Add buses for rush hour from Waianae to town
I have written umpteen times about the crowded buses from Waianae, with people standing up for the two-hour ride to town during rush hour.
Lately, it has been even more crowded, with more homeless people getting on during rush hour, insisting on getting seats because they carry so-called “disabled” cards.
Why can’t TheBus add more routes during the rush hours? As a longtime bus rider by choice, I and other riders now are opting to drive because we are tired of fighting for a seat and standing up during the long ride and unpredictable arrival times. And we don’t have to sit next to smelly fellow passenger in the morning.
We will have rail in the future, but the problem is here now.
Rosita Sipirok-Siregar
Makakilo
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Caldwell actually doing great job paving roads
Bryan Holt said the repaving of 256 lane miles last year by Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s administration was “insignificant” in light of the 3,517 lane miles under the city’s jurisdiction (“256 lane miles is but a pittance overall,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, Feb. 4). But stepping back and taking a broader view, a clearer picture emerges.
In the past three years under Caldwell’s leadership, the city has repaved nearly 1,000 lane miles.
To understand the significance of this, consider that in the six years before the mayor took office, 884 lane miles were repaved for an average of 147 lane miles per year.
No chief executive in the history of Honolulu has done more to improve our roads than Caldwell, who set a goal of repaving 1,500 lane miles within five years.
The mayor’s program remains ahead of schedule and he’s dedicated to keeping roads in good shape through slurry sealing and the utilization of a “pavement condition index” that rates roads from zero to 100.
Ross Sasamura
Director of facility maintenance
City and County of Honolulu
Kudos to doctor for sting-relief research
Mahalo to the Star-Advertiser for the article on box jellyfish sting relief (“Sting-relief research touts vinegar’s effect,” Star-Advertiser, Jan. 20).
Dr. Angel Yanagihara deserved the front-page recognition for the years of effort she has invested educating the public, lifeguards and emergency responders about box jellyfish and their potent toxic stings.
She not only has urged people to stay out of the ocean during box jelly influxes, eight to 10 days after the full moon, but also that they, if stung, use vinegar spray to dissolve the tentacles and hot water to alleviate the pain.
Through diligent research, she developed the product Sting No More. Hopefully her product helped relieve the pain and suffering for some of the hundreds of people stung during box jellyfish influxes.
Mahalo to Dr. Yanagihara.
Suzanne M. Hammer, M.D.
Kailua
Old-guard taxis are ones that need to change
Why should the city or state put restrictions on Uber and Lyft (“City bills seek to rein in taxi, ride-hailing drivers,” Star-Advertiser, Feb. 10)?
We should reduce or lift restrictions from the taxi companies. The taxi companies can set up like the ride-sharing companies and compete.
The city or state should not impose regulations to protect taxi companies just because those companies don’t want to get with the times.
Otto Cleveland
Pearl City
61 responses to “Add buses for rush hour from Waianae to town”
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IRT Rosita Sipirok-Siregar: Why do you expect it to be any different if rail ever comes into being? The homeless will be using it exactly the same way and you’ll still be standing. PS If you are already seated and someone tells you to move for them, tell them beat it and remind them that even asking if you’re disabled is against HIPAA law. It’s like bikes in the bike rack. If someone is already there, you’re just out of luck.
I recently broke my leg and got a 6 month handicap card and let me tell you, the handicap thing is the most abused government program I have ever seen. There I would be in my walker trying to get a parking spot and people who were not disabled getting out their cards to get a front row parking spot. I say reset the whole system and make everyone requalify for their disabled permits.
It’s the family members who also exploit the system of parking in the blue parking stall.
I always find it interesting that “handicapped” stalls usually inevitably hold (shiny new) Maseratis, Porsches, Bentleys, Jags and huge domestic SUVs (without ramps or modifications). Doctors and/or friends of doctors or just “lucky” folks that had huge payouts from some accident that might have made them “handicapped”??
I saw a 4X4 pick up truck with high school kids sitting in the back with jet ski in the blue stall in Honolulu.
Hey. bingo!
Black Out, Bingo.
How do you know they were not disabled? Be thankful that you will be disabled only for 6 months. Soon you will be running the Honolulu Marathon and hiking the stairway to heaven. I bet those people you think are not disabled will not able to do that.
My limited personal knowledge validates “mikethenovice”‘s statement about family members.
They move and walk without hindrance. They even push things out of their way. I invite you to sit and observe the handicap spots at Home Depot in Pearl City and tell me what you see.
I saw them carrying cement block into their vehicle,_Ret.
Sub, Mike, looks can be deceiving. You have no idea what they are suffering. It may take them 100% effort just to move a few feet. If they have a sticker, a doctor must have certified them. Be thankful you are not in their shoes.
Boots. I was not trying to rate them. I was merely reporting on what I saw. Besides. the only suffering that we should endure is eating suffering, succotash.
We should have them get special “Ethically Handicapped” tags. Sadly, if you don’t use it, you lose it so iIf you don’t walk much, your mobility will suffer. Those bent on cheating, could get their wish and qualify for the tags if they keep it up. Walking is good for us, we were made to do it.
Those boot were made for walking, that’s what they will do, and one of these days these boots are going to walk all over you.
I wonder if Rosita would be complaining about this if she lived in Honolulu?
Or Lanikai.
