Resolving Transportation Issues

I recently wrote to Senator DeCoite and Mayor Bissen to address state and county issues regarding transportation for Molokai residents to neighbor islands. And, to kindly ask their help in finding solutions for better service.

As you are aware, Molokai no longer has a ferry offering transportation to Maui. As you are also aware, there is now only one airline, Mokulele, servicing Molokai. When the ferry went out of business, a major factor was price competition with the three airlines that served Molokai at that time. Now there is only one airline, Mokulele.

There is a serious problem with only having one method of transportation to and from Molokai. 

The first is medical. There seems to be no way to get priority seating for medical appointments. There needs to be.

The doctors and medical personnel who service Molokai also have the problem of cancellations and delays coming from Honolulu to help us on Molokai. Thus patients here have to wait a month or longer to see that doctor due to rescheduling.

My suggestion is that the airline be asked to give priority to travelers with medical appointments and to medical personnel traveling for work.

The second problem is cost. From a consumer point of view, to pay $240 for a round trip interisland is unaffordable. If family members traveling is factored in as well, the cost becomes astronomical. And, of course, there are the charges for baggage.

We need to address the need for affordable travel not only on the ground as offered by the MEO bus but also over water and in the air.

And now to the ferry.

Many Molokai residents, shoppers, school sports teams and other scholastic opportunities, large families, and people with medical needs would use the ferry if it was reinstated with a new and different route: instead of going from Kaunakakai to Lahaina, it would go from Kaunakakai to Kahului, where more conveniences are available.

Respectfully,

Arabella Ark