Kokua Line
Kokua Line
Question: A bus stop is needed on Miloiki Street in the back of Hawaii Kai. The street is like a horse shoe and I live in the middle of this horse shoe. If I ask drivers to let me off near Miloiki, they say they can only stop at bus stops with signs. I walk every morning two-thirds of a mile to catch express bus No. 95, which comes at 5:10 a.m. Why does Kaimuki have bus stops in every block and we can't get one at the bottom of Miloiki? Creating a
new bus stop
not so simpleAnswer: There may be some relief for you soon. But, officials said, establishing a bus stop really is not a simple matter.
A bus stop will be set up fronting 1232 Lunalilo Home Road, near Miloiki, if there are no objections from residents there, said Paul Steffens, chief of the city Public Transit Division.
In general, the division's policy is to work with a community through its neighborhood board. As can be expected, there's not always consensus or agreement.
Some people may welcome a bus stop, while others object because of "negative impacts," such as fumes and noise from buses, loss of on-street parking, litter, graffiti and other nuisances, Steffens said.
Records show the Fixed Route Operations Branch got a call in November 1997 requesting a bus stop at the top of Lunalilo Home Road across from Miloiki, he said. But a site inspection showed it would be unsafe to place a stop there because Lunalilo contained a 180-degree turn near Miloiki, limiting sight distance.
To mitigate the sight problem, parking is prohibited along the makai side of Lunalilo, between 1236 and 1286, Steffens said, so the nearest location to Miloiki to establish a bus stop is at 1232, 1236, 1240, 1286, 1290 or 1294 Lunalilo Home Road. Residents were surveyed and only the resident at 1232 was willing to accept a stop, he said.
Letters were sent to the Hawaii Kai Neighborhood Board and surveyed residents informing them that a stop would be established there "with the concurrence of the neighborhood board." As of last week, the board had not responded, Steffens said.
Decisions on bus stops are made on a case-by-case basis, taking into account vehicular safety (sight distance, traffic pattern and flow, signals, signs, parking, intersections, driveways, crosswalks, etc.); pedestrian and bus rider safety; compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act; convenience for the immediate community; topography; proximity to other bus stops; ridership; and right of way.
Regarding your comment that "Kaimuki has bus stops in every block," Steffens said that's because of the long distance people who live off the main bus route on Waialae Avenue have to walk and because of narrow sidewalks.
"Less stops mean a longer walk and more people waiting at a stop, thereby obstructing an already narrow sidewalk," he said.
To request new stops, or to relocate or eliminate existing ones in the Honolulu area, call 523-4582; other areas, call 527-6394. Or, Steffens said, you can work through your neighborhood board, council member, representative, etc.
Mahalo
To the mystery good Samaritan who sent me the contents of my mom's wallet, which she didn't know that she had lost! Your kindness in sending it to my office in two separate envelopes shows that you went out of your way to assure that I received it. May God richly bless you and your family. -- Beverly Gantt
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