Bus riders returning just weeks after strike

By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer

Five weeks after being hit by a double whammy of a strike and fare increase, riders are returning to city buses at a surprisingly fast rate.

Bus officials counted 199,499 rides last Wednesday — the best paying day since a month-long strike by drivers ended Sept. 29 and new fare increases went into effect a week later.

That represents about a 9 percent reduction over an average ridership day in November 2002, said Cheryl Soon, director of the city Department of Transportation Services.

In the first week after the strike ended, ridership was off about 20 percent, Soon said. Since then, it's been bouncing back, with some ups and downs.

"We really didn't know what to expect because of the combined effect of the strike and the bus fare change," Soon said. "But it's probably coming back a little faster than we thought."

Soon said city officials will be happy if ridership is back to prestrike levels of 220,000 to 240,000 a day by July. Following strikes in other places across the nation, some bus companies have reported drops of nearly 25 percent in rides and said normal levels didn't return until at least a year later.

On O'ahu, the numbers have bounced around.

In the second week following the strike, ridership was off about 16 or 17 percent; in the third week the loss was down to 14 or 15 percent, but in the next week it was back at the 16 to 17 percent level, Soon said.

For the first part of last week, ridership loss was running less than 12 percent, she said.

Sunday ridership has been most regular, down consistently about 16 percent since the strike ended.

Officials hope to begin a more detailed analysis of the ridership patterns in coming weeks, focusing on which particular classes of riders have altered their ridership patterns the most, Soon said.

Reach Mike Leidemann at 525-5460 or mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.