Question: How often does Oahu Transit Services clean the inside of the buses, especially the back seats, and what kind of chemical or treatment do they use? There have been less than sanitary people — smelly people who rummage through rubbish cans and carry plastic bags of cans — riding TheBus.
Answer: OTS says it cleans all buses daily, and does a comprehensive interior cleaning about every four weeks.
“Our maintenance department services approximately 440 buses each weekday and 230 buses on weekends, between the hours of 6 p.m. and 2 a.m.,” said OTS spokeswoman Michelle Kennedy.
Each bus undergoes interior cleaning daily. The entire passenger compartment including the driver’s area is vacuumed or swept; heavily soiled floor areas are damp-mopped; rubbish between seats or sidewalls is removed; chewing gum is removed from the floor, seats and side panels; and soiled windows are wiped clean.
Buses go through a scheduled comprehensive interior cleaning about every four weeks, when passenger seat inserts are vacuumed, washed or replaced.
“When a seat insert is cleaned, it is soaked in an all-purpose cleaner, high-pressure-washed and placed in the sun to air dry completely,” Kennedy said. “The end product is a fresh, newly cleaned passenger seat insert.”
If you find a soiled seat, tell the bus driver or call TheBus customer service office at 848-4500, 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, except on city holidays. You are asked to provide the bus number and seat location.
Question: I am a bit confused about Hawaii gun laws. According to Chapter 134 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes, “Firearms, Ammunition and Dangerous Weapons,” all firearms in Hawaii must be registered whether or not they are serviceable and no matter how they are acquired. What if I acquired my rifle before 1994, when the registration was not mandatory? I checked the Hawaii Rifle Association and the police department website and both state that we would be exempt from registering the rifles, but a few HPD friends say we must register them. What would be the penalty for not registering if we are required to?
Answer: Long guns or rifles bought before 1994 do not have to be registered, according to the Honolulu Police Department’s Records & Identification
Division, which handles firearms registration.
However, if the firearm was sold or transferred after 1994, it must be registered. Gun owners must be able to provide documentation to show when a firearm was bought.
Meanwhile, all handguns need to be registered regardless of the year of acquisition.
But “HPD strongly encourages all gun owners to register all firearms, including long guns acquired before 1994,” said HPD spokeswoman Michelle Yu.
Not registering a firearm is a petty misdemeanor, punishable by a maximum six months in jail and $1,000 fine, and the firearm would be confiscated and disposed of.
The Records & Identification Division is open during normal weekday business hours at 801 S. Beretania St. For more information, go to honolulupd.org or call 529-3371.
MAHALO
To Marcus of Kailua, who came to my aid during a medical emergency on Monday, May 21, in the Safeway Kailua parking lot. He stayed with me and, because I was unable to drive myself, drove me home. Afterwards, he even took my sister back to my car, with my groceries in the back, to pick it up to drive it back home. He went above and beyond and is truly a good Samaritan! So nice to know that the aloha spirit is alive and well! — Donna Johnson, Kailua
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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.
