Debate on bus fares to resume

By Treena Shapiro
Advertiser Staff Writer

The City Council Transportation and Budget committees will resume discussion tomorrow on two proposals to increase bus fares to make up a $6.8 million budget shortfall.

Yesterday, council members got three hours of feedback from bus riders, bus drivers and the administration about two alternatives to the original Bill 53 introduced by the administration in an unsuccessful effort to avoid a strike by bus drivers.

However, council members postponed making a decision until tomorrow morning, pending an analysis of one of the plans by the administration. The council is expected to advance one of the alternatives for final approval on Sept. 24.

If the council does not approve an alternative, it could then either adopt Mayor Jeremy Harris' Bill 53 proposal or allow OTS to lay off workers and cut services.

Council members yesterday wanted to know whether a plan introduced by Councilwoman Barbara Mashall and Councilman Donovan Dela Cruz would raise adequate revenue, but the plan is not likely to be endorsed by the administration.

Mayor Jeremy Harris, who commented last week that an earlier draft of their plan would have only raised $1.8 million to $2 million annually, said the current draft that raises a single fare to $2 and eliminates transfers is still problematic. "We really think that that is pushing the envelope too far for affordability," he said.

A circuit-breaker that would keep the same bus pass prices for low-income residents could also diminish revenues, Harris said. "A high percentage of our riders we believe will qualify for our circuit breaker."

If the council does not adopt a version of Bill 53, 100,000 bus service hours will be cut, which the Hawai'i Teamsters and Allied Workers Local 996, representing more than 1,300 striking bus drivers, said could lead to layoffs of up to 40 union employees.

Striking bus drivers urged the council to raise bus fares to help settle the bus strike, now in its 15th day, even after Marshall pointed out the fare schedule has no impact on their contract.

"Please help end the strike," said bus driver Sybil Kam. "We all want to go back to work. We don't want to put a burden on the city. We don't want to put a burden on anyone else."

The proposal offered by Budget Chairwoman Ann Kobayashi and Transportation Chairman Nestor Garcia would decrease single adult cash fares to $1 from $1.75 and increase the prices for bus passes, bringing fares more on par with what is seen across the nation. The steepest increase would be for seniors and people with disabilities, who would pay $60 for an annual pass, instead of the current $25 for a two-year pass.

The bill was intended to put more of a burden on those who use the bus, councilmembers said.

"If we continue to desire to be in the top 10 with regard to passenger miles served, then the community needs to be committed to raise sufficient revenues to do so," Transportation Chairman Nestor Garcia's aide Darrell Young said in a presentation on the proposal.

"If that's not a priority then they should reduce the level of service that's proposed through this year's budget process."

Barbara Chung, who has a disability pass, said she recognizes that the current deep discounts for disabled riders are not fair. "Twenty-five dollars for two years is unreasonable," she said. "I like the idea of paying $5 a month per person."

But Faith Scheideman, a senior citizen, testified that it was "ridiculous" to drop single cash fares while raising the price of a senior bus pass by almost 500 percent. "You cannot have the seniors pay such a disproportionate increase," she said.

The proposal by Marshall and Dela Cruz would increase the cash fares to $2, but institute more modest bus pass increases for seniors and persons with disabilities and no pass increases for eligible low-income residents.

Marshall said the problem with the other proposal was that "it seemed to lay the heaviest burden on the people who most need" the bus, she said.

Their proposal would double the senior and disability passes, by making them pay $25 annually, rather than every two years. "That is an acknowledgment that our senior fares have been extremely low, but it is also a representation that some of our seniors use the bus as a lifeline," Marshall said.

In addition, it would also freeze the current bus pass prices for eligible low-income residents.

Both proposals would eliminate the transfer system, which bus drivers testified was widely abused.

James Manaku, who frequently catches the bus from Wai'anae to testify on various agenda items, said he had to catch a ride in at 4:30 a.m. to be at the 9 a.m. hearing and would be riding a bike home.

He said that eliminating the transfer system could increase the cost of a one-way trip to $4 under the first proposal, and $8 under the other.

While council members said that people who transfer frequently could save money by buying a monthly pass, Manaku said he does not have enough money to buy a bus pass at the beginning of the month.

Reach Treena Shapiro at 525-8070 or tshapiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.

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