ALOHA,

BUS CUTS: SCENARIO

Let's stipulate that you are a bus rider and you have been waiting for the bus to pick you up for the last 30-minutes . . . you have a funeral to make, maybe a doctor's appointment, or maybe your mission is that you simply must be at work on time or you lose your job . . . the bus is coming, it is too full, no standing room left, and the bus driver waves at you and blows by you, unable to stop and pick you up because the bus is over capacity due to bus route cuts. So now you have to wait for the next bus, that should if on time, pick you up 45-minutes later.

These types of scenarios are happening all day long island wide and it is a crisis for thousands of people with every twist and turn throughout the day.

I am calling on Mayor Carlisle to open up Bill 14 - the Budget Bill, and reinstate bus service. This is a crisis and steps must be taken to alleviate it and provide remedy now.

Dear Honorable Mayor Carlisle:

Thousands of our constituents have delivered resounding messages to Honolulu Hale via petition, emails, letters, phone calls, media interviews and public testimony regarding the recent implementation of bus services cuts.

We hear their messages and understand their plight. The message simply says that the bus service cuts in routes and time schedules have caused untold havoc and more importantly, seriously affects the quality of their lives. In light of the recent outcry from the bus riders of Honolulu, an unforeseen situation (of crisis proportion) has manifested itself for our immediate attention.

Therefore, on behalf of the citizens of the City and County of Honolulu and in conjunction with the unanimous decision by all members of the City Council via passage of Resolution 12-173 and 12-177, we urge you to rehear Bill 14 in a special council hearing. To open the Budget Bill would allow for the infusion of necessary funds to restore bus service to our bus-riding constituents island wide who are suffering needlessly.

Please initiate the process to allow Bill 14 to be tinkered with due to the unforeseen circumstances that has transpired since its passage. We are indeed in a transportation crisis.

Mahalo for your immediate attention and consideration.

Sincerely,

Councilman Tom Berg
District I
CC: Chair Ernie Martin