, has to work a 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. shift today.
"I'll ride with a friend if they go on strike," she said. "Hopefully they won't go."
Car-pooling appeared to be the option of choice among employees at the Marriott and Sheraton hotels.
"It's a bit more inconvenient, but the important thing is the team works together to make it as smooth as possible," said Stan Brown, Marriott vice president of Pacific Islands operations.
Maui Divers planned to use company vans to transport about 30 employees who typically take TheBus.
"I dread the traffic, but I think we're prepared as far as getting our employees to and from work," said Bob Taylor, president and chief executive of Maui Divers of Hawai'i.
Alternatives such as the city's van program had dwindled by yesterday afternoon as ride requests were no longer being taken, according to city officials. More than 1,000 calls were received since Saturday, with about 320 people signing up for the free service.
The vans, with 45 city appointees and civil servants at the steering wheels, were ready to bring riders from outlying areas into town. Kane'ohe, Kapolei, Pearl City and Waipahu residents had requested the most rides.
Priscilla Batul, a clinical assistant at Straub, has depended on public transportation for 20 years to ride her from her home in 'Ewa Beach to downtown. "The bus is so convenient for me," Batul said. "Gas and parking are so expensive." She usually rides in at 5 a.m., giving her time to nap on the bus. Then she runs errands before work starts at 7 a.m. Her husband, who works at Pearl Harbor, planned to drop her off and pick her up from work as long as a walkout continued.
The possibility of a strike also worried riders of the Handi-Van who often use the service to reach medical appointments. Although Handi-Van drivers are working under a recently negotiated five-year contract, they are permitted by law to conduct a sympathy strike.
Dialysis patients, who were affected by the nursing strikes earlier this year, have been concerned about a walkout. But Julie Schweitzer, chief operating officer of the National Kidney Foundation of Hawai'i, said she has been assured by city officials and the O'ahu Transit Authority that dialysis patients will have first priority for contingency services and will get to their appointments even if the city has to hire a taxi service for them.
"Some of the patients are worried they are going to be waiting and waiting for service," Schweitzer said. "This is their lifeline."
Dialysis patients who have a problem getting a ride to their treatment can call the kidney foundation at 589-5927. Schweitzer said they will try to help those patients find rides.
Lorraine Kimura, owner of Handi-Cabs of the Pacific, said her company has been receiving phone calls from Handi-Van riders. Kimura advises disabled riders to call their social workers to see if Medicaid can help cover the costs of a ride with her company, which start at $14.40 for the one-on-one service.
