HILO, Hawai'i — The Mass Transit Agency on the Big Island will increase bus service on some of the transit system's most popular and heavily used routes beginning Feb. 17 as part of an ongoing effort to make the system more convenient and accessible to users.

Additional buses will be used on the route between Pahoa and Hilo; on the route between the Ka'u and Ocean View areas and Kona; and the route between Hilo and Waimea.

Service will also be increased on routes within the Kona and Hilo areas.

Saturday service will also increase on various routes around the island, and the Mass Transit Agency recently received two new 33-passenger accessible buses to help people with disabilities. The new buses will be placed in service in February.

Hawai'i County offers bus riders the only free, islandwide network of bus routes in the state.

Bus ridership is growing rapidly, with ridership for the period from July 2008 to December 2008 totaling 384,000 passenger trips. That was a 34 percent increase over ridership in the same period in 2007, said Transit Operations Administrator Tom Brown.

The Transit Agency also offers a Shared Ride Taxi program which provides door-to-door transportation for as little as $2 in Hilo and Kona.

For more information, call the Mass Transit Agency at 961-8744 or visit www.co.hawaii.hi.us/mass_transit/transit_main.htm.