Economic boom brings roadway bane

Ann Robinson’s Ilikai condo is near the entrance to Waikiki, but the smell of diesel and the vroom of passing vehicles often overrides her enjoyment of the fresh ocean air and melodic waves.

Trolleys, cars, tourist rental vehicles, delivery trucks, charter buses, a passenger trolley that looks like a large whale, double-decker tour buses, motorcycles and scooters, go round and round Robinson’s neighborhood.

"It has become one big dangerous parking lot," said Robinson, who has complained about traffic to the city, state and Waikiki Improvement Association and neighborhood board. "I took a former aide of Councilman Stanley Chang’s on a tour of the problems on Ala Moana Boulevard and Kahanamoku Street and we came within a hair’s breadth of getting hit."

Traffic in the state’s top visitor destination has been voluminous for decades. But new developments and growing visitor and resident populations have increased the number of vehicles on Waikiki’s roads, especially new charter buses and trolleys.

And it’s not just residents who are concerned, as city officials and stakeholders recognize the problem’s effect on visitors’ experience and on business.

Tourism officials and leaders from the hotel and taxi industries say the growth of mega-vehicles — and traffic in general — is interfering with operations and dampening revenues for some of the roughly 1,200 businesses in Waikiki.

Most stakeholders agree on a critical need to improve traffic flow, while also making the community more accessible for bikers and pedestrians. They also want to lessen the impact of a growing number of large passenger vehicles.

"The success of the visitor industry over the last few years has increased traffic," said George Szgeti, president and CEO of the Hawaii Lodging and Tourism Association. "The good years bring more jobs and people. Now, we have to figure out how to make everything flow better."

Mayor Kirk Caldwell and Mike Formby, director of city Transportation Services, agree.

After months of meetings with visitor and transportation industry leaders, the pair told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that they support suggestions for long-term fixes in the recently completed Waikiki Regional Circulator Study, which looked at moving bus passengers between the coming Ala Moana Center rail station and Waikiki.

They also are ready to offer short-term traffic solutions, most of which include alleviating angst over the rise in trolleys and large commercial vehicles.

"I’ve had multiple meetings with the visitor industry and I have to tell you that the issue of trolleys and charter buses came up fairly quickly," Caldwell said. "Anyone that drives through Waikiki when they go to an event will very quickly see multiple trolleys and charter buses pulling over with their okoles sticking out. On a busy Friday night, there’s massive congestion."

"The number of passenger carriers is getting larger and larger," said Bill Stokes, an investigator with the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission. "There are 19 companies operating on Oahu that are authorized to drive passenger carriers that seat more than 25 people."

Stokes said he doesn’t know the number of vehicles those companies use in Waikiki because the PUCdoes not have the authority to limit the number of vehicles that they deploy.

"There’s no way for us to know how many of these carriers are operating in Waikiki, but probably all of them are because that’s where everyone wants to be," he said.

It’s not hard to figure out why. The district has an average daily population of 94,310, counting visitors and residents. There also are about 26,085 workers on any given day, with about 91 percent of them commuting to the area.

The expectation that even more people will need to move through the district once rail runs up to Ala Moana Center has created more impetus for solving the region’s traffic woes.

The city cannot reduce the number of trolleys, because they get authorization from the state. But Caldwell said the city can use its jurisdiction over streets, signage and the Honolulu Police Department to ease some of the growing pains.

For starters, Caldwell plans to ask police to step up traffic enforcement.

And the city already implemented one change to improve pedestrian and traffic at the intersection of Seaside and Kalakaua avenues by adding a so-called Barnes Dance crossing at the intersection, allowing people to cross simultaneously in every direction.

In the next six months, Formby hopes to simplify and streamline signage at congested streets like Royal Hawaiian Avenue.

His department also will consider separating more trolley stops from city bus stops and adding more traffic cutouts where vehicles can pull over to pick up and drop off passengers.

A vacant city lot also could be turned into an off-street staging area where trolleys and other large vehicles can pick up tourists without disrupting traffic.

Jerry Gibson, area vice president for Hilton Hawaii, said trolleys and similar vehicles provide a valuable service for guests and help reduce traffic by moving groups. He’s optimistic that Caldwell’s short-term plan could create critical balance.

"These are great ideas that the mayor has," Gibson said. "Not only should these ideas be implemented now, but I think we should get going on some of the things that we decided in the Waikiki Regional Circulator Study."

Percy Higashi, president and chief operating officer of tour operator Roberts Hawaii, said his company would like to join the public discussion and work with others to improve traffic conditions: "We don’t have enough details about the Waikiki circulation study nor the mayor’s proposed options to comment on them, but we applaud and support efforts to reduce traffic congestion and make Waikiki an even nicer place for visitors and the many residents who live and/or work there."

Howard Higa, president of TheCab, said that while Roberts moves efficiently through Waikiki, other companies’ vehicles are backing up traffic by operating routes too close together, riding nearly empty, and making lengthy pickups at already crowded bus stops and cutouts.

"What’s happening is the Japanese tour companies like Jalpak and JTB are buying more and more trolleys because they aren’t limited,"Higa said. "The problem is that they aren’t transportation companies. They don’t have to make a profit on this service so they don’t have to run efficiently."

Travel Plaza Transportation, which runs trolleys for Japanese visitors, did not return calls to the Star-Advertiser. HIS and E Noa declined to comment. However, visitor industry leaders at Starwood, Outrigger and Aqua Hospitality agreed with Higa’s assessment.

Keith Vieira, senior vice president of operations for Starwood Hotels & Resorts in Hawaii and French Polynesia, said trolleys are good for hotel guests. However, he questions whether "we really need so many, and can we operate them more efficiently?"

Ben Rafter, president and CEO of Aqua Hospitality, said, "There are too many trolleys for designated stops, often creating a safety hazard when they stop in active lanes."

Waikiki resident Bruce Lenkeit said the volume of traffic is a safety concern.

"The left-hand turn lane out of the Ilikai is blocked 80 to 90 percent of the time," Lenkeit said. "I’ve seen delivery trucks parking in front of fire hydrants. There are bicyclists that can’t see around vehicles."

When trolleys and similar vehicles sit along the main thoroughfares, they cause a backup of other carriers, quickly creating a chain reaction, said Ed Case, senior vice president and chief legal officer for Outrigger Enterprises Group.

"We can’t get deliveries on time and our guests complain about getting to the airport or to their tours. Heavy traffic definitely degrades the visitor experience," Case said.

Employees also run late because of the congestion, Case said, adding, "The No. 8 bus, which is the workhorse of city buses into Waikiki, takes 21 more minutes to operate than it did 20 years ago."

Higa said backups also cause problems for taxi drivers, who aren’t able to pick up as many fares.

"Our drivers are definitely losing revenue,"he said. "Without controls, it’s a pig fight. We need to form an industry focus group and work on a solution. If they ram changes down everyone’s throat it could fizzle."

Caldwell and Formby are calling on Hawaii’s visitor and transportation industries to expand city efforts to control traffic with self-regulation. If that doesn’t happen, they will look at altering the regulatory environment.

"We’ve tried to be sensitive in our approach and work with the industry, but we are determined to solve the problem," Formby said. "We can’t keep it going the way that we are going."