Ask the Mayor: Why No Bus Service on Ohukai Road?

Maui Bus, photo by Wendy Osher.

Mayor Alan Arakawa answers some of the questions submitted to his office staff.

Submit your own questions about County of Maui programs, services, operations or policies to Mayor Alan Arakawa via email at AskTheMayor@mauicounty.gov, call 270-7855 or send them by mail to 200 S. High St., 9th Floor, Wailuku, HI 96793. Questions submitted will be considered for inclusion in the “Ask the Mayor” column.

Mayor,

Q: Why isn’t there a bus coming into Ohukai Road to serve the people and houses here above Pi‘ilani Highway by the gas station? That’s an important one, because people walk so far to go down to South Kīhei Road. I hope you do something, as there are a lot of businesses and housing here.

A: Good news: The County’s Short Range Transit Plan (SRTP) proposes new Kihei Villager Routes 15A and 15B (in Section 4-34 of the plan) that will include stops mauka of Piilani Highway on Kaiwahine Street, and on both Ohukai and Uwapo Roads. At the request of Councilmember Don Couch, our Department of Transportation staff are taking this into consideration with respect to route changes. The timing of this route still needs to be set, along with identifying additional bus stop locations. The SRTP can be viewed under the Department of Transportation on the Maui County website: www.mauicounty.gov/transportation and click on “Studies” in the left-hand menu.