Bus passes cost $31.50 per academic quarter or $119.70 for the full year (except in Maui County, which provides a subsidy).

The first day of school for most public school students will be July 30, July 31, or Aug.1.

This year, bus passes have to be purchased prior to the school year and at the child's school. The DOE is no longer alowing parents to mail in bus pass payments to its central office.

So far, only about half the number of students who rode the school bus last school year have applied to ride the bus for the new school year, a DOE news release said.

"We encourage parents who have not yet picked up bus passes for children to go to their school today and take care of this," Aaron Kimura, DOE's manager of student transportation services said in a released statement. "Those who wait until the last minute are going to overwhelm our school offices.

"Even students who are entitled to free bus passes are required to apply for a bus pass and show it to their bus driver every morning and every afternoon."