As wholly expected, the outrage has begun over the city’s proposal to raise fares for TheBus. For many citizens, Oahu’s efficient and clean bus system is the sole means of transportation, their lifeline to all points of work, health and leisure. So there’s an imperative to tread carefully, certainly — but there’s also the need to be equitable and reasonable.
A key case in point: the annual senior pass, which is being proposed to increase from the current $35, to $110. On first blush, a 214 percent increase would seem outrageous. But consider: even at the proposed $110 yearly, that comes out to a little over $9 monthly, still a bargain for unlimited rides.
Granted, living on a tight fixed income, as many seniors do, limits the ability to absorb huge sticker shocks. But keeping the annual senior pass at $35 can’t be justified, given inflation and bus-operating costs; many seniors, in fact, understand this and accept paying a bit more so long as service and routes don’t suffer.
Also due for an increase are TheHandi-Van rates: single-fare rides are proposed to go up to $2.50 from the current $2. Handi-Van riders and their advocates were able to stave off a fare hike last year — but given increases in both operation costs and demand for this service, it’s hard to rationalize the status quo. It’s been 17 years since TheHandi-Van fares were last raised, and riders cover just 4 percent of ride costs, which average $45.
The City Council is expected to take up the slate of proposed public-transit fare increases — Bill 66 — on Sept. 12, followed by a Budget Committee vetting on Sept. 19. They’re sure to get an earful at each and every turn.
Welcome back, Volcanoes NP
It began on May 3, but it seems like forever since Kilauea began a new series of eruptions that devastated Lower Puna and buried some subdivisions and Kapoho Bay in lava.
Full recovery is expected to take years. Even so, it’s good to hear that volcanic activity has subsided enough to reopen parts of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Park officials said that some of the popular park’s main attractions will be accessible on Sept. 22, National Public Lands Day.
It won’t be the same, of course; but if anything, it should be even more interesting. The general public will get its first look at the results of the recent spectacular eruptions, massive lava flows and earthquakes that occupied the headlines for weeks.
Some things won’t be open in September, including Jaggar Museum and the Thurston lava tube. And what will be open remains to be decided. It’s hoped that the public will be able to view Halemaumau Crater, now four times deeper than before, as well as other parts of the park changed by the historic eruption.
Returning to the park should give visitors a renewed appreciation of the awesome power of the natural world. There will be the fresh memory of Hurricane Lane, which already has caused massive flooding in the Hilo area. And the outer reaches of our Pacific home — the so-called Ring of Fire — experienced 69 earthquakes in a 48-hour period this week.
Waiting for more Chinese tourists
Tourism to Hawaii has been going so gangbusters in recent years that failure — in any market, let alone from Asia — didn’t seem to be an option, let alone possible. China, in particular, on paper held so much potential that Hawaiian Airlines chased the dream for close to a decade before finally securing approval in 2013 to fly nonstop from here to Beijing. But now, after four years of service, that dream is being grounded by reality, with Hawaiian announcing this week that it would be indefinitely suspending its thrice-weekly, nonstop service between Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International Airport and Beijing Capital International Airport.
“We hope to once again fly to China when the market matures,” Hawaiian spokeswoman Ann Botticelli said via email, noting the Chinese market was slow to grow. “If you look at China’s population growth trends and economic growth indicators, there is no doubt it will become a major contributor to tourism globally, and that includes travel to Hawaii.”
The numbers are painful: Chinese visitor arrivals in 2017 were down 7.9 percent to 151,295 compared with 2016, while daily visitor spending was off 12.2 percent to $338 per person. The first half of this year saw arrivals dropping 1.9 percent to 81,319 from the year-earlier period — though there was a bright spot in Chinese daily visitor spending up 9.7 percent to $363 per person over that same period.
When Hawaiian Air launched its nonstop China service in April 2014, all signs pointed to hefty upside potential. But today, despite Hawaii tourism’s six consecutive years of strong, record growth — near 10 million annually — Hawaiian Air’s retrench shows just how risky, and vulnerable, the industry can be.
