Question: Why is there no canopy over the Uber and Lyft ride pickup median at the Honolulu airport? Visitors and residents are left to stand in the sun or rain while waiting for their app rides. TheBus riders, too, I believe.
Answer: Most passengers don’t stand on the median to wait for their app-hailed rides, instead waiting in covered areas across from the median, closer to the airport
lobbies, said Shelly Kunishige, a spokesperson for the state Department of Transportation. That said, DOT does have an upcoming project to install shade canopies on the medians closest to airport lobbies 5, 6 and 8, she said. The work is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2025, she said.
Uber has a pickup point on the second median across from Lobby 8, on the departure level, for customers who landed at Terminal 2, according to its website. Lyft has Terminal 2 pickup points on the same level, on the center median across from Lobby 5/6 and Lobby 8, its website says.
Q: Regarding reporting food poisoning at a restaurant (808ne.ws/3Dd1V0x), on a related note, there used to be a place to look at restaurant health inspections online, but I can’t find them anymore. They were helpful in choosing where to eat out, or not.
A: It’s been about a year since the state Department of Health’s Food Safety Branch has posted Hawaii restaurant inspection reports online; the
alternative is for consumers to contact the branch in each county for information about specific
restaurants.
A note on the FSB website, posted in January, says that “the Food Safety Branch is currently in the process of switching
vendors to manage the inspection report public website. Copies of all inspection reports are available by contacting the Food Safety Branch on each of the respective isles. To request copies of inspection reports for Oahu, you can contact via email at doh.food
safetyoahu@doh.hawaii.gov.” It says copies of inspection reports can also be requested by phone at the following numbers:
Oahu: 808-586-8000
Hawaii Island — Hilo: 808-933-0917
Hawaii Island — Kona: 808-322-1507
Maui, Molokai, Lanai: 808-984-8230
Kauai: 808-241-3323
Q: Regarding the
new online test to get a driving learner’s permit, how can the DMV clerk know that the person who shows up to pick up the permit is the same person who took the test?
A: Webcam photos of the test-taker will be taken during the exam, and the DMV clerk will review those photos when the applicant appears in person to complete their transaction, according to Honolulu’s Department of Customer Services, which answers a similar question on its website. It says that “the Online Learner’s Permit testing application uses photo captures to ensure the person taking the test is the person who signed up to take the test. Tests cannot begin until a photo is taken, and photos will be taken at random during the test to stop others from providing
information or other
resources. During a customer’s follow-up appointment, the licensing clerk will cross-reference images taken during the test to prevent fraud. This ensures the person who took the test is the one in front of the clerk getting their credentials processed.”
Q: I live on the East side and have never used the Zipper lane. How long is it?
A: About 11.3 miles through the busiest section of the eastbound H-1 freeway, according to the state Department of Transportation. The Zipper Lane (actually two lanes, since 2016)
is usually open from
5:30 to 9 a.m. weekdays, expanding eastbound
capacity for multi-occupant vehicles on the H-1 between the Manager’s Drive Overpass and the Keehi Interchange, it says.
Auwe
Something must be done about the speeding e-bikes on sidewalks. We saw a teenager speeding on the sidewalk on Keolu Drive in Kailua. She was going about 25 miles per hour. There are a lot of kupuna, people walking their dogs and toddlers on these sidewalks. Please help keep us safe! — D.M.
Mahalo
Mahalo to the young man from Lady Elaine at the Manoa Marketplace for helping this 82-year old kupuna by carrying her Christmas parcel and opening the door to the post office on Dec. 10.
— Mahalo, Jean
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Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 2-200, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
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Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 2-200, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