That’s why I say, over and over, to abolish the route seventy, and just have the Kailua buses from Honolulu go directly to the beach.
Rosita would call me a homeless to. He uses that word so generically.
In regards to “Caldwell actually doing great job paving roads”, why do paid cheerleaders for the political class get to have propaganda letters printed in the SA? Holly smokes, a City Director gets to ingratiate the boss on some BS campaign and tie up limited space in the SA – only in Hawaii. Caldwell – One AND Done!! Looks like you’ll be getting that raise after all, Ross Sasamura. Go Caldwell Go! No seriously, JUST GO!
No kidding. Typical of the dem mouthpiece the SA is.
Most be bonus time at Honolulu Hale.
I just bought a bonus box of Hawaii chocolate mac nuts. Yummy!
The people know better just look around. Where is the other Caldwell lapdog Wiliki?
We need to see our tax dollars are paying for something…
That is a good example of “brown nosing” or “kiss okole” especially writing to the SA for it to be published. LOL!!! Bunch of jokers working for the city.
I failed nepotism class at work.
I was going to say the same thing. Hopefully Caldwell remembered to wipe before Ross Sasamura got all up in there.
And us both sides…
Strike one for me. And use both sides…
Too bad the SA chooses not to report the success of the city with road repairs and repaving.
SA doesn’t want to lie by making up false news, wiliki.
The overcrowding on the buses to and from the Waianae Coast has been a fact of life for over 25 years. I recall that over 25 years ago, people in Waianae town–and sometimes even in Maile–would actually catch west-bound buses, get off these buses at the Lawaia St./Farrington Highway stop and wait for the express buses heading into town—just so they could have seats for the journey into town.
Hawaii’s elected officials must think that the West side of O’ahu is on another planet.
lol, well isn’t it?
At times , it seems that way. But there are a lot of hard working people trying to maintain their lifestyles that need a more efficent transportation alternative. There should be more use in the early morning. Triple the service and maybe more people will be motivated to catch the bus and not drive.
Not enough buses but the city has managed to schedule another early morning bus. Looks like it might have a considerable impact.
Hope so, its a start.
We need Republican, Governor Linda Lingle’s, “New Beginning”, slogan again in Hawaii.
Ross gives us numbers. My lying eyes tell me otherwise.
Still using the throw and go method for expediency which leaves them chasing their tails forever. Job security and all.
I thought I heard that the materials used were a large part of the problem. Spending more there might reduce the frequency of repair and repaving, along with the whining of the taxpayers.
It’s a record amount of repairs and receiving. Great progress in this mayors administration.
Paving Kaena point road doesn’t count as conducive.
Since Uber began their transportation, our local taxi companies have had to improve their services in order to compete with Uber.
Gawd forbid! LONG LIVE UBER!!!
Yes!
Save a spot with Uber’s drivers, when Ige’s and Caldwell’s first term is up.
Waianae’s poor City Bus service needs to be reviewed. Their bus riders deserve better services. They should extend the rail system to Makaha and Mililani.
That’s adding another 40 miles of service. This will triple the amount of rail currently planned.
More likely the Mililani may be added later on. But the Waianae route will only come about if residents there want it. Currently most of them drive to town so they want the state to build a freeway from Kapolei to Waianae.
Sasamura’s letter is shameful, I will give him the benefit of the doubt that one of Caldwell’s uninitiated aides wrote the letter and told Ross to sign it. Of course more is better than less, but Ross, as an engineer, should know that quality is more important than quantity. In fact, as the guy in charge of maintaining these roads, he should know that we need a holistic approach, starting with keeping, maintaining and managing data–data on what we have, what their conditions are, what were done to them, when and how. We don’t know that these projects do not perform to their design, because we don’t have or manage data to find out. We do’t know why some pavements seems to perform better than others. We have not re-examined such things as AC mix design, type of binders we use, degrees of compaction. We waste concrete on infrequently used bus stops because some manual calls for them, instead of using the same concrete on the intersections, which are almost always badly beat up. Review the design criteria, from start to finish, same with construction standards, and do some real quality control on design and especially, construction. Keep and manage relevant data so we spend our money wisely and do’t repeat the same mistakes over and over. Ross, if the use of slurry seal and PCI were panacea, no municipalities would have any problems with their pavements. It is all about managing data and prioritizing the limited resources we have according to the data. Until you begin to manage data, you have no program, and unfortunately, that’s where you still are after all these years.
The mayor has done fantastic work on City streets.
You must have written Sasamur’s letter.
Its a fact.
Finally, wiliki admits he works for the mayor.
Mayor in North Dakota, maybe. Not in Honolulu.
Its the best road work since the Fasi administration, period!
Normally I don’t care what adults do with each other, but prostitution laws are laws. I am kind of surprised that the Vice division hasn’t hauled him off yet, but with the federal suspect in charge, it’s understandable.
OK, if there are 3,517 lane miles and they paved 253 last year … divided out that’s 13.7 years to repave all the roads. They want to improve to 1500 lane miles paved in the next 5 years , that’s 300 per year divided into 3517….. Still 11.7 years to repave all of the lane miles. How long does a paved road last? I don’t think it’s 11.7 years is it? But then I’m not an engineer, just a tax payer paying for it all.
No make like that, with the high numbers. Otherwise we are going to have have to lend some extra fingers for Caldwell to count with.
Why are we looking at Saturday’s Letters when today is Sunday?