Transit Meeting Set for Pāhoa

The Hawai‘i County Mass Transit Authority (MTA) has announced a Pāhoa hub community meeting for Wednesday, July 31, 2019, at 5:30 p.m.

The meeting, which will discuss possible locations for a transit hub in the area, is located at the Pāhoa Neighborhood Facility at 15-3022 Kauhale St. in Pāhoa.

MTA plans to increase bus service across the Puna District and convert to a hub and spoke system, according to a county press release. There are two types of routes, or spokes, that meet at a central location, or hub, where passengers can transfer from one route to the other.

Long routes, like Route 40, would run direct from Pāhoa hub to Hilo using large busses. New circulator routes that would travel within communities include: Hawaiian Beaches-Nanawale-Seaview and Hawaian Paradise Park-Ainaloa-Orchidland. The circulators would use smaller busses and continue throughout the day.

Six locations across Pāhoa have been identified for hub. The meeting will take a more in-depth look at all of them.

For more information, call Jo-Anna Herkes at (808) 277-7631 or send an email to jherkes@ssfm.com.