Council committee advances repeal of fare‑box recovery policy and pauses major fare ordinance rewrite after broad stakeholder debate

The Budget Committee on Oct. 14 recommended reporting Resolution 25‑262 — which repeals the city’s policy on the fare‑box recovery ratio for municipal transit — out for adoption and held extensive discussion of Bill 54 (an ordinance that would amend multiple sections of Revised Ordinances of Honolulu Chapter 15B governing transit fares). The committee later postponed action on Bill 54 to allow further consultation.

Resolution and rationale: Council member Dos Santos Tam, who introduced the repeal resolution, argued the fare‑box recovery ratio metric is “unrealistic” and can force service reductions or fare increases that would harm efforts to grow ridership. “If you carry out the intention behind it… it would force us to either reduce bus service, reduce quality if we're not meeting it, or raise fares,” Dos Santos Tam said. Department of Transportation Services (DTS) Director Roger Morton (recorded as Morton in committee testimony) told the committee he supported elimination of the operating cost‑recovery policy for similar reasons.

Bill 54 overview and debate: Bill 54 as posted and later hand‑carried contained dozens of changes: renaming the low‑income category from…