'Aina Haina residents seem to be discovering that it can pay to make your voice heard.

After residents made very clear their displeasure at the loss of a main bus route through their community, city transportation officials are responding and have pledged to come up with alternatives.

Kudos are in order all around. To 'Aina Haina residents who have kept up the fight since the changes went into effect at the beginning of this month. And to city officials who have listened and have said there may be interim fixes by the start of the new year.

Bus officials said the bus route changes were made to provide faster service with fewer stops. We know that in making the changes TheBus is trying to maximize resources and balance the needs of communities with overcrowded buses and those where ridership is not as high. It's a difficult balancing act, and we do not discount honest attempts to better serve ridership needs.

And, as Roger Morton, president and general manager of Oahu Transit Services, pointed out in a letter to the editor last month, 'Aina Haina residents, with the changes, are getting service similar to other communities.

But 'Aina Haina residents have come to rely on their bus service and the changes have led many elderly residents to cross busy six-lane Kalaniana'ole to catch a bus. That's not an acceptable situation.

As Honolulu grapples with increasing traffic and an obvious need to steer more people to forms of mass transit, it is incumbent on city transportation officials to recognize they cannot be discouraging people from using available mass transportation. And residents need safe access to that transportation.

The effort to work with the 'Aina Haina community and the willingness to consider alternatives should be applauded.

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