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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, September 3, 2003

Reservations taken today for ride on city's commuter vans

 •  Negotiations to resume today on bus contract
 •  Strike gets costly for cab rider
 •  Shop owners feeling strike's effects
 •  Getting around without TheBus: Information you can use

By Treena Shapiro
Advertiser Staff Writer

The city will reopen reservations to its commuter van service today with the arrival of several new 15-passenger vans.

City Managing Director Ben Lee said yesterday that seven to 10 of the larger vans will be available. The city has been running 49 seven-passenger vans in its attempt to help 400 to 500 commuters otherwise stranded by the weeklong city bus strike.

Reservations will be accepted today from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Another change is that the city is replacing its existing city van service at 5:30 p.m. with the Limited Stop Express Bus Service, made up of 15 school buses offering express service to the outlying areas.

"Many of the buses aren't full yet," Lee said, pointing out that a 50-passenger school bus would be much more efficient for getting commuters home.

In addition, the school buses have more destinations, serving areas the city vans do not, such as 'Ewa Beach, Hawai'i Kai, Kailua, Mililani and Waikele.

Lee said that using the school buses could free vans for more shuttle runs from the University of Hawai'i, which end at 4:30 p.m.

A jitney service offered by taxi drivers has been less popular.

City Transportation Services Director Cheryl Soon said taxi drivers did not report how many riders used the service — in which passengers are picked up at bus stops on specific routes for $3 a ride — but suspects that it is not widely used and that the city is considering discontinuing the service.

Soon also said that since the strike began, seven new van pools have formed and that 150 van pools are filled. The city has enough riders to form more van pools but Vanpools Hawaii is looking for drivers.

Several riders who use the shuttle service that runs from the Chinatown Gateway to Waikiki indicated they would be pleased with more shuttles and later runs.

Even riding the city shuttle vans, limited stops have turned Makiki resident Frank Arvidson's trip to the gym into a workout in itself.

After walking from Makiki to downtown for lunch, Arvidson waited for a van to take him to Ala Moana, from where he planned to walk a couple miles to the Spa Fitness Center on Beretania Street.

While shuttles pass by frequently, Arvidson said it could take 20 minutes or 30 minutes for one with a free seat to let him on.

"If they have room, they'll stop, but if they don't have room, they won't," he said.

As Hawai'i Pacific University classes resumed yesterday, many students found the shuttles handy for getting to school, but some said their late-afternoon classes ended too late to be able to catch the last shuttle home.

By noon, more than a dozen students had added their names to a bulletin board of students looking for rides to share.

After catching a van from downtown to Ala Moana yesterday, Elwyn Kan wondered whether her emergency dentist appointment would end in time to catch a ride back on the last van at 4:30 p.m.

She appreciated the van service to Ala Moana, though, since her trip took only about 10 minutes.

"It really helped me out," she said. "I've been walking quite a bit, but I couldn't have walked this far."

With the buses out of commission, Kan said,"it's really a mess, but at least they have something."

Treena Shapiro can be reached at 525-8070 or tshapiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.