Cuts In Bus Service Hurt Hawaii Residents
Hawai鈥榠 residents are being locked out of opportunities for education, employment, healthcare, social and other essential or governmental services because our Oah鈥榰 bus routes and headways are being changed with no consideration to current ridership and transportation requirements. The changes reducing bus routes and headways are a classic example of transportation discrimination.
Dispersed development patterns are particularly hard on low income residents, who are transit dependent. An article called 鈥淭ransportation Racism and New Routes to Equity鈥 notes that some of our transportation policies and practices destroy stable neighborhoods, separate and disperse communities, leaving disconnected neighborhoods struggling to survive. These communities are often removed from enclaves of jobs and economic growth centers. Further, a number of authors contend that reliance on the automobile, current land-use practices and transportation designs perpetuate suburban sprawl. On an island, the last thing we need is to ignore the impact of transportation discrimination.
Other than housing, we spend more on transportation than any other household expense. Car owners in America spend over 2 billion hours a year in our cars. The average American household spends one fifth of its income, at least $6,000 a year, for each car that it owns and operates. Reducing bus routes further exacerbates this.
Transportation equity is about access, opportunity, and fairness. Transportation equity is not a new concept nor is it a new goal. It has long been a goal of the modern civil rights movement.
In recent years, social-justice advocates (i.e., child care, health providers, housing, educators, environmentalists, organized labor, etc.) have reintroduced transportation equity on the political radar screens and transportation discrimination MUST be addressed NOW.
We stand in support of equal access and mobility for all.
We do not support transportation discrimination which involves funding and service cuts in bus service which disproportionately affects youth, kupuna, people with disabilities and low-income communities.
About the author: Teri Heede is with the League of Women Voters in Honolulu. She says: I am aging, retired and disabled Vietnam era vet that loves being a grandma. I stay active in Affirmative Action and civil rights issues by testifying regularly and voting with a passion. I have always been active in my community and worked many jobs from managing a child care center in La Maddalena, Sardinia, to being on staff with the American Red Cross as a social caseworker (specializing in service to military families). I retired as a network engineer at Digital Island after working over 15 years as a Computer Systems Analyst/Programmer/Engineer for DOD.
