[ OUR OPINION ]
City bus pass conversion
risks legal actionTHE City Council's decision to greatly increase bus fares for senior citizens and the disabled was understandable, but its method of doing so was so cavalier that it may come with other costs. A group of bus riders has filed a lawsuit claiming that the immediate imposition of the higher fares is a breach of their contracts that were in effect. The city should consider requiring seniors and the disabled to convert to new passes only after their old passes have expired as scheduled.
THE ISSUE
A federal lawsuit has alleged that the city's decision to cancel unexpired bus passes is a breach of contract.
Former City Councilman Kekoa Kaapu filed a lawsuit in state court two days before his death on Oct. 15. Kaapu maintained that the City Council had failed to provide proper notice and hearings before enacting the new fares. A more recent lawsuit filed by attorney Jack Schweigert on behalf of five bus riders contends that the immediate imposition of the fares is a breach of contract.
The old rate for the elderly and disabled was a great deal -- $25 for two years. Their new rate is $30 for one year, still a bargain. The problem is that many of the riders had passes under the old rate that were supposed to be good through various months over the next two years. The city is reimbursing them only for the unused period of their old bus pass cards.
"By the swoop of a pen, a contract for two years was cut down to one year," Schweigert complained. "How dare they!"
City spokeswoman Carol Costa said the Council could dare to do so because the bus passes are not contracts, according to city attorneys. They are "mere licenses to ride the bus," she says.
Licenses normally take the form of the government's permission for someone to be employed in a particular profession, such as medicine or the law, to engage in some act, such as hunting ducks or driving a car, or to do something on or with somebody else's property.
Contracts cover any agreement that obliges a person to do a certain thing for another, usually in exchange for some consideration. As one law dictionary puts it, "Contract law is the basis of all commercial dealings from buying a bus ticket to trading on the stock market." A license may also be a contract if it is not fully revocable.
About 50,000 residents had senior citizen or disability bus passes at the time the Council agreed upon the new rate. Nearly half of those already have been converted to the new, costlier passes, and riders are being given until Nov. 15 to complete the transition. They may have to stand in line later for full reimbursement, including the city's cost of violating the contracts.
