Posted on: Tuesday, June 22, 2004
Trolley's future up to council
By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer
Come September, the Kaimuki-Kapahulu-Waikiki Trolley will stop running unless the City Council can override a mayoral veto of a city subsidy.
Mayor Jeremy Harris last week vetoed a $240,000 appropriation set aside to help run the trolley, along with the council's legislative budget and other items in the $1.2 billion budget.
City Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi, whose district includes Kaimuki, said she will try to override the veto and save the trolley service.
"The trolley is worth saving," Kobayashi said. "At first I thought the ridership wasn't enough, but now they are servicing Chaminade and the University of Hawai'i, so those students need the trolley."
In vetoing the measure, Harris said last week that the subsidy for the trolley violates contractual agreements with the city's bus services and the corporation counsel will not approve the spending.
"We had to agree in the Teamster collective bargaining agreement that we would not cut in any way, bus services," Harris said. "And so by taking $240,000 out of bus operations and dedicating it to the privatized Kaimuki trolley, the Department of Transportation Services will have to cut bus services by $240,000. That would put us in violation of the collective bargaining agreement we made at the last bus strike."
Kobayashi said a special City Council meeting will be held next week to decide what, if any, of the vetoes will be overridden. The final budget is due July 1.
The open-air trolley began in 2000, connecting Waikiki, with the business area along Kapahulu and Wai'alae avenues. The service had 2,800 riders its first month, which has steadily increased to about 22,000 riders in April this year.
The trolley has been paid for in part through the city Department of Transportation Services in the hope it would become more self-sufficient. The department did not fund the project in the fiscal 2005 budget, so the City Council set aside the $240,000.
Kobayashi said money for the trolley was expected to come out of the highway fund, which has been beefed up by increased bus fares and a higher vehicle weight tax. If the override votes are there, money should be available to fund the trolley, she said.
Ginny Meade, executive director of the Greater East Honolulu Community Alliance, has worked tirelessly to promote and lobby for support of the trolley, but she is not optimistic about the future.
Meade said the trolley has been a valuable service for students, residents and businesses in the area and when it is gone all will suffer.
"The fact is it was a great, successful project," Meade said. "It brought the community together and was a real asset. I cannot save it. Maybe one day it will be reinstated. Apparently there isn't the money or the vision for it at this point."
The trolley service, operated by E Noa Tours, is expected to continue through September when current funds run out.
The trolley runs from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 10:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Fares are $1 per ride with city-bus pass holders, students and seniors paying 50 cents. A $25 monthly pass is available.
Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2431.
