Lawmakers quizzed state education officials Friday on what they are doing to rein in rising student transportation costs, while considering the agency’s $42 million request to preserve bus service on Oahu and the neighbor islands for the coming school year.

Randy Moore, the Department of Education’s assistant superintendent for facilities and support services, presented a number of cost-cutting options which together are expected to save about $10 million.

But Moore asked the state Legislature to continue to fully fund student transportation services as the department works to bring down bus expenses.

Several lawmakers at the briefing were peeved by the request, saying the department should have been doing more in the last several years to cut transportation expenses.

"It doesn’t seem like the department is capable of finding an alternative to manage the bus transportation costs," Sen. David Ige (D, Aiea-Pearl City) said.

Ige said he is inclined to end bus service rather than continue to fund a program whose costs are out of control.

Sen. Jill Tokuda, chairwoman of the Senate Education Committee, said the department is asking for a big sum of money "in a year where we’re still fairly lean and a bit short."

The briefing was aimed at getting an update — the first of the legislative session — on the department’s effort to increase competition for transportation contracts and reduce spending.

Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s current budget request for the coming fiscal year asks for $25 million to supplement school transportation services, $17 million shy of what is needed, Moore said. Without the full amount, he warned, bus service will be eliminated on Oahu.

"We respectfully request that you continue to fund the program," Moore said.

The cost of providing the service has tripled in the last decade, to $75.5 million in fiscal year 2012, in part because of a dearth of competitive bidding.

The FBI has questioned Hawaii school bus contractors and requested documents, apparently as part of an investigation of whether businesses colluded to push up the cost of services. Contractors deny the allegation.

The department noted Friday that there was competition in the most recent round of bidding last month, for the first time in years, resulting in bids coming in 20 percent lower than expected.

When asked why competition suddenly returned, department officials said they could not explain it.

"What was it? What clicked? I don’t have an answer for that question," said James Kauhi, student transportation services manager. "The changes that we made to the terms and conditions of our contract … were minimal."

That answer disappointed lawmakers, who were hoping the department had gotten a better handle on why competition had dried up for so long.

Tokuda said she was "befuddled" about what was different this year, allowing the department to attract competition. Now that there is competition, the department has to figure out how to keep it, she said.

"I’d sure hate it to be that we have to keep threatening (to cut service) every year," she said. "It can’t be business as usual."

Moore pointed out that the department has taken steps in recent years to reduce transportation expenses, including consolidating routes and raising bus fares 350 percent since 2009. The most recent increase, in July, raised the price of a quarterly pass to $72 from $60.

About 39,000 regular-education students statewide ride buses, about half of them for free because they come from low-income families. Additionally, mandated curb-to-curb service is provided free to about 4,000 special-education students.

Moore said the department plans to look for ways to reduce the number of special-education students offered service, which would save about $1.5 million annually, and allow bus parking on school campuses where feasible, saving about $500,000 a year.

Other cost-saving measures the department is considering include:

» Identifying school complexes where staggered school hours would allow for more efficient bus scheduling. The department hopes to save about $2 million in a pilot effort.

» Combining different age groups on buses, which could save $300,000 per year.

» Allowing for direct negotiation on high-priced contracts, which could bring down costs by about 20 percent.