City undecided about Kaimuki Trolley's fate
By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer
Supporters of the Kaimuki Trolley worry that the city may end its annual $213,000 subsidy for the operation, which would leave more than 600 people a day searching for a new mode of public transportation and businesses along the route with a potentially significant reduction in their customer base.
Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser
"It's carrying 20,000 people a month," said Ginny Meade, executive director of the Greater East Honolulu Community Alliance. "The businesses tell me people are coming into their shops from Waikiki and that was the goal — to increase business and to carry commuters and tourists. It is doing what it should have done and is now part of the transportation system."
Nearly 20,000 people rode the Kaimuki Trolley last month, good news for businesses in the area. The city has yet to decide if it will ask for more money to keep the service going.
To balance the budget, the City Council cut the subsidy in half last year from about $425,000. Meade said losing the entire subsidy would kill the trolley service.
Cheryl Soon, director of the city Department of Transportation Services, said she has not yet decided whether to ask for money to continue the subsidy in her request to Mayor Jeremy Harris because the company that runs the trolley, E Noa Tours, only recently provided her with detailed information on ridership, marketing and financial data for the project.
"We needed to make sure we were accomplishing our objectives," Soon said. "They were just giving me the ridership and that wasn't enough to say what does it cost to run this service. I needed to know the expenditure figures, what they are spending on marketing and the results.
"I felt we had to see what the numbers were showing before any decision should be made about how we continue."
A resolution in support of the trolley service will be discussed at the Kaimuki Neighborhood Board meeting at 7 p.m. tomorrow at Lili'uokalani Elementary School.
The trolley service, which runs from Royal Hawaiian Avenue in Waikiki to Koko Head Avenue in Kaimuki with stops along Kapahulu Avenue, at the University of Hawai'i and Chaminade University, started in 2000 and had 2,800 riders its first month.
Ridership was up to 10,000 people a month in February last year and thanks partly to the strike at TheBus bringing a larger awareness of the trolley service, 19,989 people rode the trolley last month.
The open-air trolley operates from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily, making 26 stops every 30 minutes.
D.J. Colbert, co-owner of Prosperity Corner on 12th Avenue, said about 10 percent of her customers find her store by riding the trolley.
"When people in Waikiki call and say how do we get there, I just tell them to get on the trolley and it goes right past my front door. In this economy where we are all struggling so hard to keep our heads above water, losing (the trolley service) can cause people to go out of business."
Trolley fares are $1 per ride, $2 for an all-day pass with on-and-off privileges and $25 for a monthly pass. City-bus pass holders pay 50 cents per trolley ride for adults and seniors, while students and disabled customers pay 25 cents.
City Councilman Charles Djou said the trolley does supply a needed service to the community and he would like it to continue.
"With that said, I'm realistic," Djou said. "The city is facing yet another enormous budget deficit. We're talking about cutting essential services and raising taxes. Programs like the Kaimuki trolley are going to come under very close scrutiny."
Meade said not only does the trolley bring tourists to shops, it is heavily used by students and residents traveling to and from Waikiki — keeping cars off the roads and out of crowded parking lots.
"When the concept was introduced, it was as a public/private partnership to see if community circulators would serve the community well," Meade said. "Yes, it was successful and now people are dependent on it."
Djou agreed that the trolley has become an accepted mode of public transportation. He said TheBus is also subsidized 65 percent to 75 percent of its costs and the trolley would have to do at least that well for him to support continued funding.
Soon said the trolley contract expired at the end of January and was extended for an extra month. There is enough money in the current budget to extend service through July if the city decides to continue its support, but she is not sure if that will happen.
"We know many of the benefits. It's been a good thing for that community," Soon said. "It does come at a time where you have to ask 'OK, how is it doing.' That is what I'm doing."
Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2431.
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