HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) -
Overcrowding,
long waits -- or in some cases -- no service at all. Those were the
complaints that flooded in after bus routes were canceled last year in an
attempt to save money.
Approximately
200-thousand people ride the bus everyday.
Officials know that's a lot of folks to please-- but they're certainly
hoping to make more of them happy now that they're restoring several bus
routes.
72-year-old
Roland Louie goes to Kapolei almost every day. He rides the C "Country
Express" bus, which was scaled back from every 30 minutes to every 60
minutes last year.
"It's
very unacceptable, because usually it's packed full-- and quite often when the
bus is packed the driver will say I'm sorry catch the next one," said
Louie, adding he's waited nearly an hour and a half on occasion. "I wish
the mayor would restore the buses as he promised."
And
that's exactly what Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell did today.
"We
went to the areas where the greatest disruption was and tried to improve the
routes there. Where they're working well, we left them as they were," said
Mayor Caldwell.
Eight routes will be impacted. Starting in March, two routes serving the Leeward
coast and town will be restored. By May, five routes on the Windward
side, along School Street, in East Honolulu, and Waikiki will be up and
running. Additional service to the University of Hawai'i at Manoa will go into
effect before the fall semester begins in August.
Frequent
riser Ursula Kui'e'e can't wait for the routes to be restored so she can start
planning her days better.
"In
addition to the fact that it is crowded - the wait time it's a lot
longer," said Kui'e'e, adding that often times buses are so delayed they
arrive one after an other rather than in 30 minute intervals. "Ho'o manawa
nui. Be patient. It will come."
Several
routes were cut last year in an attempt to save money, but officials say
customer's needs-- and complaints-- led them to search for better
alternatives.
"We
were able to locate funds to do the March and the May roll-outs, but after the
new fiscal year-- we'll have to have the council's approval to roll out those
restorations," said Michael Formby, Transportation Services
Director.
According
to the Caldwell Administration, the improvements through June of this year cost
$600,000. The 2013 changes announced today will cost approximately $3.5M in
fiscal year 2014.
Louie
is looking forward to the changes. "That's
great-- this way, quality of life much better," said Louie, who wanted to
stick around for more information but couldn't chance missing his ride. "I'm looking for my bus -- as soon as it
comes, I'm going to hop on. I don't want to wait for another hour," said Louie.
Improvements to the following routes will go into effect on March 23:
*CountryExpress Route C (Makaha to Kapolei to Ala Moana Center)
Restore weekend and holiday service frequencies from every 60 minutes under the cuts to every 30 minutes.
*Route 14 (St. Louis Heights viaWaialae Ave to Maunalani Heights)
Restore weekday peak service from St. Louis to Maunalani via Waialae from every 108 minutes to every 40 minutes; more frequent transfers.
Restore original Diamond Headroute for weekday off-peak and weekend service; restore frequencies from 108 minutes to 60 minutes.
Improvements to the following routes will go into effect in May:
*CountryExpress Route C (Makaha to Kapolei to Ala Moana Center)
Restore weekday mid-day service from every 45 minutes to every 30 minutes
*Route 55 (Ala Moana Center viaKaneohe to Haleiwa)
Improve mid-day service frequencies from every 60 minutes to every 45 minutes
*Route 1L (Kalihi to Hawaii Kai)
Extend Route 1L to provide limited-stop service along theSchool Street corridor previously served by Route B
*Route 2L (Kalihi to Waikiki)
Add additional weekday peak hour trips
*Route 5 (Manoa to Ala Moana Center)
Improve morning peak hour frequencies from every 60 minutes to every 30 minutes
Improvement to the following route will take place in August (pending Council approval):
*Route 13 (Liliha via Waikiki to UH-Mânoa)
Restore service frequency to from every 20 minutes to every 15 minutes
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