Riders not
keen on bus
fare hikes
The city council's latest
By Gordon Y.K. Pang
proposal to keep property taxes down
could raise the cost of a monthly
bus pass from $25 to $35
Star-BulletinEwa Beach resident Virginia Mapanao is not happy that City Council members are looking at raising bus fares.
"I'm so mad," said Mapanao, 53, as she sat on a bench at Ala Moana waiting for a bus last night. Mapanao, a shoe saleswoman, catches TheBus about twice a week, and the rest of the time she catches a ride home with her husband.
She buys a monthly bus pass, but if the cost of the fare jumps from $25 to $35 as proposed by the city Transportation Commission, she'll stop buying the pass and likely ride TheBus less often.
Key Council members said they have no choice but to look at raising bus fares to meet a shortfall in next year's operating budget.
Budget Chairman John Henry Felix said he is reluctant to raise property taxes or introduce new charges, including Mayor Jeremy Harris' garbage fee idea.
Council Chairman Mufi Hannemann also wants to look at bus fares. "We subsidize our bus operations to the tune of some $70 million a year," Hannemann said. "And people are used to paying a bus fare. They're not used to paying a trash fee."
Harris is opposed to fare increases, arguing that he fears a decrease in ridership at a time when he wants to increase public transit.
Felix also wants to look at a proposal that would require fares to pay for 30 percent of bus operations, about on par with the average mainland transit service. Currently, about 29 percent is paid for by passengers. The city, with help from federal grants, subsidizes the rest.
That's of little comfort to hotel worker George Kama, 36, of Waimanalo.
Kama rides bus daily, as do his two children.
"I hope they don't touch it. I hope they talk about it five years from now," he said.
