• Special interests too powerful • Buses no solution to traffic woes Special interests too powerful David Dinner’s letter “Leaders must unite, not divide” (TGI, Aug. 31) is, alas, a plaintive plea for help. Where, Mr. Dinner, are you going to find
• Special interests too powerful • Buses no solution to traffic woes
Special interests too powerful
David Dinner’s letter “Leaders must unite, not divide” (TGI, Aug. 31) is, alas, a plaintive plea for help.
Where, Mr. Dinner, are you going to find a majority of local leaders on that small island that aren’t either beholden to the public employee unions and/or the 900-pound gorilla, the tourist industry interests?
Short answer: They aren’t there, and if they were the two powerful special interests I mention would assure their defeat.
Wally Roberts, San Clemente, Calif.
Buses no solution to traffic woes
Two fine letters in TGI on Aug. 27, one by Paulo Tambolo and the other by Glenn Mickens, probably express the sentimentsof 95 percent or more of our adult population.
We need a moratorium on all growth until infrastructure is first put in place to handle more expansion. Horrendous traffic is atthe top of a long list of problems we have had for many years that need addressing. A recent TGI poll showed that 52 percentof our commuting public wants more alternate and wider roads to alleviate traffic. Contrary to what our mayor, planners andpublic works department believe when they say that more buses, bikes, shuttles and walking are the answer to solving thetraffic problem, the facts and public opinions (which our “leaders” don’t listen to) prove this theory to be wrong.
In an emergency I once had to take a bus from Puhi to my home in Kapahi. Since a bus only goes to an area one mile from myhome I had another 30-minute walk to get there. The total time of this bus and walking trip was two hours. A previous use ofmy car for the same trip took me 25 minutes.
There is no way a bus, bike, shuttle or walking could ever take the place of my car, nor will it for the mass of our people.Professor James E. Moore of USC put it this way: “It’s not the dream of every bus rider to arrive in a bus that was on time, airconditioned and clean, where a seat was available. It’s the dream of every bus rider to own a car. And as soon as they canafford one, that’s the first purchase they’ll make.”
Thank you Paulo and Glenn (and The Garden Island for printing their message) for expressing what we already know.
Ken Taylor, Kapaa
