St. Louis Heights Riders: Getting No Kicks From Bus Route 14

Major citywide changes to TheBus service have the St. Louis Heights community concerned enough to call an association meeting for April 9 just to talk about it.

The schedule in question is Route 14, which currently comes down St. Louis Heights Drive to Waialae Avenue, continues onto Kapiolani Boulevard, Kaimuki Avenue, and goes through Kapahulu, Waikiki, Diamond Head and Kahala before going up Maunalani Heights and then retracing its route back to St. Louis Drive.

“What the new route proposes to do in August is that when you’re coming down St. Louis Drive, you reach Waialae Avenue and that portion of the route would stop there and turn left toward Maunalani Heights,” explained Rev.

Wayne Gau, president of the St. Louis Heights Community Association. “They’re going to cut off the Gold Coast portion

– Kapahulu, Waikiki, Diamond Head, Kahala.

“This means that people living in St. Louis Heights who want to go to Foodland at Market City or Kapahulu Safeway are going to have to either wait for the new Route 13 bus to come by, or walk. And that’s a good, healthy walk for an older person, especially if they’re carrying groceries.

“Another issue is that people have their jobs timed around the bus schedule,” Gau added. “These radical changes are going to make it very hard for people to get around, especially for those who use the bus either as their primary or sole means of transportation. They’re changing routes that have been around a long time.”

Gau expressed concern that no one from the city sought community input before planning the extensive changes. The public is invited to attend the meeting, which is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Hokulani Elementary School. The discussion will address the impact of the proposed route changes on St. Louis Heights residents.