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By Craig T. Kojima, Star-Bulletin
Hildegaard Verploegen arrives with her bicycle on the
WikiWiki Ferry at Honolulu Harbor's Pier 9. She'll
pedal back to Ewa Beach.

Ferry cuts
Ewa Beach
commute time

The half-hour ride saves
up to an hour of driving
time to downtown areas

---

By Rosemarie Bernardo
Star-Bulletin

The state Department of Transportation's WikiWiki Ferry to downtown moved to the Ewa Beach area this morning, allowing passengers a significant cut on their commute time to Honolulu.

"Ewa Beach and Ewa have a really hard commute," said state Department of Transportation spokeswoman Marilyn Kali. "They have to use Fort Weaver Road, which takes them an hour to an hour and half to downtown."

From Iroquois Point to downtown, it's just a half an hour on the ferry, said Kali.

About 20 people rode the ferry this morning.

Annie Kibota, a customer services representative for Verizon Wireless and an Ewa Beach resident, said, "I love it. I enjoy the view."

Kibota said it's a faster trip, and also saves her money on gas and parking. She had some concerns with the ferry schedule and if it might run late during the day.

Gail Nakayama, and Ewa Beach resident employed in the Bank of Hawaii's Human Resources department, described today's ride as "stress free. You can sit and relax during your commute. It's a relaxing wake-up."

John Chilcott, originally from Santa Cruz, Calif., was a first-time rider. "In Hawaii, it's kind of neat to be on the water, not to be land-locked," Chilcott said.

"Hopefully, it will appeal to residents who do have to commute."

The Iroquois Point-to-Honolulu run will continue until Oct. 31. The ferry leaves Iroquois Point at 6 a.m., arriving at Aloha Tower at 6:30 a.m.

Ferry passengers will not be charged for the first three weeks of the demonstration project. For the last four weeks, it will cost $1.50.

For parking, the supervised Park & Ride facility at the Ewa Beach Shopping Center (the vacant bowling alley parking lot) next to McDonald's and Star Supermarket will be available.

A shuttle bus will take riders to and from the docking site.

Downtown, another shuttle bus will take ferry riders from Pier 9 to various stops.

"The idea is to gather information on where the potential riders are, whether there's enough interest in it for a possible vendor to come in to offer services," said Kali.