My Turn: Fixing county public transit

”Kim says balanced budget isn’t enough.” I read with interest this cover story of the West Hawaii Today, March 25, 2018. The Mayor, in all his brilliance states that he needs “14 new buses” to bring Hele-On up to snuff. Well Mr. Mayor, I have some news for you.

First, we are not capable of managing the current fleet of buses or employees working in the Transportation Division today. Anybody can go visit the bus yard — you would be appalled at what you see there. The lack of real-time bus maintenance and management oversight is clearly evident. Just look at any Hele-On bus when it goes past you — does it visually appear to be maintained properly, and to the highest standards of safety and cleanliness? Answer: nope.

Second, adding 14 “new buses” to the fleet of jalopies we currently operate is similar to putting lipstick on a pig — it’s still a pig. Throwing hard-earned taxpayer money at new buses does not fix the problems inherent in our county public transportation system. The buses have to be maintained properly and scheduled correctly. When was the county transportation system network last reviewed? What are the load factors on each route? How come county mass transit is not being run like a business?

Third, the taxpayers are sick and tired of throwing good money after bad. In reality, the Hele-On system needs to be shut down (except for essential service) until it’s fixed. The management and other personnel of the Hele-On system, from the top down (including hourly employees) needs to be changed. An entire culture transformation needs to take place in our County Public Transportation System. We as residents and taxpayers cannot continue to finance a completely broken system (think our public water well system too). Fourteen new buses are not going to fix the problem.

Our county government appears to be incapable of running a mass transit system. It “costs” $7 plus per ride, but we only charge $1 to $2 per ride. How is that an acceptable business practice? I am all for free rides for the handicapped and the senior citizens; they can ride all they like for free.

Why should taxpayers subsidize a perfectly healthy person’s ride to work everyday? Some may argue that mass transit reduces the number of vehicles on the road each day. Tough argument to make when you see buses driving around with almost nobody in them.

So instead of subsidizing such a failed system, perhaps it’s time to lease buses instead of purchase them, or even better, perhaps it’s time to privatize our mass transit system in some kind of public/private enterprise. As in other government services in the United States, privatization usually has positive results. The county could still issue a subsidy to the private entity for the elderly and the handicapped, and in the meantime, the residents and taxpayers of Hawaii County could get a healthy and robust mass transit system.

Wilson Pepper is a resident of Keauhou.