Many find feet
sore substitutes
for city buses
Some missed doctors' appointments, work or school because of the city bus strike. Others walked miles to pick up groceries, prescriptions or kids.
But many of the regular bus riders waiting for city vans at Chinatown Gateway Plaza yesterday afternoon say they won't shun TheBus once the service returns to Oahu's roads -- whenever that may be.
"Tell the drivers to hurry up and finish their strike," said Esther Ballenti, of Waianae, "and when they are back, I'll be right there with them."
Carol Rabe, a 20-year city bus rider, agreed. The Kapolei resident walks two miles from her home to go shopping. The only upside: "It's good exercise."
"We're so reliant on the buses," she said. "I want them to come back."
More than 1,400 city bus drivers, mechanics and maintenance workers under Local 996 of the Teamsters Union walked off the job Aug. 26, forcing thousands of city bus commuters to find other means of transportation.
Contract negotiations between the Teamsters and Oahu Transit Services Inc. broke off about midnight Thursday. Union members will picket through the weekend, and talks are scheduled to begin again at 2 p.m. Monday.
As the strike approaches two weeks, a number of bus-dependent residents are beginning to worry about how they will keep up their hectic commutes.
Waipahu residents Angel Arigo and his wife both work at Fisherman's Wharf in Honolulu, a 45-minute walk from their city van drop-off point. The two, both in their 60s, said the strike has meant that there is only time enough for working and commuting during the weekdays.
"We've got no more time for shopping," Angel Arigo said. "It's hard. We only have the (city) van."
Others who relied on TheBus, the only public mass transportation service in the islands, had similar stories.
Susan Ramie's workday at American Express downtown ends at 4 p.m., but the Ewa Beach mother must be on the 3:30 p.m. city van to pick up her school-age children later in the afternoon.
"I get to work late and leave early, but at least I'm there," she said.
The strike is keeping at home some workers without cars or other transportation options.
Many of the 118 seniors who hold part-time jobs through the Senior Community Service Employment Program have been unable to get to work, employment counselor Theresa Trajew said.
"A majority of our seniors do not drive, and they live in various parts of the island," she said. "Without the bus they cannot get to their job site."
The number of seniors who have not been able to get to work varies, depending upon whether the worker can catch a ride with a family member or neighbor.
Those who have missed days have had to use vacation time to cover their absences, she said.
Once their vacation time runs out, they will be put on leave without pay. "We didn't want to look that far, but if it goes on much longer, we are going to," she said.
Henry Camey knows what it's like to feel stranded.
The 69-year-old walked from Kalihi to Ala Moana Center because he had no other way of making the trip. "You feel trapped," he said.
Kalihi resident J.P. Park, who sat beside Camey at the city van pickup downtown, also piped up. The strike "is a real hardship," she said. "I cannot go to the doctor. I cannot go to church."
Meanwhile, the city has announced it will offer free shuttle service today from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Six shuttles were expected to run circular routes, beginning at Chinatown Gateway Plaza, to Kalihi, Waianae, Ewa Beach and Pearlridge, Ala Moana and the University of Hawaii-Manoa, Waimanalo and Salt Lake.
Two shuttles will run routes through points on the North Shore and in Mililani and Wahiawa.
For more information about the shuttles, call the city Department of Transportation Services at 527-5890, or go to www.co.honolulu.hi.us/dts/strike.
