Free buses for keiki? Supporters hopeful after statewide bill axed

House Bill 2034 would make transit free for all youth, though an amendment would require the state to prioritize low-income riders if there’s not enough funding. Another bill offering free transit to other small groups, such as employees at the state Department of Transportation, also died on Friday.

But limiting access to subgroups based on income or requiring them to use transit passes not only reduces consistent access but increases the administrative burden of determining which applicants qualify, according to a report released Wednesday by Hawaiʻi Appleseed Foundation for Law and Economic Justice.

Abbey Seitz, director of transportation equity at Appleseed, pointed to Alexandria, Virginia, another locale that made transit free for everyone and saw ridership increase, eclipsing pre-pandemic levels. 

Some of its busier routes have become overcrowded, according to a recent annual report prepared by Alexandria Transit Company, especially on routes that serve large populations of high school students. The agency had to turn to larger buses and run more trips to meet this demand, which increased costs. 

“Being prepared for that is important,” Seitz said.  

One crucial ingredient in making a free transit plan work in Hawaiʻi would be identifying a sustainable funding source. The now-dead bill for all-free transit, introduced by Rep. Kim Coco Iwamoto, would have increased the tax on a 42-gallon barrel of imported oil from $1.05 to $3.35, which Iwamoto said would have raised gasoline prices by a few cents per gallon. 

Increasing the barrel tax to fund free transit is meant to nudge people toward more sustainable transportation, Iwamoto said. She envisions faster bus service thanks to less car traffic.

“All of these kinds of benefits,” she said, “I think are really important.”