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Answers still needed
about bus rapid transit

It's amazing how the city introduces the alternative modes of enhanced transportation to the public. Some information is held "close to the vest" and of the three alternatives, only the bus rapid transit (BRT) plan is being emphasized and encouraged.

Since attending many informational sessions and hearings, I can surely understand why many people are upset and demand more dialogue. Some of the interesting and unanswered questions are:

1. Why is the most expensive BRT at $400+ million the only alternative being emphasized by the city? The others are less expensive.

2. Approximately 20 percent of our island motorists are uninsured. Would it not cost less to address this issue? Twenty percent fewer vehicles on our roadways is quite substantial.

3. The BRT runs either down the middle or on the side of Dillingham or Kuhio. How will the emergencies -- vehicle accidents, pedestrian accidents, utility repairs, etc. -- be handled without causing inconvenience and gridlock in surrounding areas?

4. If the BRT goes into the Waikiki-Ala Moana areas, isn't this public transportation directly competing with local private transportation?

5. Since the BRT is being federally subsidized, are these private passenger carriers paying large taxes only to have it used against them -- putting them out of business?

6. Are we adding business costs to the local delivery, passenger carriers, emergency services and others which will have to be passed on to our visitors? If Waikiki-Ala Moana becomes more expensive to visit, is this good for business?

7. Can't we instead increase city bus service in Waikiki during peak hours to better service the hundreds of local hotel workers there? It's less expensive and provides more employment to our bus drivers.

8. Pacific Palisades in Pearl City and the Waianae Coast have been waiting in excess of 10 years for alternate accesses. Why can't this type of funding be directed to provide it?

9. The BRT will take many years to complete. Who will be held accountable if it fails or has cost overruns?

10. Without knowing what the final outcome will be 25 years from now, are we passing the burden and expenditures to the next generation?

I hope that more thought and dialogue is given to this controversy before proceeding any further. As a taxpayer, I am very concerned how taxes are spent and what burden is left for my keiki and their keiki. To my fellow taxpayers, I urge you to get involved to determine if we are "To B Or Not to BRT!"

Conrad Okuma
Pearl City

Quotables "We are committed to change. We are fed up with an education system that doesn't work, fed up with an economic system that doesn't create jobs." Rep. Galen Fox NEW LEADER OF HAWAII HOUSE REPUBLICAN CAUCUS Commenting on the attitude of GOP House members as they prepare for the upcoming legislative session. With 19 members, the House Republicans will have enough votes to pull a bill out of committee and force a floor vote. "The threat of Republican coalition is always going to be there, and I certainly intend to follow through on that, if that is what it takes." Rep. Ed Case FORMER DEMOCRAT HOUSE LEADER AND NEW DISSIDENT Explaining that he and other reform-minded Democrats may break with party leadership and vote with Republicans on some legislation

Floating parking lots? What's next?

Auwe! For years, it seems the only place immune from the sprawl of concrete on Oahu has been the water. Now developers even want to build floating parking for Aloha Tower Marketplace.

Where are the environmental impact studies for Aloha Tower and other downtown developments? Why was the parking deficit not mitigated in our urban planning models? Must we now allow developers to begin covering our waterfront with eyesores?

Hawaii needs a vision of the future, one in which we don't have to pour more concrete or import more visitors to solve every problem. Our children need a promise of open spaces, clean water and environmentally responsible economic prosperity.

Ken Armstrong

There are new standards for pain management

Starting this coming week, those entering hospitals have a right to have their pain treated. Standards established over a year ago by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations are supposed to be implemented by hospitals in January 2001.

Patients should request information on these standards to assure that their pain is managed in a state-of-the-art way. Pain can be treated and people do not have to suffer needlessly.

Demand that the hospital comply with these standards and, if it does not, file an appropriate complaint with JCAHO.

T. Kroll
Kailua

Isle favorite brought back yuletide memories

Mahalo for your Dec. 25 story on the favorite island song, "12 Days of Christmas." I have been waiting more than 25 years to have a copy of it again.

I lived in Kaneohe in the early 1970s. One year we were guests at a big Hawaiian Electric Co. Christmas dinner party. The highlight of the evening was when everybody sang the song, table by table, in a "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" style.

As we had only been on Oahu about three or four years at the time, it was new to us. One thing's for sure: We never forgot it.

Your printing of the words was a special gift. Thanks for the memories.

Ginger Weeks
Bakersfield, Calif.

Stronger gun control is needed now

Jason Balatico, Ford Kanehira, Ronald Kataoka, Ronald Kawamae, Melvin Lee, Peter Mark and John Sakamoto. These seven innocent Oahu men lost their lives to guns.

"How could anyone do such a horrible thing?" people ask. The question should be, "How did a man like Bryan Uyesugi, who had a history of anger and violence, have such unrestricted access to such a deadly weapon as a handgun?"

Local government needs to tighten up on the enforcement of gun control laws such as the Brady Bill. Gun laws must be made uniform throughout the country.

The constitutional right to bear arms is a federal law; therefore local laws concerning guns should be identical.

Now more than ever, it is evident that America's gun laws are grossly inadequate. Opponents of gun control still claim that guns protect innocent people. Do you honestly believe that?

The sad fact is that the statement is totally untrue. Although guns may save a few lives, their effects are more readily witnessed in relation to mass murders such as the Xerox and Columbine shootings.

The bottom line is that guns do more damage than good.

Jordan Higa
Pearl City

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