City officials are rethinking
Oahu transportation ideas

By Harold Morse
Star-Bulletin

City transportation officials are offering proposals to make Oahu friendly to pedestrians and bicycles, expand the bus system and consider a light-rail transit/trolley system.

It's not a matter of just what's good for the automobile and everything else get out of the way, city Transportation Services Director Cheryl Soon told a handful of Aiea residents last week.

The "Rethinking Transportation" plans were aired at Pearlridge Elementary School.

The $8.2 million primary corridor study is billed as a departure from past transportation planning. Funding for the study breaks down to some $3 million from the city and about $5 million in federal dollars, she said.

"We'll be spending the next six months in meetings about this, getting concepts across. . . . Next month, we will be coming out with the bike master plan," Soon said.

More than 60 percent of the buses now have bike racks on them, and by August all of them will, she said.

"We have over 8,000 people a month putting their bicycles onto the bicycle racks," Soon said, adding that a joint undertaking by the Hawaii Bicycling League and city is teaching bicycle safety to every fourth-grader.

Soon said some bus routes, most of which were put together over 20 years ago, need some updating.

One idea is to have circulating buses in a community and express buses that stop only at major points. An express bus might make 12 in-town stops, rather than the 30 a local might make, she said.

"We also know that bus riders walk more than people who drive automobiles," Soon said. Routes with the greatest ridership may be considered for at-grade, not elevated, light-rail or trolley service, she said.

City Council Chairman Mufi Hannemann, who represents the area, praised the idea of limited express bus service from Pearlridge to the University of Hawaii by way of Middle Street.

He emphasized such an express system will cut travel time from Pearlridge to the university from 95 to 67 minutes.

Lane changes to refine traffic flow through intersections of Moanalua Road and Kaahumanu Street, and Moanalua Road and Kaahele Street, also were discussed.