Bus pass for seniors again in jeopardy

By Treena Shapiro
Advertiser Staff Writer

The City Council yesterday wrangled over ways to raise bus fares enough to generate an extra $6.8 million, and ended up backing the unpopular bill originally proposed by the Harris administration at the beginning of August.

That means the controversial elimination of the annual senior pass is back on the table unless the council comes up with an acceptable alternative by its Sept. 24 meeting. The council had to pass some version of Bill 53 to take a final vote at that meeting.

"It's a mess right now," Councilman Rod Tam said as members discussed the various proposals. "We need more time to really review it."

The council committed itself last month to covering a $6.8 million shortfall in the bus budget that would have meant cutting 100,000 hours of bus service.

The Hawai'i Teamsters and Allied Workers Local 996, representing 1,300 striking bus workers, said the service cuts would lead to the layoff of 40 employees.

The administration's proposal would increase the price of an adult bus pass to $37 from $30, charge an extra 25 cents to those transferring or riding express buses and charge seniors 25 cents a ride. Children ages 6 to 17 would have to pay $5 more a month for a bus pass and 10 cents more for a single ride.

Although the council members all had objections to Mayor Jeremy Harris' original proposal, the members of Transportation and Budget committees could not come together to support either of the proposals before them yesterday.

One plan, introduced by Transportation Chairman Nestor Garcia and Budget Chairwoman Ann Kobayashi, would have reduced adult cash fares to $1 from $1.75, eliminated transfers and doubled the cost of express bus rides. It also would have raised the price of the senior annual pass to $60. Seniors pay $25 for a two-year pass.

It was rejected 5-3, with even Kobayashi voting against it, along with Barbara Marshall, Tam, Romy Cachola and Donovan Dela Cruz.

Another proposal from Marshall and Dela Cruz was rejected 5-4, with council Chairman Gary Okino casting the tiebreaker and opposing it with Charles Djou, Mike Gabbard, Garcia and Cachola.

That draft would have raised adult cash fares to $2, eliminated transfers, and charged seniors $25 for an annual bus pass. It also would have created a circuit-breaker to freeze the bus pass rates for low-income riders.

Part of the problem was that all of the proposals would fall between $900,000 and $5.6 million short of the $6.8 million the administration says it needs to maintain service levels.

"In any scenario, we still have a shortfall. We're not there yet," Cachola said.

The committees had to pass one of the versions of Bill 53 to keep it alive for the final vote on Sept. 24.

Although Bill 53 is not likely to pass in its original form, "It was important to push out something today for further discussion," Garcia explained.

The committees did advance a bill that would allow advertising on buses to help pay for discounts for low-income bus riders.

The bill is opposed by the administration, the Outdoor Circle and Planned Parenthood, which warned that anti-abortion groups may want to purchase graphic ads.

A public hearing will precede the final vote on Sept. 24.

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

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