18 School Transportation News Magazine September 2011
Hawaii Students Must Now Pay More to Ride Transit Buses By Michelle Fisher
Many of Hawaii’s public school students are pay-
ing twice as much to ride a transit bus to school after the state Board of Education voted to ap- prove fare increases in the wake of a $9.6-million cut in student transportation. Student bus fares increased 50 cents on Aug.
1 to $1.25 for a one-way ride, while the cost of an annual pass rose to $270 from $225. Te De- partment of Education said unexpired bus passes bought beforehand would be honored. Randy Moore, assistant superintendent for
facilities and support services at the DOE, said Hawaii law, does not require DOE to provide student transportation. Te funding comes from the state Legislature, which contends that it is costing too much, Moore explained. Kenneth LeVasseur, a bus driver and proj-
ect administrator at private contractor Gomes School Bus Service, said middle-class families will feel the pinch the most because children from low-income homes already receive free transportation services. He added that the DOE should instead use a cost-benefit analysis when reviewing fares rather than financial analysis. “Tey know what they’re doing. For every dime
you ask families to pay, you lose a certain number of children,” said LeVasseur. Despite the predicted 5-percent drop in rider-
ship because of the price hike, the DOE stated that the fare increase will generate an additional $1 mil- lion annually. As the costs of providing student transportation escalate, education officials will also consider other cost-savings measures, such as eliminating routes. In the current fiscal year, trans- portation costs are expected to reach $74 million, $2 million more than the previous year. Tis is the second time the DOE has doubled
student bus fares, with the last hike in January 2010, when one-way fares rose from 35 cents to 75 cents. Approximately 37,000 general-education public school students statewide ride school bus- es, with about 54 percent low-income students riding for free. Nearly 4,000 special-education stu- dents also receive free curb-to-curb bus service. Hawaii, the country’s only statewide school
district, joins the likes of Colorado, Texas and New Jersey to recently implement or increase student transportation fees. LeVasseur said he opposes not only the rate in-
creases but also the very idea of school children riding transit buses alongside unscreened pas- sengers who may pose a threat. He also noted that transit drivers are not professionally trained to transport students, another safety risk. Moore noted that, in 10 years at the DOE, he has neither received parent complaints about students
Congratulations
C.E. WHITE WILL BE CELEBRATING ITS 75TH ANNIVERSARY NEXT YEAR WITH SOME EXCITING NEW PRODUCTS.
• A convertible school bus seat that’s able to be converted into a lap belt only, a lap shoulder belt or intergraded Child Restraint seat at anytime in the field.
• The MDZ Shield that protects children from being injured by the rear wheels of a school bus. • The vandal resistant I-Skin Urethane seat back. • A Revolutionary New Driver’s Seat to be introduced at the NAPT Show.
School bus driver Kenneth LeVasseur opposes the hike.
riding transit buses to school nor heard of any inci- dents involving compromised safety aboard the bus. “I am sure there are parents who don’t allow
their children to ride the bus because they think it’s not safe,” said Moore, whose own daughters rode city buses for years. “ If they have that feel- ing, they can walk them or drive them in a car.” LeVasseur said he hopes the DOE “may turn
around” however, because of the recent switch from an elected school board to one that is ap- pointed by the governor.
STN on 20 Years of excellence and best of luck in the future to the entire STN team.
SB-11
Quasi-Static
I-Skin
MDZ Shield
www.cewhite.com
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