Commuters learning to cope with strike
| • | Bus strike: How one rider adjusts |
| • | Getting around without TheBus: Information you can use |
By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer
As O'ahu's bus strike enters its second week today with no new contract talks planned, some commuters say they're starting to get used to doing things differently.
"It might even be more convenient to not use the bus sometimes," said Joann Smith, a University of Hawai'i graduate student who is combining rides with friends, a private trolley service and increased walking to commute between home, school, work and volunteer service.
"People are realizing there are other ways to get around without the bus, especially in town," Smith said. "It's the people who live further out who are having the most difficulty."
Negotiators for both sides said yesterday they are eager to get back to the bargaining table, but there was no movement over the weekend to make that likely. On a normal day people on O'ahu make about 240,000 trips on TheBus.
"We're surprised there's been no contact," said Mel Kahele, president of Teamsters and Allied Workers Local 996, which represents the 1,300 workers at O'ahu Transportation Services who walked off the job last Tuesday. "We're ready to talk, but we're not going to come back for a contract that offers no raises and no assurances about cutbacks for three years."
OTS spokeswoman Marilyn Dicus said the company hoped bargaining would resume this week, but no meetings have been set. "It's been a very quiet weekend, right where we left things," she said.
Jim Baldauf, a Waipahu resident who drives each day to his job at a downtown tire company, said he was taking the bus strike in stride.
"I just leave a half-hour earlier, that's all," he said. "Without the buses, there is an extra lane open."
Waitress Kathy Black said she was enjoying the bus strike.
"I live and work in Waikiki," she said. "I like it better. It's less noisy."
"I don't know," said Bernice Pedro, a janitorial worker from 'Ewa Beach. "I just wish they would go back."
Pedro relies on the bus for transportation, and said she was only able to work because her supervisor had rented a van and had been using it to pick up and drop off eight different employees who live around the island.
Even with the adjustments, the strike is hurting some financially.
Smith said she's been able to walk to campus classes from her apartment near Puck's Alley, but couldn't get to her once-a-week job working with autistic students in Hawai'i Kai.
"I had a ride there, but couldn't find one back, so I told them to find somebody else until the strike is over," she said. "It's kind of frustrating because that affects my paycheck and my student budget."
It's time for the company and workers to reach a settlement that will bring the buses back, she said.
"I wish someone would come up with a compromise," she said. "The bus drivers need to make money as much as I want get to my job and classes. If there's no compromise, we're all going to be sitting here without the bus."
Advertiser staff writer Karen Blakeman contributed to this report. Reach Mike Leidemann at 525-5460 or mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.
