New bus rates will raise cost for some single-fare riders

Question: My granddaughter catches the bus one-way home from Pearl City High School to Waianae and transfers two times. Will she have to pay $2.50 instead of the $1.25 she now pays? I don’t think that’s fair.

Answer: Yes. TheBus system will introduce a daily all-you-can-ride fare in October, and in doing so will eliminate the paper transfers that currently allow single-fare passengers such as your granddaughter to extend their ride for free.

The all-day pass will cost $5 for adults and $2.50 for youths, the rate your granddaughter would pay as a high-school student. The single-ride fare remains $2.50 for adults and $1.25 for youths, but no transfers will be granted.

Mayor Kirk Caldwell signed the changes into law Feb. 10, after a bill introduced by City Councilman Brandon Elefante was approved 9-0 by the City Council on Jan. 25. You can read the measure at 808ne.ws/dailybusfare. The underscored material represents the law’s new elements, while the struck-through text is what has been eliminated.

Jon Nouchi, deputy director of the city’s Department of Transportation Services, said that “riders with the day pass will be able to take unlimited rides all day instead of being limited to only two transfers within two hours.”

Moreover, he said, “the majority of regular bus riders use a monthly pass, so we suggest that your reader look into this option for her granddaughter.”

According to Oahu Transit Services, 85 percent of all TheBus passengers use long-term passes, while 15 percent pay cash per ride, Nouchi said.

At $30 the monthly youth pass is cheaper than the $50 it will cost to buy 20 separate all-day passes at the $2.50 youth rate (assuming your granddaughter rides the bus each school day, for 20 weekday trips in a four-week period). An annual pass would offer even greater per-ride savings, but we presume your granddaughter doesn’t need it in the summer.

The new daily fare won’t start until October because “it will take some time to use the existing paper transfers, print the new day passes and properly inform TheBus passengers of the change,” Nouchi said.

Although called a day pass, it actually will last 27 hours, allowing unlimited trips from midnight the first day until 2:59 a.m. the next day, according to the ordinance.

Q: How many illegal immigrants are there in Hawaii?

A: The Migration Policy Institute, a think tank based in Washington, D.C., estimates there are about 21,000 unauthorized immigrants in the state, based on 2010-2014 Census data and other research.

Of that total, an estimated 10,000 people (48 percent) are from the Philippines and 3,000 (13 percent) from Japan, according to the institute’s demographic profile of unauthorized immigration to Hawaii, which you can read at 808ne.ws/2kPApZZ.

Hawaii’s total population is about 1.4 million, meaning that unauthorized immigrants comprise about 1.5 percent of the population, by MPI’s estimates.

Q: When is the Manoa pool going to reopen?

A: By this fall, the city estimates. The popular pool at Manoa Valley District Park closed last week due to construction on the adjacent gym, which is having its hexagonal roof replaced.

Both the pool and that gym will be closed for the duration of the project, and contractors are taking up a row of public parking closest to the tennis courts, according to the city. The work is scheduled to wrap up at summer’s end. A newer gym mauka of the older facility remains open.

Mahalo

Mahalo to Aurora, an angel, who paid for my groceries at Marukai Market Place in Kakaako on Feb. 10. Thank you very much — A grateful senior

Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.