HONOLULU -- Smart cards were supposed to make things more convenient for thousands of Oahu bus riders. However, the program has been plagued with problems and is nearly two years behind schedule, so Mayor Mufi Hannemann's administration is canceling it.
KITV 4 News first raised questions about smart cards in the summer of 2003 when the city awarded the $2.2 million high-tech bus card contract to a construction company with no experience in public transportation.
Bus riders were supposed to be able to buy and recharge debit-like bus cards at retail shops.
Instead, some bus drivers can't boot-up their smart card readers, while others work.
City Transportation Director Edward Hirata said the city terminated its contract with Royal Contracting Co.
"It was competing with other items and the bus smart card program didn't make the cut," Hirata said.
Hirata said continuing the program would have required hiring three new computer experts to administer smart cards and spending even more money.
The original contract was for $2.2 million. The city paid $1.1 million so far. Officials said the city is not paying the final $1.1 million.
"We just wanted to save whatever money we had left by terminating it as soon as possible because we're not going to continue it next year," Hirata said.
Every bus driver KITV 4 News reporter
Keoki Kerr spoke with is frustrated by the program, which has been plagued with software and database problems.
"I'm paying for that and everybody else on this bus is paying for that. What a waste," one driver said.
About 1,600 people have been using the smart cards as part of a pilot project. The city will stop accepting the cards on July 1 and the city will begin taking the blue smart card readers out of hundreds of its buses after that.
"I don't know exactly what we can do with them, but certainly we'll try to get some salvage value out of them," Hirata said.
Hirata said he doesn't think the city can go after the contractor, because while there were numerous delays, it did deliver the goods and services in the contract.
He said smart cards are a great concept and will be great for Oahu some day. He said there are more pressing transit needs in Honolulu right now.
Copyright 2006 by
TheHawaiiChannel.com
All rights reserved.
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Watch News Report
