Bus fare decisions can't wait too long, City Council is told
By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Advertiser Capitol Bureau
Time appears to be a key element for City Council members as they decide whether to raise bus fares in order to stave off major reductions in service, Transportation Services Director Cheryl Soon said yesterday.
• The public will be able to comment on fare proposals during a joint hearing of the City Council budget and transportation committees at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the second-floor council committee room at Honolulu Hale. • The city Transportation Services Department will hold 7 p.m. public meetings Monday at Makiki District Park, Wednesday at Kapolei Hale and Thursday at Kailua District Park to receive testimony on the proposed cuts in bus service.
The council gave preliminary approval to Bill 53, which would increase the price of monthly passes, raise individual fares for children between 6 and 17, and create a 25-cent fare for senior citizens, express riders and passengers who transfer between buses.
Hearing set
The increases would come on top of a 25-cent increase to $1.75 per ride for the general adult fare that went into effect July 1. The council approved that jump this past spring.
A number of routes were cut back in June, but a more drastic round is expected later this month. Soon said the council should promptly indicate what it intends to do next if she is to avoid making additional cuts.
The council, she said, would essentially need to hold special meetings to expedite the fare bill because its timeline for regular meetings would mean no final decision earlier than October.
"The bottom line is how much money is raised and — if they are intended for restoration of service, which is what the administration is putting forward — how soon those funds become realized," Soon said.
She cautioned that the council could get bogged down studying the "endless number of permutations" over which fares to cut or which to leave untouched. "If you wait, I will institute the service reductions — that's a fact of life," Soon said.
Also overshadowing the discussion is the Aug. 26 strike date set by the Hawai'i Teamsters and Allied Workers Local 996 for bus drivers and other bus workers.
The reduction in hours of bus operation was a critical point of contention for the union because it would mean the loss of 40 drivers. And while council members apparently want to see cuts restored, the means of reaching that end, as well as the timetable for doing so, may not be so clear-cut.
Soon said the proposed increase in fares would bring in enough to restore some 80,000 hours of bus service — about 6 percent of last year's service hours. Hours were reduced because of a $4.6 million shortfall in the bus system's operating budget.
Fare increases would also pay for medical premiums and other benefits that union members have been asked to give back from the existing contract.
Councilman Romy Cachola suggested to colleagues that they hold off the bill until a contract can be reached with the Teamsters. But other council members and Soon stressed again yesterday that new revenue would go only toward restoration of service cuts and employee benefits, not any new wages for Teamster workers.
Under the fare bill, regular monthly passes would rise to $37 from $30. Single-fare rides would remain at $1.75 but express riders would pay 25 cents extra.
Seniors would start paying a quarter for each ride as well as an annual $10 administrative charge. They now get unlimited rides for a two-year pass that costs $25.
Children 6 to 17 would pay 85 cents, up a dime, and monthly youth passes would go to $18.50 from $13.50.
Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8070.
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