City officials say they’re scrambling to find money to reverse more of the bus cuts that have hit riders the hardest.
In February, Mayor Kirk Caldwell unveiled a $3.5 million plan to reverse many, but not all, of last year’s deeply unpopular service changes to TheBus. This week, administration officials said Caldwell’s proposed 2014 budget won’t call for any further restoration to TheBus.
"It is not contemplated at this time," city Managing Director Ember Shinn told the City Council on Wednesday.
Some members of the Council, including its budget chairwoman, have responded by saying they’ll find the cash — as much as $3.5 million — so that many of their constituents who rely on the bus won’t have to wait at least another year for additional routes to be restored.
Those dollars could come either from other parts of the budget or from slight increases to the $2.50 general bus fare, they said. But whatever they decide, they’ll have to hurry because their budget amendments, they said, are due Thursday.
Riders are still complaining about the cuts, Council Budget Chairwoman Ann Kobayashi said Thursday.
"I get calls from all over the island," she said.
Caldwell pledged to reverse the cuts during his mayoral campaign — a fact Kobayashi and other Council members noted this week. In February, Caldwell said his transit staff chose reversals that would give the "most bang for the buck," and that they avoided reversing other route changes that have been embraced by riders.
"We’ve never said it’s over," Director of Transportation Services Michael Formby said Thursday of the reversals. "This was the mayor’s bus restoration plan. But if we could find additional … funds, we would look at more routes." Formby said he’s also pursuing federal grants to help further restore service.
The bus changes began in June under former Mayor Peter Carlisle to help save the city $7 million by adjusting 21 routes. However, hundreds of riders, including workers, students and seniors, complained of longer waits to board overcrowded buses.
A remaining issue is Route E, which many residents of Ewa Beach, Waipahu and Waikele relied on to arrive at Ala Moana Center and Waikiki. The route was trimmed, however, and now ends downtown.
Route E was not included in Caldwell’s plan because it would have cost $1.1 million to restore, limiting the city’s ability to fix other routes, Formby said.
Councilman Ron Menor, who represents many Route E riders, said he’ll push for money to restore it — even if that means an increase in the $2.50 fare.
"My constituents have to travel long distances to get to and from work," Menor said Thursday. "It concerns me that the routes the administration did restore are primarily in the urban core and not the outlying areas."
Another point of contention is Route 14. Its service around Diamond Head was restored in March during off-peak hours. But riders have complained that Route 14 remains limited after TheBus expanded its peak hours to include the weekends and holidays, thus reducing service on those days.
Formby said the city is working to reverse that.
Star-Advertiser reporter Gordon Pang contributed to this report.
