City's hunt for options goes on
By Karen Blakeman and Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Staff Writers
City officials have been working overtime to coordinate ways for bus riders to get around, but even the most effective program is shuttling only 300 people.
Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser
Officials say they will continue to make adjustments as O'ahu struggles with its first bus strike since 1971.
Breene Harimoto of Pearl City coordinates the shuttle service at the Chinatown Gateway on Hotel Street, central stop for the city-contracted rides for commuters.
On an average day people on O'ahu take about 240,000 trips on TheBus.
"We've said it repeatedly," City Managing Director Ben Lee said yesterday in a phone call between frantic organizing and meeting sessions. "We cannot come close to providing for those thousands of passengers, but we are trying to do everything we can."
Traffic was heavier yesterday. University of Hawai'i spokesman Jim Manke said he noticed commuters arriving later to the Manoa campus overflow lot. "It took me an hour and 20 minutes to get in from Kailua," he said.
Many eastbound commuters appeared to have hit the road earlier, because the traditional morning freeway snarl at the H-1 and H-2 merge was knotted by 5 a.m., city transit director Cheryl Soon said.
"And today we got lucky — no accidents," said Soon, who was watching monitors at the Honolulu Traffic Management Center in Makiki. "H-2 was totally clear by 7:20."
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The city is assisting about 300 riders into town from outlying areas. Lee said those routes were specifically chosen to provide for riders in the most economic need, and that those who took the shuttle seemed grateful.
Lee said his past two workdays started at 4 a.m., when he left his home to drive a shuttle bus to one of the suburban sites.
Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris has been manning one of the shuttles out of Kalihi, Lee said, and the Kalihi routes were becoming so successful, reservations were no longer required, and shuttles were sent on a regular rotation.
Lee said other shuttles weren't filling up.
Beginning yesterday, drivers from Ground Transportation Inc. were contracted by the city to drive commuters from Hotel Street back home to the outlying areas. There were 15 buses available, at a total contract cost of $3,500, but only about 40 riders showed up.
Marissa Losbog, a 40-year-old bank customer service representative who lives in Wai'anae, said the city's idea to offer the express bus service was a good one. Losbo felt uncomfortable relying on a co-worker for a ride, saying, "It's kind of shame already."
The service had been announced at about 7 p.m. Tuesday, city officials said, and they thought it might pick up after more people got the word. More people are expected to use the service today.
Linda Chang, a 63-year-old consultant for the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands, said, "I don't want to add to the congestion by adding another car on the road."
Another shuttle service picks up commuters in Chinatown and transports them through downtown, Ala Moana and Waikiki, on to UH and back. Lee said that program seemed to be working well.
A jitney plan that was to have provided cab service along certain bus routes for a $3 fare, didn't appear to be generating much interest. Soon said three cab companies had picked up city packets on the plan. The idea was to have taxis track certain bus routes, picking up multiple passengers along the way, charging each a $3 fare and taking them to bus stops further along the route. She said feedback had been minimal from customers and cab companies.
Robert DeLuze, owner of Robert's Taxi, said the program wasn't working.
"People were confused," DeLuze said. "No one was at the bus stops. I think we had one person all day."
He said his company handled about 300 additional calls from people who were under the mistaken impression that a they would be able to take a cab ride that would normally cost $30, and pay only $3.
"But to be honest with you," he said, "you're not going to get (cab drivers) participating. (The city) had eight routes that were $28 routes, and none of the drivers would have done that. Not for $3."
Soon said: "All of these programs are experimental. We haven't had a bus strike in 30 years."
Reach Karen Blakeman at 535-2430 or kblakeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.
