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December 17, 2014 Mayor Caldwell's Press Office: 768-5768 (cell 489-0341)         Mayor Caldwell and Waikiki Business Improvement District Association announce partnership to extend 24 hour restroom service   Waikîkî – Mayor Kirk Caldwell, Waikiki Business Improvement District Association Chairman Paul Kosasa and Executive Director Jan Yamane, and Honolulu Police Department officers announced a partnership to extend 24 hour service at a Kûhiô Beach bathroom.   The bathroom next to the police substation on Kalâkaua Avenue was opened 24 hours a day beginning on September 15, 2014 as part of a pilot project using city funds and resources and staff from the Waikiki Business Improvement District Association (WBIDA).   The city originally provided $52,000 to support this pilot, which had been scheduled to end today [December 16, 2014].  WBIDA provided on-site security overnight and kept usage statistics.  The Department of Parks and Recreation continued its normal cleaning and maintenance schedule, resulting in no additional costs for that department.   As of today, WBIDA spent $34,345 of the city funds on the project, leaving $17,655 remaining.  Mayor Caldwell approved the use of the remaining funds to keep the bathroom open overnight through the end of March 2015, and WBIDA agreed to contribute an additional $15,000 to allow the pilot project to continue through the end of this fiscal year on June 30, 2015.   Bathroom usage statistics collected by WBIDA found that, from September 15 through November 9, a total of 4,256 used the bathroom during the overnight hours that it would have otherwise been closed, and average of 77 people per night.  The average was 75 people each night on weeknights (Monday through Thursday) and 80 on weekends (Friday through Sunday).   The night of October 31 through the early morning of November 1 was excluded from totals because of a large influx of late night Halloween revelers that would have skewed the results.   Breaking it down by gender, 2818 males, an average of 51 per night, and 1438 females, 26 per night, used the restroom during the pilot.   As identified by WBIDA staff, the biggest users were homeless persons, a total of 1825 or 33 avg. per night.  The number of homeless using the bathroom each night increased over time. The second highest use came from visitors, 1206 total or 22/night; then O'ahu residents, 974 total or 18/night; Waikîkî employees, 151 total or 3 per night; and club and bar patrons, 100 total or 2 per night.   From September 15 through this morning [December 16, 2014], there were zero overnight incidents of vandalism.  There were 12 total requests to HPD for welfare checks, which WBIDA staff will request when a user is in the bathroom for over 30 minutes without exiting.   Breaking it down by hour, the most use occurred between 10:30 p.m. and 12:30 a.m., and at dawn between 5:30 a.m. and 6:30 a.m.   Hour                Total               Avg. per day 10:30 p.m.       754                  14 11:30 p.m.       756                  14 12:30 a.m.       398                  07 1:30 a.m.         444                  08 2:30 a.m.         228                  04 3:30 a.m.         339                  06 4:30 a.m.         491                  09 5:30 a.m.         846                  15   -END-