‘Fostering movement’ of community

Council members asked to set aside funding for bus route

By MELISSA TANJI, Staff Writer
By MELISSA TANJI

Staff Writer

LAHAINA — The county administration and the Lahaina Bypass Now group are asking county council members to keep $330,000 in the proposed mayor’s budget for a new Lahaina bus route that will link Lahaina neighborhoods to shopping, doctors, jobs and recreational facilities around town.

So far 800 signatures have been collected from residents, businesses and supporters who want a bus route to serve the town, said Theo Morrison, executive director of Lahaina Bypass Now, a group dedicated to a better quality of life through transportation solutions as well as construction of the Lahaina Bypass.

“The bus will make all the difference to these people,” Morrison told council members Thursday.

Kate Bahr, also of Lahaina Bypass Now, told council members that she spoke to a woman on the phone who told her she needed the service as she lives in Lahaina, has two jobs and cannot drive.

Bahr said the woman cried as she expressed her need for the bus route.

“The Lahaina community as a whole will benefit from the service,” Bahr said.

Morrison and Bahr, along with others including senior citizens holding bus signs, made their push for the proposed Lahaina Villager Bus at a community budget hearing Thursday night at the Lahaina Civic Center social hall. To drum up support and educate the public, informational pamphlets on the proposed service were passed out along with bus-shaped cookies.

The council’s budget and finance committee is holding public meetings countywide on Mayor Charmaine Tavares’ fiscal 2009 budget. The council has until the end of May to pass a budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1.

The proposed Lahaina Villager Bus would run from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. each day, with an hour-long route that begins and ends at the Lahaina Aquatic Center.

The new route would serve the Lahainaluna, Wahikuli and Villages of Leiali’i neighborhoods and make a loop through town.

The current county bus system route in Lahaina makes stops at Papalaua Street, the Wharf Cinema Center, Lahaina Cannery Mall and Whalers Village.

Another route serves condominiums and shopping areas in Kaanapali and Napili.

Morrison and County Transportation Director Don Medeiros both agree the bus would get more cars off the road; help local residents get to and from work and allow them to run errands; and also assist with the tight parking situation in Lahaina town.

Medeiros said on Friday that the proposed Lahaina Villager route was identified in a short-range transportation plan years ago and also has backing from Tavares.

He said the bus will take people to recreational activities and services at the Lahaina Aquatic Center and the Lahaina Civic Center, as well as assist senior citizens wanting to go into town.

“It will move people around the city center of Lahaina,” he said. “We had a lot of requests to service the community center out there, but the way the (current) route is set up and the infrastructure, we couldn’t do it.”

Medeiros said the proposed route would link up with current routes with identical stops at Wharf Cinema Center and the Lahaina Cannery Mall. The current routes also link with the rest of the county’s bus system.

“It will foster movement of a lot of our community.”

Medeiros said he expects the new service to “yield a lot of passengers,” and the administration does not want to charge for the service. But in a letter to council members, Lahaina Bypass Now said it supports a fare of $1 per boarding.

Medeiros said as far as the cost for passengers, “it is the council’s call.”

He acknowledged that the proposed budget is tight but said he believes the council members will approve the service.

The $330,000 will be used for the startup and operational costs of the service for one year, he said.

The county already has buses available for the route. Initially a 25-passenger bus may be used, although there is room for adjustment, Medeiros said.

If the funds are approved for next fiscal year, Medeiros said, the Lahaina Villager Bus could begin service around Aug. 1.

Morrison said outside the meeting that the need

for a bus in Lahaina town arose when Lahaina Bypass Now was discussing the commuter bus that includes busing in workers to and from West Maui and Central Maui.

It was found that 68 percent of Lahaina employees live in Lahaina. There are different work shifts in

West Maui, and some workers could not be accommodated by the commuter bus.

Morrison said her group surveyed people who might be interested in a town bus and “it was an overwhelming response.”

Lahaina Bypass Now cited the commutesolutions. org site that said Lahaina employees spend an average of $119 per month (direct expense plus societal costs) to drive their vehicles to work.

A county bus pass costs $25 a month.

“The quality of life in Lahaina will increase with this bus,” Morrison said.

For more information on the proposed Lahaina Villager Bus, see: lahainabypassnow.com.

• Melissa Tanji can be reached at mtanji@mauinews.com.