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TheTransit starts on November 8

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  • TheTransit starts on November 8

    Both the Advertiser and the Star Bulletin reported that the BRT system known as TheTransit will start service on November 8. It will service downtown Honolulu to Waikiki at 20 different stops using hybrid gas/electric buses.

  • #2
    Re: TheTransit starts on November 8

    I just want to know, since those look like the Express buses on current routes, will they be used on those routes anytime soon?

    The inside of those new buses look similar to the Route A buses, and if they're quieter, then probably I can get some sleep in the morning (the current buses are too noisy in the back).
    How'd I get so white and nerdy?

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    • #3
      Re: TheTransit starts on November 8

      Looking at the route map, they don't run on Kapiolani Blvd.

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      • #4
        Re: TheTransit starts on November 8

        Originally posted by helen
        Looking at the route map, they don't run on Kapiolani Blvd.
        No, I meant if those buses will go to Waipahu, and be used as a Route A bus. I heard on a news channel that those buses might do "double duty" if they're used early or the BRT doesn't need that many buses.
        How'd I get so white and nerdy?

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        • #5
          Re: TheTransit starts on November 8

          They only purchased 10 of those buses at this point in time. Might be a while before more of those buses become available to other routes if they plan on doing it.

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          • #6
            Re: TheTransit starts on November 8

            I decided to try out Route E this evening. I waited at the Ala Park terminus for about half an hour and no Route E shows up even through I am at the stop (there is a silver and black transit sign at the location). Lots of 1,2,3,9 and 13 pass by. After the half hour is over I cross the street to take a #1 back home.

            I check on the TheBus web site (need Adobe Acrobat to view this) and it says it is postponed till Thursday November 18.

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            • #7
              Re: TheTransit starts on November 8

              There's a good article on TheTransit in the Honolulu Advertiser, which includes a large graphic depicting the special route.

              Look at that bus. Yet another paint scheme, and not a particularly appealing one at that. Ick. Harris will stop at nothing to engrave his "legacy" on our city. (Though I suppose this would be a rant best directed elsewhere.) The old "Fasi Browns" color scheme might not be particularly flashy, but it was distinctive and consistent.

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              • #8
                Re: TheTransit starts on November 8

                I liked the Fasi Brown color scheme. It sure beat the old green buses from the 1970s.

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                • #9
                  Re: TheTransit starts on November 8

                  Originally posted by Glen Miyashiro
                  I liked the Fasi Brown color scheme. It sure beat the old green buses from the 1970s.
                  Me too, but I also like the rainbow color scheme on some of the newer buses. And I guess The etransit's color is grey, because it needs to be distinguished from the Route A, C, and 42s buses out there (or any other routes that uses the High Capacity buses).

                  I've seen it at the Kalihi Transit Center, and the color doesn't impress me. It makes it too "mainlandish" and not enough "aloha" is in it.
                  How'd I get so white and nerdy?

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                  • #10
                    New bus passes... what? and Route E buses?

                    I just turned on to KHNL 8 a few seconds ago, and I saw Darren Pai just concluding a live report from the Kalihi Transit Center. I thought they did something on the new buses (I saw them setting up this afternoon when the bus pulled into the center), but it was totally different.

                    All I heard was that they'll be a new bus pass service, and a pilot program will be started sometime in December.

                    Can anyone fill me in?

                    And what about the route letters for The etransit routes? I saw one by A'ala Park, that said "Route E". What happened to Route D?
                    Last edited by adrian; November 18, 2004, 05:17 PM.
                    How'd I get so white and nerdy?

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                    • #11
                      Re: TheTransit starts on November 8

                      KITV had a similar report. The "Route E" silver buses are even uglier than I thought. "It's the only bus that will run down Kalakaua through the heart of Waikiki," they crowed. "Great," I thought. "Why not show our visitors the epitome of our city's lack of aesthetic sense."

                      The "Get the Whole Story" annex was on the new debit cards. It's a small pilot program right now, and not widely deployed. The cards are arranged through employers and paid through monthly payroll deductions. I didn't catch, though, whether they're a true cash alternative (i.e. a balance that drops as the card is used) or just a fancier form of a monthly pass. I'm guessing the former, 'cause otherwise it's redundant. They seemed to demonstrate how the card reader on the bus can report an invalid (empty?) card.

