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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Monday, June 27, 2005

Mandatory school-bus pass is a slow seller

By Treena Shapiro
Advertiser Education Writer

Only half the parents of 40,000 public-school bus riders have purchased the prepaid bus passes that will be mandatory starting this academic year.

What parents need to know

Here are details about the public-school-bus prepaid pass system:

• This is a statewide program, so every public school is affected.

• Bus drivers will no longer accept 35 cents in cash, so passes are required.

• If you haven't already applied for a bus pass, ask your school for an application.

• Even students who ride for free must apply to get a pass.

• Passes can be purchased by the year, quarter or month, or by the book.

• Once the application has been submitted, the department will send payment coupons to the parent.

• Passes will be issued once payment has been made.

• Parents must reapply annually.

• Only half the normal number of riders have purchased the passes so far.

• By law, regular bus riders — those who live more than a mile from the school — are taken to school and back home.

• Students on geographic exception are not eligible for bus service.

Students will no longer be able to board the bus and pay their fare — currently 35 cents — as they have for years.

While students without the passes on the first day of school will not be denied a ride that morning, they will be expected to report to the office to get an application.

"We're not going to leave kids at the curb, but free rides are not going to be allowed," said Blanche Fountain, Department of Education student transportation services manager. "It's just like the city bus. If you don't have a pass, you're not going to ride for free forever."

The bus fare will remain the same, but parents will have to pay the 35-cent fee in advance, buying ride coupons in books of 10 or more, or longer-term passes. Because the schools are on varying year-round, modified and traditional calendars, there is no standard monthly or quarterly rate, DOE officials said.

However, an annual pass comes with a 5 percent discount and will cost $119.70.

The program was created after a state audit recommended the DOE be more accountable for its bus fare funds. But Fountain hopes it will end up being a positive change for everyone. The DOE will have better control over the money at a centralized location, while parents will no longer have to scrounge for change every morning, or repay loans from the school office because their children have lost or spent their bus money.

But some parents are skeptical about the new system. Denise McIntyre, whose son rode the bus to Mililani Middle School last year, said her son never had a problem with forgetting or losing his bus money or the identification he needed to board the bus.

"He was good at that," she said.

She suspects that the new system will result in parents paying more. "I think the parents are going to lose out on money because there are days when the kids won't be taking the bus and it's already paid for," she said.

For example, her son regularly took the bus to school, but often stayed after school for activities and found alternative transportation home. With monthly, quarterly or annual pass options, parents will have to pay for the days their children do not catch the bus. "They're going to be paying more for services they aren't going to be using," McIntyre said.

However, one option for parents whose children stay after school often would be buying a morning-only pass and a book of individual ride coupons for 35 cents each.

Lee Gomes, general manager for Gomes School Bus Service Ltd., a company that provides bus service, said under the former system she saw a lot of problems with stolen or lost bus fare.

However, she is not sure whether the new system is the solution, because students could just lose the passes.

"Children are going to be children," she said. "Now they're going to need a bus pass to board the bus, and they always forget them or they always lose them. In that respect, nothing's going to change."

Students who will use the bus only in one direction can buy morning or afternoon passes, but they will still be expected to pay a month, quarter or year in advance, regardless of how many times they are used.

Fountain points out that there will be benefits to parents. Some schools have had a chronic problem with kids borrowing money from the office because their bus money was lost, stolen or spent.

The problem has worsened since more schools have started selling ice pops, sodas and other snacks on campus, she said. "I think kids spend it there and tell the office they lost their money and make the parents pay it," she said. "This way, the parents pay us directly."

While many students prefer to walk, be driven or catch the city bus to school, 22 percent of public school students opt for school bus service. That costs 65 cents less per ride than the city bus and is subsidized for those who meet income requirements. Students in rural areas of O'ahu and on Neighbor Islands make up the bulk of the passengers.

Bus service is required by law for students who live more than a mile from their neighborhood school, but is not offered to students who attend school on a geographic exception.

Reach Treena Shapiro at tshapiro@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8014.