Advertisement - Click to support our sponsors.
Kokua Line
Question: Any idea why the Waikiki-bound No. 42 buses downtown are running on King Street, yet all the other Waikiki buses continue to be diverted to Hotel Street? It seems that most of the passengers on the Nos. 3, 12, 19, 20 and 42 are headed to Waikiki and could take any of these buses. The current arrangement makes this impossible. It just seems strange. The wisdom
behind Waikiki
bus schedulesAnswer: Actually, there are three bus lines on King Street headed toward Waikiki -- the 40, 42 and 43 buses. The reason they are routed along King instead of Hotel is to try to keep the long-distance buses running on time, as well as to give riders traveling 20-25 miles from outlying areas a bit of a break by the time they reach the downtown area, explained J. Roger Morton, vice president of operations for Oahu Transit Services.
By comparison, he said, four local routes headed toward Waikiki run along Hotel: Nos. 2, 13, 19 and 20.
"That comes out to 12 buses per hour," Morton said. "So, roughly, we have a bus every six minutes on Hotel Street that's going to Waikiki during the base period and more at peak hours."
By running the 40, 42 and 43 lines (which come from Makaha, Ewa Beach and Waipahu, respectively) along King Street, "it's three minutes faster," he said.
"We think the longer-distance passengers should get the service more direct than the local service," Morton said.
So, not only is there Waikiki service along the busy King Street corridor, plus lots of Waikiki service along Hotel Street, this schedule "allows us to keep our on-time performance with our long-distance buses and to provide our long-distance customers with a little bit faster ride."
Morton noted that since OTS implemented the B express line to Waikiki, which parallels the No. 2 line, ridership through that corridor has increased more than 10 percent during the past year.
"We're happy with it," he said. "We seem to have a pretty good mix now of services."
Q: Despite numerous requests with various store managers, shopping carts from Longs, Safeway and Star continue to clutter our neighborhood. We contacted the main office of each store as well. Some of these carts have not been moved for four months. We do not have the manpower to remove them from the streets. What is the responsibility of each store, and can't they be cited for not removing the carts? What happened to the shopping cart hot line number?
A: This complaint periodically pops up. Retailers are plagued by customers who take the carts, then abandon them. Many have procedures for retrieving them, either with their own staff or via a retrieval company. Star and Safeway officials, in the past, have discussed their procedures with Kokua Line.
Technically, property owners are supposed to keep public sidewalk areas abutting their properties clear. So if the carts are in front of your house, for example, you are legally responsible for that area.
However, if the carts are identifiable and on the sidewalk, call the city's Housing Code Section at 527-6308, and they will contact the cart owners. If the carts are in the street, they are under police jurisdiction. In that case, call 911 and report it as a nonemergency.
As for the hot line, we know of no such number. If any reader does, please call Kokua Line at 525-8686 and leave a message.
Mahalo
To the people who operate the city's Handi-Van service. I've been riding TheHandi-Van for many years and am thoroughly satisfied and grateful for the service. -- J.M.
Need help with problems? Call Kokua Line at 525-8686,
fax 525-6711, or write to P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu 96802.
Email to kokualine@starbulletin.com