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Kokua Line June Watanabe |
New wiki-wiki buses
running at airportQuestion: What is the status of the new wiki-wiki bus that was to have replaced the old diesel buses at Honolulu Airport? As we understand it, a Canadian company was going to build them and deliver them the end of last year.
Answer: Four low-floor, 25-passenger electric buses were delivered last year by Electric Vehicles International LLC, based in Anderson, Ind.
The new wiki-wiki buses cost $164,239 each and have been running between the overseas, interisland and commuter terminals since January, according to the state Department of Transportation.
Meanwhile, a tractor-trailer, low-floor electric shuttle -- capable of carrying 100 passengers -- was delivered in February.
Officials are testing the vehicle's performance before deciding whether to accept a total of six of the bigger shuttles. They would be used in the airport operations area, carrying international arrivals from the aircraft to Customs.
Until the tractor-trailer shuttles are accepted by the Airports Division, the older diesel shuttles will be used to supplement the electric vehicles during peak hours.
Q: Could you assist in finding out when the construction to build a handicapped ramp at Koko Head and Harding avenues will be completed? The project seems to have stopped for almost two months and leaves an extremely dangerous situation. The cones and yellow tape to protect the area are falling, and this location is on the corner of a school and across the street from the Kaimuki library.
A: This project was one of many victims of the recent concrete workers strike, but as you confirmed yesterday, the ramp has since been completed.
Unlike many other curb ramps being built around the island, this was not a city project, but one under the jurisdiction of the state Department of Transportation.
Concrete for the ramp was poured April 5, and additional work was done the following day, transportation spokesman Scott Ishikawa said Thursday. "The curb ramp should have been in full service by (Wednesday)."
Q: Is there any place I can report vehicles with nonfunctioning brake lights? I don't think HPD's 911 system would appreciate getting these calls. There isn't a day that goes by where I don't end up behind a car with some kind of brake light failure. Sometimes, all their lights don't work. I would appreciate getting a call to let me know my brake lights don't work, rather than be rear-ended by another vehicle that didn't stop in time.
A: If you think there is an immediate hazard, you should call police at 911.
Be prepared to provide a license plate number, description of vehicle, direction of travel and where the vehicle was last seen so an officer can respond and attempt to locate it, said Honolulu police Sgt. Clyde Yamashiro, of the Traffic Division.
If there is no immediate danger, Yamashiro said you could later contact the nearest police station to where you observed the violation and request that the matter be followed up either with a letter sent to the registered owner of the vehicle or an officer sent to the owner's residence, he said.
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