Posted on: Monday, March 28, 2005

Maui rethinking bus system

By Timothy Hurley
Advertiser Maui Bureau

KAHULUI, Maui — To bus or not to bus.

That is the question facing Maui County leaders over the next few weeks as they consider a major expansion and upgrade of the county's patchwork mass transit system.

Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa, backed by a consultant's study and recommendation, is proposing the county boost annual bus system spending from $500,000 to more than $7 million in five years. Along the way, the county would buy new buses, create new routes and boost the frequency of stops.

But the Maui County Council has been hesitant to take the plunge. So far members have balked at authorizing the initial $1 million investment, and council chairman Riki Hokama said the panel plans to take a hard look at the proposal next month as it deliberates the county's 2006 fiscal year budget.

If it were up to Shaundra Tabisola and Kalai Koko of Kula, the bus system would be upgraded without question.

The parents of a couple of toddlers, they rely on the bus to help them get around Maui, especially when their car breaks down, as it did recently.

"It's our only alternative," Tabisola said late Thursday afternoon, just after her family was dropped off at the Ka'ahumanu Center in Kahului by a Maui bus.

The problem is that Maui's bus system doesn't offer many choices. In fact, on Thursday the family not only had to catch a ride from their Kula home to Kahului but also had to find another ride to help make doctor's appointments for the kids.

"Right now it's hard," Tabisola said. "But you gotta do what you gotta do."

On the other hand, there are those such as Darren Osterman of Kihei, who said he has never used the buses on Maui and wouldn't anticipate doing so even if the system were expanded.

"They couldn't create enough bus routes to make me give up my car," he said. "The county should spend its money on something else."

With growing congestion on Maui roads, voters approved the creation of a county Department of Transportation in 2002. The County Council immediately established a 5-cent-a-gallon tax to help staff the agency and underwrite its efforts.

Since then, officials have patched together a public bus system using a hodgepodge of vehicles owned by two different contractors to offer routes in and between central Maui, Kihei and Lahaina.

Last year, a consultant, Urbitran Associates Inc., was commissioned to conduct a $150,000 transit study and then recommended expanding routes and services over five years in a system to be known as Maui Bus.

Under the proposal, the county's annual costs would rise from $500,000 to $3.1 million in the first year and $7.3 million in the fifth year. Routes would be added to link more communities to the system, including the Upcountry areas of Ha'iku and Makawao.

Also over that period, capital costs would total $6.7 million, with the federal government paying 80 percent. More than $1 million would be earmarked for the kinds of basic infrastructure now lacking: Bus-stop signs, route and schedule information, information kiosks, passenger waiting benches and shelters, a transit center and bicycle racks.

The proposal also calls for fare increases, from $2 a ride now to $2.50 by the fifth year.

The bus system now has about 144,000 passenger trips annually and that is estimated to jump to 600,000 by the fifth year of the plan.

In meetings held to discuss the bus plan, County Council members have criticized the proposal for not providing enough information and being too hastily prepared. They've also expressed fears that it may hurt longtime county transit contractor and nonprofit Maui Economic Opportunity Inc.

And while council members have said they haven't heard a strong mandate for the proposal during the meetings, county transportation director Kyle Ginoza insisted there's a great deal of support out there.

"I get a lot of calls," he said. "The council asks why no one is testifying. It's because they don't have the rides to get the meetings."

Ginoza said he has heard plenty of complaints about long waits at bus stops.

People also want the buses rolling earlier and staying on the job later to make commuting between home and their jobs easier.

Ginoza noted that Kaua'i and the Big Island have established bus systems that are well-used. Maui is behind, he said.

"I just hope we can move forward and provide another option for Maui," he said.

Reach Timothy Hurley at thurley@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 244-4880.