Question: About 6:35 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16, and 6:45 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 18, I was waiting for the bus on King Street fronting the Blaisdell Concert Hall after visiting my husband at Straub Hospital. There was a Neil Diamond concert at the Blaisdell arena on both nights and cars were backed up on King Street to enter the parking lot kokohead of the bus stop. These cars were blocking the bus stop completely, making it impossible for buses to enter the bus stop zone. I witnessed numerous buses stopping in the second traffic lane and it was very dangerous, since it was already dark. When my bus came, I had to walk between the cars and wave the bus down. I’m 78 years old and use a three-pronged walking cane and don’t walk fast. Even more dangerous were riders getting off the bus. This situation seems to happen often, whenever there are large crowds attending Blaisdell events. Shouldn’t event promoters and Blaisdell officials be responsible for controlling the traffic for safety reasons?
Answer: Oahu Transit Services says it did respond to the dangerous situation fronting the Blaisdell concert hall when it was made aware of it on Feb. 18.
No action was taken two days earlier, because no bus driver reported having a problem.
“The situation you describe can happen in many locations and without notice,” said OTS spokeswoman Michelle Kennedy.
She said bus operators are trained to recognize hazards, then take “necessary precautions to mitigate or eliminate potential safety hazards.”
They also are supposed to notify OTS’ Central Control Center, as happened on Feb. 18.
In response, a road supervisor established a temporary bus stop just east of the Blaisdell parking entrance “to safely serve our riders outside of the parking line,” Kennedy said.
Before the supervisor arrived, she said bus operators did their best to service the bus stop.
On Feb. 16, the Central Control Department did not receive a call for help from any of the buses in the area, she said.
Therefore, the Central Control staff “was not likely to have known” there was a problem and could not have foreseen the problem at that stop two nights later, she said.
Kennedy said although the Blaisdell Center has events daily, not every event will bring about a traffic situation.
Still, “the field operations staff has been reminded to check the area when there are large events that may occur at this location,” she said. “The bus operators will also be reminded to call in for assistance.”
Question: When we show up with all the proper documents to renew our driver’s licenses, are they immediately returned or does the clerk keep them for a period of time to verify them? Do they make copies of ID cards? It is illegal to make a copy of a military ID card!
Answer: Documents presented are scanned and immediately returned to the applicant, said Dennis Kamimura, administrator of the city Motor Vehicle & Licensing Division.
“The scanning of these documents is a federal requirement adopted by the state,” he said.
Kamimura said certain federal ID cards may be presented as alternative proof of legal name and date of birth.
If applicants don’t want to provide military ID cards to be scanned, “they have the option of providing other acceptable documents,” he said.
Auwe
To the city truck driver turning left into the Kaneohe Waste Treatment Plant at 11:41 a.m. March 15. In your great hurry to beat the oncoming traffic, you cut the corner. Had I been a few feet further you would have hit me head-on. What is worse, you didn’t even see me until your truck was passing me and I leaned on my horn. Slow down and pay attention when you are behind the wheel of that large vehicle! — Lynda from Kaneohe
———
Write to “Kokua Line” at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
