Shuttle service could clear traffic
I have come to three conclusions about Kauai’s roads.
One, except for an occasional cosmetic improvement, they’re not going to get much better. Two, Kauai’s population, both resident and tourist, will continue to grow. Three, because of one and two, traffic problems will get worse each year, as they have for the last 30 or more years that I have been observing them.
The only solution that makes any sense is to reduce the number of cars clogging the roads. Most residents aren’t going to change habits. Those that now drive will continue to drive, and ditto those riding the bus.
So, it would seem that the only wild card in the deck is the visiting tourist. The question is, how to get that tourist out of his or her rental car. The only answer that might succeed is to expand the bus service to accommodate tourist needs.
Regular express “shuttle” service to popular tourist destinations, for example. Service to and from hotels to the airport for tourists and their luggage is another.
I’ll wager many tourists wouldn’t spend hundreds daily renting cars to get around the island if there was a reasonable alternative. Sure, the rental car industry will fight the change. Too bad. They’ll still make lots of money off of the holdouts.
Bottom line. If you aren’t going to expand the road system, then you better make the buses tourist friendly. Otherwise the gridlock is only going to get worse.
Come on, Kauai leadership, lead us out of this mess!
Raley Peterson, Waimea
Kauai’s honeybees are thriving
Yes, the Kauai honeybee population is among “the world’s healthiest bees” as stated by a representative of KCC’s Apiary Program in a recent radio interview. The talk show host subsequently asked “What is the greatest development in the honeybee industry as of late?” A very good question.
The correct answer is the selective breeding of genetically disease resistant queen bees to bacteria brood diseases and Varroa Mite infestation. You see this around the world in using “survivor stock” that have become tolerant to mite infestation (a bee uku) and various bee larval diseases.
Relevant to Kauai’s honeybees as being the world’s healthiest bees, it is not by happenstance that this occurred. Rather it is by the beekeeper’s practice of past decades here, who have responsibly managed their colonies in a holistic manner without the use of antibiotics. This has allowed the local bee population to naturally develop resistance to bacterial brood diseases that have decimated other regions.
Kauai also has had these referenced bee diseases but our bees have become naturally resistant. It was the adept leadership of the Kauai Beekeepers Association President Marge Ferguson who invited a world-renowned apiculturist, Charles Mraz, to Kauai for a presentation. With his professional instruction, we the beekeepers accepted his premise and thus managed our colonies over the years in a holistic manner.
Thanks to Marge Ferguson, Oliver Shagnasty, Melvin Dickens, David Maki, George Mukai, Matt Moore, Hideo Teshima, Steven Dubey, myself and many others, along with the marvels of nature, the island of Kauai now does have the healthiest honeybees in the world.
Chester Danbury, Kauai Island Honey Company
Raley;
I would like to believe a shuttle/mass transit option would work here but I doubt it. People like the freedom of having a private vehicle too much to ride buses or shuttles. Is there a vacation destination somewhere in the US that has been successful in having tourists give up rental cars for shuttles? I can’t think of any. The only viable solution to limit traffic is to limit the number of hotel and vacation rentals on the Island. No more new hotels and an aggressive crack-down on illegal vacation rentals is the key to reducing traffic. Without a confirmed place to stay, most tourists won’t come. It’s cheap, legal and doesn’t require large capital expenditures.
Yeah when I spend my one week a year in vacation I want to ride a bus around with a bunch of strangers? They will rent a car unless you limit rental cars which will never happen. Suck it up bra, the world stay more crowded till next mass extinction event!! Learn something you dunce.
Mr. Petersen, I’ll take your wager that many tourists wouldn’t spend hundreds daily renting cars to get around the island if there was a reasonable alternative. Other than cruise-ship types, I believe that most tourists will gladly spend $50 to $200 per day for the freedom of having a car and going where they want when they want. I understand the dilemma, but doubt seriously that an “option” to take a shuttle here or there is the answer, unless such shuttles are the only way to get around, which would be problematic to implement.
Kauaiboy, plenty of visitors already use shuttle services from the airport to popular destinations. These peolpe tend to stay in one area while visiting, such as Poipu, where everything is close at hand. There is a trolly service that has a regular route that they can catch to go to restaurants and for shopping, etc. the trolly could be expanded to include more south shore sites. The county could collaborate with these types of transport services. Much less expensive.
We can continue to criticize people’s input and ideas, but for those of you who depend on the money from tourists to make ends meet you better wake up because the word will get out that don’t go to kauai unless you don’t mind wasting you vacation time sitting for hours in grid lock. How critically stupid it is to not think of alternative ways to move people any where they want so that we can depend on them showing up contiually. I just love to watch people freak out if the tourism even slightly slows down as it has because of the flooding experienced. Maybe those of you who depend on tourists better find alternative ways to make ends meet. The transportation bus we have is not by any means what we need to provide a solution to the growing grid lock..
“[You] better find alternative ways to make ends meet” or Steve won’t give you your ball back!
I think I notice an age gap in the commenting here. Many young people love to go pack-packing; walking along roads or hitchhiking. If Kauai had a more comprehensive bus system, more of these young folks would find it affordable to come here. I don’t think that an expanded bus system would do much for our existing tourists, but it should help those young budget travelers who are so sued to the cushier means of sightseeing. Did any of you ever stay in a youth hostel?
Regarding the health of Kauai’s honeybees, thank you Chester for acknowledging the Kupuna of the bee charmers on-Island. The apiculture on Kauai has a long-standing history and those mentioned in your letter should be recognized and celebrated for the health of our bee population. We continue to applaud your efforts and your hard work as we enjoy the product (honey) that you and others provide to the community. Mahalo and bee well!
Just goes to show how innovation and dedication can overcome the new and changing environmental problems coming to our island. I would hate to think what our home would look like if our bees were to die off, as honeybees not only keep the fields green, trees fruiting, and flowers blooming, but they are great indicators of future problems just like the carny in the coalmine of old. A big ‘mahalo’ to our beekeepers whose important work modifying the genetics of our colonies ensure we continue to have a Garden Island.
*canary. Although a carny would be pretty funny to try.