• Current inter-island travel conditions have big impact on residents Current inter-island travel conditions have big impact on residents By ROXANNE MACDOUGALL To my state senator and representatives: In light of the proposal for an increase in the excise tax
• Current inter-island travel conditions have big impact on residents
Current inter-island travel conditions have big impact on residents
By ROXANNE MACDOUGALL
To my state senator and representatives: In light of the proposal for an increase in the excise tax so that all people in Hawai`i will pay for Oahu’s light rail system, I would like to raise some concerns about overall fairness related to travel within our state, specifically air travel.
As the voices for the needs of the people of Kaua`i, you are faced with many challenges as you begin this new legislative session. While it may not be grabbing the attention of legislators as much as other issues, the current status of the airline industry in Hawai`i is affecting resident quality of life and our economy in ways that must be addressed.
The reduced numbers of flights, the restricted hours for returning home to Kaua`i and other islands, the high cost of tickets and additional limitations, costs, and penalties have put a vice around inter-island travel for the average citizen, especially for personal needs like shopping, visiting family, medical appointments or attending educational, cultural, sporting or other events.
As an example, I wanted to go to Oahu this weekend for a 2-day symposium costing $45.
My airline ticket alone would cost me almost $180, as there were no frequent flyer seats available. (I wonder how many are offered these days?) If I had to make any flight changes that amount would go up. The last flight home on Sunday is at 6:53 PM, requiring me to leave the event early or incur the additional costs and hassles of staying over until Monday. With parking and car rental (fortunately I can stay with friends), it will cost me about $250 to attend an event that Oahu residents can attend for $45.
In addition to the impact on residents, there are many ways that Hawaii businesses are being hurt by current air travel conditions: the increased costs, affect on meetings and conferences, or just simply getting people to work or to customers. We have many people who commute between islands. My own consulting practice has been affected negatively with these new airline costs and restrictions, as my overhead has gone up and my flexibility has gone down. If a meeting runs long, you’ll have to pay more money to get home, if you can get on another flight at all. While the airlines hold businesses captive, this will backfire as they simply reduce travel and go to other means of communication and ways of getting work done.
Obviously it is my choice to live on a neighbor island, with all its benefits and limitations. At the same time, our state has an inherent unfairness built into our transportation system. Most of the shopping, specialized health care, events and other types of opportunities lie on Oahu.
Each neighbor island does not have the population and critical mass to provide them. When I moved here in 1993, one could go to Oahu on a very flexible schedule for as low as $70 round trip. People went back and forth all the time, just to shop or have a night out. We could fly home as late as 8:30 or 9:00 PM. We could make changes. It felt like Hawai`i was one, unified state, through which we could easily flow, connect and spend out money.
But you know all this. You are affected by it too. Those were the good old days which will be no more. The local airlines have lost business through direct mainland flights to the neighbor islands. Fuel has gone up.
Labor has gone up. I realize that this is not a simple issue. Yet, I believe there are creative solutions available that could facilitate resident inter-island travel, if the government, airline industry, merchants, institutions and event organizers all cooperated and contributed.
I am personally disappointed that I can’t justify the expense to attend the symposium on Oahu that my friends there will get to attend for a fraction of my cost and that I don’t even think about going there for shopping or concerts any more. This is a loss not only to me, but to our state because my personal scenario is playing out all over Hawai`i every day. We can’t measure the financial and cultural cost of these decisions NOT to travel. We can’t quantify what is lost economically and in our quality of life.
I sincerely hope you can find a way to remedy this situation which is negatively affecting so many people. If we are all going to be expected to subsidize Oahu’s light rail system, I feel that inter-island air travel should also be subsidized, in fairness to the neighbor islands, so that we can get to Oahu to use the light rail we have to help pay for.
Thanks for being willing to be in public service and take on these challenges. I believe we can find a way to overcome them in a way that benefits all concerned.
Roxanne MacDougall is a resident of Kapa’a.
