The Honolulu City Bus system has been rated America’s number one city bus system. And yes, it does a good job usually, but not always. There are not enough city buses that go from Honolulu to Waikiki.

Let me tell you a story from yesterday. I wanted to go to Waikiki from Ala Moana Shopping Center and thus I was waiting for the bus to come. I was sitting about 30 minutes at the bus stop and nothing. In the meantime many other busses came that go to all the other parts of the island, but no busses with number 8, 19, or 20 (these are the busses that go to Waikiki). Finally, after 35 minutes of waiting, bus number 8 came, but it did not stop at my bus stop because it was full and it could not take any more passengers. Great, huh? So I had to keep on waiting. 15 minutes later bus number 20 came and it was full too, but it could still squeeze some more passengers in, so I took that one.

This is not just a story from yesterday. I have experienced exactly the same thing many times waiting for a bus to Waikiki. What I don’t understand is why aren’t there enough city buses to Waikiki - the most popular destination in town. Had I known yesterday that I would have to wait for the bus for 50 minutes I would have walked to Waikiki, which would have taken me less than that.

So yeah, even though the bus is supposed to be reliable it is not always. Not to mention the many times when after 40-50 minutes of waiting, two buses of the same number come right at the same time…