Faculty and staff at the University of Hawaii at Manoa will be offered free bus passes starting Saturday on a trial basis to try to free parking on campus and in area neighborhoods for commuting students. UH program offers
free and cut-rate bus passesStar-Bulletin staff
The plan will give 100 free bus passes each month on a first-come, first-served basis, and 375 additional passes will be sold at a discounted rate of $18, $9 less than the regular $27 cost.
The Manoa parking office will subsidize the program at an annual cost of $73,000, if all passes are used.
The money will come from parking fee proceeds and not out of the UH budget, said Jim Manke, UH-Manoa spokesman.
The program runs through the year and may be modified during the trial period.
UH employees who have on-campus parking permits and want to try the bus plan will be offered free passes one time only. After the first month, anyone wishing to continue the program must give up his or her parking permits and purchase the discounted passes.
To encourage employees to take the bus, those who do not have parking permits on campus may purchase discounted passes.
Manke added that Express bus schedules have made it possible to get to the Manoa campus quickly and easily from anywhere on the island.
Those interested in the program may call the parking office at 956-8899 or go to the parking office at the Queen Liliuokalani Center for Student Services, Room 014.
University of Hawaii at Manoa