The transition to the city’s planned combined rail-bus metro system will present a challenge, and not only because bus fares necessarily will go up. There’s also the issue of keeping the system running on time, or at all well, given all the disruptions to traffic that the construction of the final rail segment will cause.

The City Council will soon decide on a proposed fare schedule that will increase what rides cost.

That may be a hurdle to overcome, but the new system of Holo cards will bundle some frequent-rider discounts offering some relief. Annual passes are a thing of the past, but the cards will only draw down fare money up to a set limit, after which rides are free.

For seniors, fares are capped at $60 annually and $20 monthly. There are monthly caps for youths ($40) and adults ($80), as well as a daily cap of $7.50 for the general public, who will pay $3 for a single ride.

It’s more money, but perhaps not the biggest political ask. What may be more critical is making the new system easy to use, and on that front, the city has some work to do.

The proposed rate structure was crafted by the Honolulu Rate Commission and will come up for public review in hearings to begin Tuesday (see below). Public input has been ongoing, but prospective users of public transit need to take this chance to weigh in. And there’s not much time to hammer out the final version of the plan to get fare collection in place for partial rail service to begin at year’s end.

The stakes are clear — and high. The city needs to generate enthusiasm among riders, especially crucial now. Statistics posted on TheBus’ website indicate some drops in monthly ridership.

The reason for that is not evident, but traffic due to rail construction and other causes certainly haven’t helped. Cheryl Soon, who chairs the rate commission, said that the inconvenience of slow transit times on the bus is a concern, at least as much as incremental increases in rates.

“Construction on major roads that slows bus travel times and reliability is a disincentive to riders,” Soon said in response to an email inquiry. “The bus has been losing ridership for over six years. Reversing this trend will require service improvements such as improved travel times, better on-time performance — reliability — and more frequent service.”

Of course, by the time the East-Kapolei-to-Aloha- Stadium rail service starts, targeted for year’s end, the construction along the Dillingham Boulevard corridor is almost certain to complicate bus service even further. Any more disincentives — such as making it hard for riders to get “on board” with the new combined service — should be avoided at all costs.

First, the Holo card. There are already multiple retail locations where a rider can “load” money on these electronic fare cards (www.holocard.net). But during the initial rollout, the cards themselves have been available only from the Kapalama Satellite City Hall and the city’s transit center at Middle Street.

Staff says the city is working to expand this, as it must. The sooner it becomes easier to begin using the cards, the better.

Beyond that, success will depend on adjustments to the bus routes to accommodate the rail system — while it’s under construction, and upon completion. That will take an investment of time from the public, as well, starting with the transit-fare meetings that begin on Tuesday.

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FARE TALKS

Meetings on the proposed transit fare increases will be held at 6:30 p.m. at these locations:

>> Tuesday, Kapolei Hale, 1000 Uluohia St.

>> March 5, Kailua District Park Community Room, 21 S. Kainalu Drive

>> March 10, Mission Memorial Building, 550 S. King St.

Comments also can be sent to: hchee@honolulu.gov; attention: Rate Commission.