Bus strike's effects devastating for many single moms, students

By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Health Writer

Nicolle Walto had no way of getting her 2-year-old son to the doctor when he developed a 104-degree fever.

More than 30 immigrants have to wait to take the citizenship and English language classes they need, and enrollment at a downtown business school has dropped by nearly 100 students.

For some bus riders, the standoff between O'ahu Transit Services and Hawai'i Teamsters and Allied Workers Local 996 is much more than an inconvenience, it is disrupting their lives in critical ways and costing them money.

The strike by more than 1,300 bus workers, which began Aug. 26, has crippled Honolulu's public transit system. Many people are missing work, skipping school and canceling doctors' appointments because they have no other transportation options.

Walto, 33, is originally from Kaua'i and has no family on O'ahu other than her son. She's working her way through a residential treatment program for substance abuse in the Salvation Army's Ke Ola Pono family treatment program. The program name means a balanced way of living.

When her son's fever peaked at 104 on Thursday night, she made an appointment for him with her doctor in Kahala for Friday but had to cancel because she had no way to get him there. By Friday afternoon, she had no choice but to arrange to pay for a ride to a hospital emergency room.

"My son's sick. It's frustrating. He's got a high fever and spots all over him," Walto said Friday. "I don't have money for a cab."

Walto said she's discouraged that she also missed two weeks of appointments with her therapist, but she worries more about her son.

"I can live another week without my therapist."

Another woman in the program is Christina Stanley, 24, who only has a month left of treatment left. Because of the bus strike, she has had trouble getting her 20-month-old son to a doctor's appointment.

She said she also has missed counseling sessions at Sisters Offering Support, a peer assistance network for prostitutes.

"It's been a major problem that I don't go to counseling and it might jeopardize my son's doctor visit."

Program director Leslie Moody said the women live on $565 a month. Stanley said the strike is making it more difficult to meet basic living expenses. She said she usually catches the bus to shop at Kmart for diapers but has been forced to pay more for such items without a ride.

Because they have no transportation, Moody said some of the women have missed visits with children unable to live with them at the Manoa center.

"That's what they live for," she said.

And she worries that many of the women will lose ground the longer they are separated from their children.

"Inability to access public transport is a huge barrier to encouraging people to be self-sufficient," Moody said, adding that she also is concerned about the children who are too young to understand how a bus strike could keep their mother away.

"The kids don't know what's going on," she said.

Connie Lubera, reception/intake specialist for Catholic Charities Hawai'i, and her husband live in 'Ewa Beach and don't have a car. They depend on the bus to get to jobs downtown and in Waikiki.

She has been able to get to work some days with four other regular bus riders who live nearby. She appreciates the help, but has to get up at 3 a.m. to make sure she can be ready for the ride. And she has to leave work early.

Lubera, 59, is feeling the effects of sleeping only a few hours each weeknight.

"I've been on sick leave for the past five days. I was so exhausted," she said last week.

Kim Winegar, program director for Catholic Charities' community and immigrant services, said the strike also is hitting hard for immigrants, who often rely on public transportation.

Catholic Charities was offering classes in citizenship and English as a second language to more than 30 immigrants, but the courses were canceled because many students couldn't find transportation.

Winegar said many are missing classes that will help them get and keep a job. He suspects that some of those hardest-hit won't be discovered until after the strike ends.

Dean John Hunter of Hawaii Business College says a prolonged bus strike would drive the school out of business because it is so dependent on students who use the bus.

"That is not an exaggeration," Hunter said. "Education is an expensive business these days."

Hunter said HBC is the only locally owned two-year private college. He said the school has been working with Vanpool Hawai'i, coordinating carpools and having staff pitch in personally.

Enrollment averages more than 400 students each quarter, but only 315 signed up for classes that begin Monday.

"When it's a small college like this, every student counts," Hunter said.

One of those students is Kane'ohe resident Heather Jaber, who goes to school full time downtown and works full time in Kailua for a car dealership.

Even with the help of friends, family and co-workers, Jaber's worried that she may have to drop out of some classes because of the difficulty in getting around.

"I rely totally on the bus," she said. Jaber, who is working on a degree in business-office administration, said dropping classes will cost her more money and delay her goals.

Aloha United Way's community information and referral service has received some calls on the agency's help line. But the organization has not tallied the number of strictly strike-related concerns. Amanda Jones, assistant vice president, said about 50 calls were related to van pools or city or state transportation questions.

Other calls were more personal. A woman who lives alone in Makaha asked for help because "she was running out of food in her house," Jones said.

The service referred her to the city van service and to food pantries that make deliveries.

Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2429.