TheHandi-Van makes a difference in the lives of our kupuna and people with disabilities in Honolulu. It opens doors for the community to work, school, recreation and medical services. For $2 per trip, TheHandi-Van will provide origin-to-destination service from anywhere to anywhere else on Oahu. This rate has not changed since 2001. It is the best deal in town. For all of our riders, it enriches their life with options and greater independence.

But TheHandi-Van is at risk of becoming unsustainable in coming years. It is not about having enough passenger fare revenue to balance next year’s budget; it is about how we will cope with the rapidly increasing demand for the service. Fares cover only about 4 percent of TheHandi-Van operating costs; property taxes cover the balance.

Due to factors such as length and distance of travel and the number of passengers picked up per hour, every time someone rides TheHandi-Van it costs taxpayers about $40; comparatively, for every TheBus ride, it costs just $3.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a civil rights law that requires the provision of paratransit service for persons with disabilities to ensure comparability with the public bus service. Federal rules require TheHandi-Van to provide all the trips requested by all eligible riders. TheHandi-Van does not place any restrictions on the type or number of trips provided to our customers. Some riders take a few trips per month while others take more than a hundred per month. Some riders take a few trips per week while others take as many as six or eight trips per day.

There are no exceptions to this requirement even if our system cannot find seats for every request, which often results in pick-up delays. Honolulu provides more Handi-Van trips per capita than any other major U.S. city.

Since 2015, Handi-Van ridership has increased by nearly 10 percent. We have replaced a number of older vehicles to improve reliability, grown our fleet size, and increased contracted taxi trips by almost 28 percent. Although we have made improvements in the quality of the service, the higher number of passengers has absorbed and outpaced these fleet and service increases. Operating costs have increased by $10 million and the budget for next year is approximately $51 million. Yet, we struggle daily to accommodate the 4,000-plus trips requested each day with our current resources.

A recent study and demand projection conducted by national experts gives cause for alarm. Demand for TheHandi-Van is driven by some key factors: the aging of our community, improvements in service levels, and the price to ride the service. The study forecasts that ridership will continue to grow by more than 60 percent over the next five years if service levels continue to improve and fares remain at the same level.

The study also determined the number of Handi-Vans would need to increase from 180 today to 290 by 2022 and the operating budget would need to increase to $87 million.

Based on the fact that such rapid increase in cost and demand is unattainable and unsustainable, the study recommends a combination of moderate fare increases combined with service quality improvements that is projected to accommodate a 27 percent increase in ridership with a $16 million increase in operating costs over the next five years.

The city is committed to meet the service quality standards required by the ADA, but reasonable fare increases should be considered to support and sustain our system.

The soon-to-be-established Rate Commission should revisit sustainable Handi-Van fares as its first order of business to ensure we can maintain a first-rate paratransit system to safely transport our residents into the future.

Charlotte L. Townsend is vice president for paratransit services, Oahu Transit Services, Inc., TheHandi-Van.