Hawaii County has formed a new partnership with the state Department of Education to help alleviate student transportation issues on Hawaii Island caused by a shortage of school bus drivers and routes.
The collaboration will allow students who live near an existing Hele-On route to get to and from school by way of a Hele-On monthly pass. The partnership is replicated from what has been implemented in the City and County of Honolulu with TheBus.
Eligibility is available to all middle/intermediate and high school students on Hawaii Island for whom seats on existing school bus routes are not available, students eligible under Hawaii Administrative Rule 8-27-5; and students who qualify for free transportation. Those who do not qualify for free transportation will be required to pay the $72 quarterly bus pass fee, which will include Hele-On bus passes for three months (value of $135).
“When parents contacted Hele-On looking for alternatives to getting their child to and from school, we immediately contacted DOE to see how we can help within the existing design of the Hele-On transit system,” says John Andoh, Interim Mass Transit Administrator. “We also recently launched the new routes as designed in the 2018 adopted Transit and Multi-Modal Transportation Plan which provides more access to DOE schools, island-wide with more routes and more frequency.”
Hawaii County parents interested in this new partnership can follow the steps below to access this bus pass:
• Submit a school bus application to the school office or online via eTrition. A student’s ID number is needed to apply online at https://bit.ly/3ub9OLk2;
• If a child’s application was previously approved and put on a waitlist, parents can contact the school to request a Hele-On bus pass;
• After the school reviews the application, parents will be notified if the application has been approved. It takes approximately two weeks to receive their Hele-On bus pass.
To learn more about how to ride Hele-On and the routes and schedules, visit www.heleonbus.org.