HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0392.016 2010-2012Page 1 of 1
PI COutlaL
Murashige, Laura
From: Malie Larish [malielarish @gmail.com]
Sent: Sunday, October 16, 2011 9:43 PM
To: counciltestimony @co.hawaii.hi.us
Subject: Support for Res. 171 -11
Aloha Hawai`i County Council Members,
I fully support Complete Streets Resolution 171 -11. I grew up in Hilo and attended Waiakea High
School. When I used to bike from the high school to Kawamoto Swimming Pool to attend swim
practice, I remember feeling unsafe and nervous when cars sped past me because many streets do not
have adequate shoulders for bicyclists.
When I moved to Washington State to attend Western Washington University, I was relieved and
overjoyed to live in a well- designed city where roadways and the overall transit system enabled the safe,
efficient, comfortable, and economical mobility of all users. I enjoyed biking to the grocery store and
my favorite parks through greenways, which are semi -paved paths bordered on both sides by natural
forest. The vast majority of the roads also had adequate shoulders or lanes for bicyclists. If I needed to
make a longer trip to a shopping mall or the train station, the county bus system provided a large
selection of routes that ran every 15 minutes. Although bus passes cost about $30 per month, the buses
were still packed with riders. The buses offered a reliable, punctual, and pleasant mode of
transportation.
When I speak with tourists who are visiting Hawai`i, they often lament that the transportation system
here is under par. Hawai`i's visitor industry would attract even more tourists if it could boast towns
designed for walkers, bikers, and bus riders of all ages and abilities. Thank you for envisioning a
Hawai`i Island where kama`aina and tourists don't necessarily need a car to experience the best of
paradise.
Sincerely,
Malie Larish
comm. No. 39.1. �`
Ref. To: _Pry
Ref. Dote
10/17/2011