                      What I want to know is, just how much information is on these cards? Will there now be a way to track, down to the individual rider, how often he or she rides the bus, and on what routes? The truly paranoid will pay cash, I guess.

                      They did mention that nearly every other major transit system has a similar card, which is true. For the "Best Transit System," TheBus has definitely fallen behind the times. Considering how poor the scheduling is, for example, those GPS-based location reporting signs and websites would be perfect.

                      Why'd they skip from Route A, B, and C to E? I'd like to think they're just saving it for another regional express route... but judging from the cheesy logo on those ugly new buses, I just think someone at the city was trying to be clever, jumping on the whole "e" prefix bandwagon (eTransit! eTrade! eGads!) -- and six years too late.

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                      • #12
                        Re: TheTransit starts on November 8

                        Originally posted by pzarquon
                        KITV had a similar report. The "Route E" silver buses are even uglier than I thought. "It's the only bus that will run down Kalakaua through the heart of Waikiki," they crowed. "Great," I thought. "Why not show our visitors the epitome of our city's lack of aesthetic sense."

                        The "Get the Whole Story" annex was on the new debit cards. It's a small pilot program right now, and not widely deployed. The cards are arranged through employers and paid through monthly payroll deductions. I didn't catch, though, whether they're a true cash alternative (i.e. a balance that drops as the card is used) or just a fancier form of a monthly pass. I'm guessing the former, 'cause otherwise it's redundant. They seemed to demonstrate how the card reader on the bus can report an invalid (empty?) card.

                        What I want to know is, just how much information is on these cards? Will there now be a way to track, down to the individual rider, how often he or she rides the bus, and on what routes? The truly paranoid will pay cash, I guess.

                        They did mention that nearly every other major transit system has a similar card, which is true. For the "Best Transit System," TheBus has definitely fallen behind the times. Considering how poor the scheduling is, for example, those GPS-based location reporting signs and websites would be perfect.

                        Why'd they skip from Route A, B, and C to E? I'd like to think they're just saving it for another regional express route... but judging from the cheesy logo on those ugly new buses, I just think someone at the city was trying to be clever, jumping on the whole "e" prefix bandwagon (eTransit! eTrade! eGads!) -- and six years too late.
                        Thanks for the info.

                        A few weeks ago, they had a survey on the seats, and they had a lot of questions on the location of bus stop you take, if you take the bus to and from work, if you had any other form of transportation, etc. I know that they want info, but if they're starting to track where we go, then I'm walking from Waipahu to Honolulu; I don't want to have big brother following me where I go.

                        And if those "new bus passes" are real, what about those who pay cash? And what about those who has other people get their bus passes? (my Mom and uncle sometimes get my 'pass when they're coming home from work) how'll they'll "refill" my pass? (I know that this is just speculation, but atleast they should have told us something.)
                        How'd I get so white and nerdy?

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                        • #13
                          Re: TheTransit starts on November 8

                          Originally posted by pzarquon
                          What I want to know is, just how much information is on these cards? Will there now be a way to track, down to the individual rider, how often he or she rides the bus, and on what routes? The truly paranoid will pay cash, I guess.
                          It depends. If they're like the San Francisco BART and Washington DC Metro cards, just disposable paper cardstock with a magnetic strip on 'em, then they're probably anonymous as they are meant to be used and eventually thrown away. If they're thick plastic, like credit cards, then I dunno.

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                          • #14
                            Re: TheTransit starts on November 8

                            In NYC(and other cities as well I think) we have what's called an E-Trac card, it's an actual debit card with a MasterCard logo and can only be used at the NYCT(et al) vending machines to buy the actual pass(MetroCard). The money gets taken out of my paycheck before taxes.

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                            • #15
                              Re: TheTransit starts on November 8

                              Saturday's Star-Bulletin had a shamelessly glowing story on the new buses, as well as a sidebar that included more details on the new payment cards.

                              My wife and I saw the eTransit making the rounds in town yesterday. Have I mentioned that they're ugly?

                              Also noticed... Mayor Harris back to his old form, putting himself front and center in a "public service" television ad promoting the new bus. Notably, as the ad closes, the logos of the bus manufacturers are slipped in... cha-ching!

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