Vanpool Hawaii customers will get a one-month reprieve in July from an expected rate increase that could come as early as August.

VPSI, Inc., which has operated the Vanpool Hawaii program since it began in 1994, is still calculating how much it will need to raise rates after state Department of Transportation officials announced this month that they would no longer subsidize the program used by more than 1,600 riders on Oahu, Maui, Kauai and the Big Island to get to and from work, VPSI spokesman Keith DeMello said today.

To be effective in reducing fuel consumption and cars on Hawaii roads, the new rate “needs to be attractive,” DeMello said. VPSI officials continue to pore over figures “to make the new rate as low and as minimal as possible,” DeMello said. “They’re pledging to notify Vanpool customers at least 30 days in advance” of the new rate.

For 17 years the program was funded by federal money funneled through the state Department of Transportation. But the Federal Highway Administration decided to stop subsidizing the program in April 2010.

Since then the state has spent $3.7 million out of the highway fund to subsidize the program. But the state decided to stop the subsidy, and is working with Vanpool officials to identify other sources of federal funding. The program costs about $3.5 million a year to operate.

Vanpoolers currently pay a seat fee as low as $65 a month for a vanpool, which includes free roadside assistance, vehicle insurance, maintenance and repairs and 24-hour on-call customer service, DeMello said. They share the cost of fuel for their 7-, 9- or 15-passenger vehicle and any applicable parking fees. 

Drivers can use the vanpool for personal use after commute hours and on the weekends.