New van program
to transport seniorsThe city plan includes
three new routes
driven by volunteers
Elsie Higa's family worried when the thin, 75-year-old woman lost six pounds from all the walking she has been doing since the bus strike began last month.
"My daughter said, 'I think you're doing too much walking.' First time I walked so much," said Higa, who has been making the 1 1/2-mile trip from her downtown apartment to the Lanakila Multi-Purpose Senior Center three times a week.
So Higa said she was overjoyed to learn of Mayor Jeremy Harris' new City Senior Van Program, which he announced yesterday, to help the elderly get around during the strike.
"It's going to be so good," she said. "It's going to spoil us. Pickup is right in front of the apartment."
The plans include three new routes and an expansion of a third shuttle van route, with 40 additional vans and 40 new volunteer drivers.
Harris said the elderly are among the hardest hit by the strike.
"Many senior citizens are basically trapped at home," he said. "They have lost their ability to get to the market, to get to the grocery store, to get to the pharmacy to get their prescriptions."
Harris initiated the program after hearing the problems of the elderly firsthand while driving the city vans during the strike, city spokeswoman Carol Costa said.
The mayor said business leaders have come forward to volunteer to drive the vans. Each of the seven-passenger rental vans costs the city $330 to $350 a week.
The program consists of:
>> Kupuna Shuttle, which will provide rides to residents of large senior housing facilities. Interested seniors should contact managers of their housing facilities to make reservations.
>> The Senior Center Transport, which will provide door-to-door van service to seniors attending Lanakila and Moiliili senior centers. Arrangements can be made through center managers.
>> Senior Center Holoholo, which will provide members of the Lanakila and Moiliili senior centers with midday transportation to the market and other locations.
Lanakila program director Drusilla Tanaka said 11 people have signed up for the new program so far, but they must live within the centers' districts.
The City Senior Van Program will complement existing city van shuttles.
The program also includes the downtown-Chinatown-Kalihi shuttle, which provides rides to all adults, not just seniors. Since that shuttle serves a high percentage of seniors, the city increased the number of vans to eight from five.
It runs between Chinatown Gateway Park, Kohou Street behind the 7-Eleven store, and on School Street at Kapalama Elementary School and near Lanakila Avenue. Extra stops at North King Street across from Kalihi Shopping Center and on School Street near the Kamehameha IV Road intersection across from 7-Eleven have been added.
In another change announced Monday, the city's Limited Stop Express Bus Service, which uses school buses, will replace the City Van service for the 3:30 and 5:30 p.m. pickups.
Reservations on the 3:30 and 5:30 p.m. City Van will be honored on the 5:30 p.m. Limited Stop Express Bus.
