The city’s Skyline trains have a 98.5% rate of hitting their on-time goal of meeting their schedules every 10 seconds, compared with just 71.6% for buses to arrive one minute early or five minutes late, the head of both systems told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser’s “Spotlight Hawaii” livestream program Friday.

The difference highlights the benefits of rail running overhead on dedicated tracks, illustrating “the power of taking transit off the streets where the buses have to compete with traffic,” said Roger Morton, director of the Department of Transportation Services.

Since paid ridership began July 5, Skyline averages 3,000-4,000 passengers per day. But Morton expects ridership to increase when school resumes in the fall and close out 2023 with about 8,000 daily passengers.

He acknowledged that the initial 11-mile segment from East Kapolei to Halawa is “not the prime destination for people.”

But Morton expects ridership to grow as each new station opens, especially at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport and Middle Street, eventually increasing to 85,000 daily passengers when rail reaches town.

By 2026, Morton expects this year’s forecast of 8,000 daily passengers to nearly double to 15,000.

“We need to be clear-eyed about ridership,” he said.

The start of this school year also will likely see more “tweaking” to TheBus routes and schedules to continue to mesh rail with bus ridership, Morton said.

Beginning in August, the Department of Education will provide public high school students in grades 9 through 12 with free HOLO-style student ID cards that will let them ride TheBus and rail for free through May, Morton said.

Each pass is worth $400 but will be issued only with parental permission, he said.

The DOE announced the EXPRESS program earlier this week, in part because the lack of bus drivers means a partial or complete suspension of bus services at 14 public schools on Oahu and Kauai — with Morton providing additional details to “Spotlight” on Friday.

For more information about the EXPRESS program and to apply, visit 808ne.ws/3O7t2Mo.

Asked about ongoing concerns over locked bathrooms at Skyline’s nine stations, Morton said that every station has a bathroom that can be unlocked by a station attendant upon request.

The bathrooms are kept locked for safety reasons, Morton said, similar to fast food and other restaurants that require a passcode or key to enter.