TheBus

As the summer comes to a close, thousands of college and private school students will be hitting the road. Roger Morton, director of the city’s Transportation Services, expects a spike in ridership on Skyline and TheBus.

When Honolulu's rail service gets underway, you'll be able to take your surfboard, but not your pet. Those are a couple highlights as city officials prepare for interim service of the rail this summer.

The EXPRESS program aims to increase student ridership on public transportation. The department would then reassign underutilized school buses. The DOE will reallocate up to $4 million for the program.

TheBus on Oʻahu made rides free for a whole week in August. So how did we do? The numbers are in and the city says ridership was better than expected.

State and county transportation agencies will receive more than $55 million in federal money to buy clean energy buses and improve bus facilities.

Prepare yourself. If you are on the road on Oʻahu next week, expect delays as 50,000 more motorists hit the road. Jon Nouchi, deputy transportation services director for the City and County of Honolulu, rode TheBus to his interview with The Conversation and shared tips for commuters.

Riders will need to have HOLO cards to participate, which is how the city will evaluate the program. Free fares will last from Aug. 22 to Aug. 26, which coincides with the return of students to University of Hawai‘i campuses, back-to-school jam, and O‘ahu private schools.

Starting next month, rates for TheBus and TheHandi-Van will go up by a quarter — to $3 and $2.25, respectively. The last time public transportation rates were changed was in 2018.

Honolulu was one of 35 transit systems in the U.S. to receive additional support from the Federal Transit Administration.

The HOLO card has been free of charge since its debut in 2018, but starting on March 1, getting a new card or replacement will have a $2 charging fee.