Strike Saves City $250K Per Day

HONOLULU -- The city bus strike is saving taxpayers roughly a quarter-million dollars a day, but it could have huge costs, as well, in lost bus-fare revenue.

A two-week bus strike would save enough money for the city to give the bus union the raise it's asking for. However, the strikers will have lost income because they were not working.

With drivers on the picket lines instead of in city buses, the city is saving roughly $250,000 each weekday in money unspent for salaries, fringe benefits, fuel, parts, tires and insurance.

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"Now, obviously, that's not a way we want to save money. We'd rather have the bus drivers go back," Mayor Jeremy Harris said.

Taxpayers will save roughly $1.5 million a week. At that rate, after a two-week strike, the city could afford the 2 percent raise that the union said would cost taxpayers $3 million in the first year.

On Monday, the City Council approved a bus-fare hike to bring in $6.8 million and avoid bus layoffs and more service cuts. If the strike lasts for 4.5 weeks, the city would save that amount of money and wouldn't need the bus-fare hike this year to keep service as-is.

There are financial costs to the strike, including $45,000 lost daily in cash fares. If the strike drags on through September, few, if any, people will buy monthly bus passes, meaning another $1.3 million in lost revenue.

There are other costs. The city rented dozens of vans from four different companies and bought magnetic signs for the vans, with volunteers, mostly the mayor's political appointees, and the mayor himself at the wheel.

The first day was slow going at the Kapolei Transit Center, where just 11 people made reservations for the 8 a.m. departure, and only four of them showed up.

"I think a lot of people are not aware of this service until today. I bet tomorrow (there) will be a lot of people," van passenger Rosita Sipirok said.

There is a cost to having the mayor and other city directors, deputies and top appointees driving vans instead of doing their jobs.

"While it's not solving the problem, it's providing as much help as we can with the limited resources that we have. We'll keep it going as long as we can," Harris said.

Top city employees said some Harris cabinet members were driving all day, while others were driving morning and afternoon. Some of them were in the office for only a few hours in the middle of the day.