Like other longtime daily bus riders, Keoni Molina was hoping the new Alapai Street Transit Station would have public restroom facilities.

But when the $19 million facility opened in May with modern-looking awnings and benches, Molina and his fellow bus riders discovered the city chose to include only two single-toilet restrooms designated for bus drivers only.

Molina, a 26-year-old from Wahiawa who works as a security guard nearby, said he’s since seen one person use the bushes to relieve himself and "wouldn’t doubt it" if many others are doing the same.

The Honolulu City Council is slated to discuss today a resolution that would urge the Carlisle administration to construct public restrooms at the new transit center.

Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi, who introduced the measure, said a 2010 news release issued by the city included public restrooms among the amenities for the new transit station.

"If the drivers need to go, so do the riders," Kobayashi said, noting that many of passengers at the stop are coming or going from faraway places such as Waianae to Wahiawa.

When it was suggested that people could use the restroom facilities at the Fasi Municipal Building across the street, Kobayashi said she didn’t think people in desperate need of toilet facilities would be able to make it there in time due to distance and security measures. The facility is also closed to the public after city business hours.

Transportation Services Director Wayne Yoshioka said much as he’d like restrooms at all transit facilities, the city stopped putting them in their most recent ones due primarily to maintenance and security concerns.

Restrooms at the Waipahu and Mililani transit stations have been destroyed often by vandals, and paid security watch the two facilities 18 hours a day, Yoshioka said. "That’s very expensive, and as you know, one of the things we’re struggling with right now are operational costs."

Before the new transit center was built, the city put out several portable toilets in the vacant parking lot that was used as the old transit station.

Yoshioka said his office is willing to entertain any proposals for restroom facilities at Alapai "if people are willing to budget us the money so we can do it."

In related news, the Council Budget Committee on Wednesday advanced a bill clearing the way for the four stories of parking above the transit center to be made available for city employees at a monthly rate.

The lot was never intended for public parking, Yoshioka said. Meanwhile, the city is still waiting to see which city employees will be allowed in the garage because it was built partly with Federal Transit Administration dollars as a parking area for the Joint Traffic Management Center. The center is in the design phase and construction is scheduled to begin next year.