Kokua Line

By June Watanabe

Wednesday, February 25, 1998

Shuttle company says it
didn’t block public bus stop

Whom do I call to complain about shuttle bus companies? On Feb. 2, I left the Pro Bowl game at Aloha Stadium and crossed the pedestrian bridge to catch the town-bound bus by Aiea Elementary School. There was a slew of shuttle vans in the no-parking zone in front of the bus stop.

They blocked my view of approaching buses as well as the driver's view of potential passengers since the first bus just passed a bunch of us by. The driver of one shuttle (Protocol Transportation) was nowhere around, so I stood in front of his van on the road so I would not miss the next bus.

Your complaint should be directed to police, who enforce traffic and parking laws.

The Public Utilities Commission licenses the buses, but it's concerned with whether a company is fit to provide regulated services -- its managerial abilities, financial resources, etc., said PUC administrative director Milton Higa.

It would investigate complaints about the rates charged, Higa said. But "traffic violations and safety aspects are not" regulated.

Stadium officials have no control over the buses since they were not parked on stadium property.

We spoke to Protocol Transportation manager Marie Phan, who said she was at the stadium that day and that her company's lone shuttle van "did not park at the bus stop at all." She said the van was parked "along the freeway."

All the shuttle buses "just drop off and go, drop off and go. Everybody did the same thing," Phan said. No one stopped for more than five to 10 minutes, she said.

Leeward Bowl is allowing smokers to not only smoke in the snack bar, but also in the janitor's closet between the water cooler and the men's restroom. The ventilation system in that area recycles the smoke right in the men's restroom. The response from the person I spoke to seemed to indicate that if no citations are given, she was not taking any action. I understand that this is not the Police Department's first concern, so how does one get this law enforced?

Because of a misunderstanding, smoking had been allowed in the restaurant, a city building inspector said.

But temporary "no smoking" signs were immediately installed and ashtrays removed. He said he would check back to make sure permanent signs are put in place.

The restaurant is inside the bowling facility but is a separate operation, said Leeward Bowl Manager Carol Furukawa.

There are signs posted all over the bowling alley saying that smoking is prohibited.

Furukawa said that as far as she knows, no one smokes in the janitor's closet.

People who want to smoke step outside the facility, she said.

If you see or smell someone smoking in the closet, talk to management. Otherwise, you should call police, who would have to catch a person in the act of smoking to issue a citation.

Auwe

To the Star-Bulletin for plastering the results of the Winter Olympics on the front page -- totally destroying any anticipation possible. This stinks. It takes away a lot from local readers.

"We try to accommodate readers in every way we can, but please don't ask us not to cover the news. That's what we do. We're a newspaper," said Star-Bulletin Managing Editor Dave Shapiro.

"These Olympic events occurred 16 to 18 hours before they appeared on television in Hawaii. It's unfortunate that TV doesn't offer people an option to view these events live."

TV stations may choose to sit on the news for nearly a day, he said, but "most of our readers wouldn't want us to do the same -- any more than they would expect us to delay reporting on what happened in Congress that day until readers had a chance to catch the evening rerun on C-SPAN."