Many people may not realize that riding TheBus has a lot of benefits. It’s easy, it’s convenient, and a safe way to get around for everyday people.
HONOLULU, HI (Island Life) - Many people may not realize that riding TheBus has a lot of benefits. It’s easy, it’s convenient, and a safe way to get around for everyday people.
Jon Nouchi (City and County of Honolulu Dept. of Transportation Services, Deputy Director) shared, “I think I can go all the way back to when I was a kid...three, four, five years old --grew up in a small neighborhood. Our neighborhood was so lucky to have a bus that operated on the street, and it kind of helped me mark the hours of my childhood.” Currently bus ridership averages about “120,000 riders a day.”
The Department of Transportation Services has implemented new changes to make riding TheBus more passenger forward. “One of those is the Holo card. When you get on a bus right now, you can pay for your ride with the whole card. Now if you want to transfer to another bus within two and a half hours, we’ll let you transfer and ride as many buses as you want.” In addition, “we do have a day-pass rate which allows you to have unlimited rides. If you keep tapping during the day, we will never charge you more than the day passes were.”
Bryan Munoz (Kalihi Resident, Bus Rider) has been riding TheBus for years. “I mainly ride it to go from home to work and work to home. Running errands like going to the bank and also meeting up with friends and family.” Bryan added, “I downloaded the app so that’s very helpful. Also, the bus drivers and the people on the bus, they are very helpful as well.” Using TheBus as his primary mode of transportation, Bryan shared, “I love taking TheBus now because it has become definitely like a lifestyle. Factor in all those money savings. While I’m on TheBus, I get to enjoy the beautiful scenery here in Hawaii. It’s very easy and fun and very helpful.”
Although TheBus has been in service for years, there a few projects in the works for the future. “We’ve been embarking upon a bunch of transformative projects to establish what we call the red carpet of bus lanes. A couple years ago, we implemented the first one in about 30 years on King Street.” The King Street bus lane “has proven to take more people in that one lane than the other four lanes on King Street do in cars...Bus lanes, coming to a road near you.”
