H-1 back to pre-strike pattern
By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer
Three weeks after the end of Honolulu's bus strike, O'ahu drivers are returning to their old ways.
Commuters who shifted their driving habits when buses weren't running are now leaving later in the morning and not using the freeway zipper lane as much as during the strike, according to new data from the state Transportation Department.
The numbers, compiled from a computer monitoring station along the H-1 Freeway corridor, offer strong proof of what transportation planners have long suggested: Commuters will adjust their behavior to follow a path of least resistance.
In the most dramatic finding, the peak of the morning rush hour on H-1 was pushed back nearly an hour, from 6:15 a.m. to 7:15 a.m., after the 34-day strike ended.
"People made adjustments during the strike, and now that it's over it seems like they're adjusting back to their normal pattern," said DOT spokesman Scott Ishikawa.
Fearing gridlock from thousands of bus riders pushed into cars during the strike, city and state officials urged all drivers to consider leaving earlier or later than usual and joining car pools whenever possible.
Before the strike, the rush hour peaked shortly after 7 a.m. near the Halawa interchange. But the new figures show big swings in the peak time as the strike progressed and drivers tried to figure out the best way to avoid congestion:
• On Sept. 2, the Tuesday after the strike began, the number of cars on the freeway reached a peak (3.78 percent of the day's traffic) between 6:30 and 6:45 a.m.
• On Tuesday, Sept. 23, three more weeks into the strike, the peak (3.6 percent) occurred between 6 and 6:15 a.m.
• On Tuesday, Oct. 14, after the strike was over, the peak (3.72 percent) didn't occur until after 7 a.m, closer to the time it was before the bus drivers started their walkout.
Ishikawa said those fluid responses are typical of commuters.
"Traffic is finding its own level again. If people didn't make adjustments (during the strike), it could have been total gridlock," Ishikawa said.
The DOT figures also show a drop in the number of people using the freeway's zipper lane since the strike ended, but the reasons are not clear.
During the strike, more than 4,100 vehicles used the zipper lane on a typical day. That dropped to about 3,850 after the strike.
The change could be the result of shorter zipper lane hours, tougher car-pool restrictions or more vehicles with two or more people using the new Nimitz Highway contraflow lane, which opened just as bus drivers went back to work.
"We're still trying to figure out how much effect the Nimitz contraflow lane is having on other ways into town," Ishikawa said. "We know people are trying it, but we don't know if the change will be permanent."
Reach Mike Leidemann at 525-5460 or mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.
