A ride on TheBus will get a little quieter with cell phones on vibrate and walkie-talkie functions silenced because of a bill that's expected to win final approval from the City Council next month.

Councilman Romy Cachola introduced the measure after hearing from bus drivers that raucous ring tones, and those with speaker-phones and walkie-talkie features were a distraction for drivers and a nuisance for riders.

Driver David Verret, who has been a city bus driver for 17 years, said he's heard rings that range from piercing sirens, dogs barking or roosters crowing to people shouting.

He said the sudden burst of sound or music can startle those aboard.

"It's not so much the content but rather the volume," Verret said.

Verret, his union, and city officials all want to be clear that cell phones would still be welcome aboard. They'd just be quieter.

The law now prohibits radios on the bus but doesn't address mobile phones which weren't around the last time the ordinance was updated, said a representative of the union Hawai'i Teamsters and Allied Works Local 996.

Assistant business agent Michael Costa, a bus driver for 27 years, summed up the proposal: "It's not to ban cell phones. It's simply to give the drivers the authority to keep order on the bus."

Costa said the problem has grown. "It is becoming an epidemic out there," he said. Adding the cell phone sounds to the ordinance would give the drivers the same authority they now have if someone is eating or smoking on the bus.

"They would have to cease or desist from what they're doing or we could have them removed," Costa said. He said 600 drivers and staff signed the petition to change the law.

"ëf this law is passed, everybody wins," Verret said. "Those who want to talk on their cell phones may do so. Those who want to talk among themselves, or read or sleep may do so."

No one submitted testimony against the bill, according to the city clerk's office.

The bill is supported by the drivers' union and the city's transportation services department as well as individual drivers who testified on the need for the change. The private company that runs the bus supports the concept but can point to no accident/incident statistics of when loud phones have caused a problem.

If approved next month, the new ordinance could take effect immediately.

J. Roger Morton, president and general manager of O'ahu Transit Services, said the bus and Handi-Van operations would likely run a public information campaign to ask people to be more courteous aboard while using mobile phones.

Morton said the company gets fairly regular complaints from drivers and customers about cell phones.

But he added,"I don't have anything that says they had an accident because of this."

City Department of Transportation Services Director Melvin Kaku said the city supports the bill after hearing from drivers and passengers.

"We definitely feel that the driver has to stay focused and not be distracted," Kaku said.

For Morton, he doesn't want to regulate or cut back the use of the cell phone.

And he feels a lot of the problem could be solved with people remembering to use common courtesy when they use phones. He said the complaints focus on a few things: loud talking, personal arguments and profanity.

Maybe they just need a reminder, he said. "People are sharing this public place but they have some sense that they're in private."

Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.