Hele-On bus rides may be free for the next two years if a bill being discussed by the Hawaii County Council passes.
Bill 105, which will be the subject of this week’s meeting of the Hawaii County Council Committee on Public Works and Mass Transit, would temporarily suspend all fares for all mass transit fixed routes and paratransit services until Dec. 31, 2023.
“You would just hop on the bus and take a seat,” said interim Mass Transit Administrator John Andoh.
In December, as West Hawaii Today reported, Andoh told the council that going fare-free could actually bring in more funds than collecting fares.
On Thursday, he said that the two years without fares would be possible thanks to $4.5 million in grants from the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, a federal program disbursing funds to support the transit industry.
Andoh said the Hawaii County Mass Transit Agency typically collects about $560,000 per year. The grant funding, therefore, would more than cover the shortfall as well as operations costs over the next two years. Meanwhile, he said a $1.8 million grant to cover 2024 is pending.
Should the bill pass, Andoh said there will be yearly check-ups on how the project is going. Current mass transit ridership is about 300,000 annually, but a previous fare-free project between 2005 and 2013 saw ridership increase to 1.5 million passengers per year.
During his December discussion with council members, he said the period during which fees would not be collected would be used to upgrade the county’s fare box system.
“Hopefully, by the end of the suspension, we’ll have a transit system worth paying fares for,” Hilo Councilwoman Sue Lee Loy, introducer of the bill, said on Thursday.
Lee Loy said going fare-free is important to ensure that lower-income residents are still able to access the island.
“Transportation is a critical link for our community,” Lee Loy said. “Especially now that everybody’s been in limbo for the last two years.”
Andoh said allowing workers to move more freely throughout the county will help stimulate the economy and increase job opportunities.
The Mass Transit Committee will discuss the bill on Tuesday and could vote to give it a favorable recommendation to the full council. If the council ultimately votes to pass the bill, it will take into effect 15 days later.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
