Senate committees pass resolutions directing inventory of Hawaii Island school bus stops and safety improvements

Joint Senate committees on Transportation and on Culture and the Arts voted to pass SCR 117 and SR 98, measures that urge the Department of Education to collaborate with the Department of Transportation and the County of Hawaii to inventory school bus stops on Hawaii Island and develop strategies to improve safety at each location.

The Department of Education’s witness, Megan Omora, said routes are “based off of student locations” and that the system’s effectiveness depends on families registering students for service. She told the committee that many newer communities are on privately owned or HOA‑managed roads that complicate access and that many island stops “aren’t designed like that on the island” compared with locations that have marked signs and shelters.

Omora provided route counts during questioning, saying the DOE operates multiple stops across roughly 40 routes in East Hawaii and about 72 routes in West Hawaii, with each route serving multiple stops. Committee members pressed staff to identify which places are most affected, citing districts such as Puna and Waikoloa as examples where distance, road access, or capacity affect service.

Chairs recommended passing the measures with amendments to add the Safe Routes to School Advisory Committee as a formal collaborator and to make technical edits. The committee adopted the recommendation and recorded affirmative votes by the chair and multiple senators; the measures were passed with the stated amendments.

The measures call for an inventory of bus stop locations used by schoolchildren and for development of safety strategies at each location. The committee asked staff to provide historical data on the island’s worst locations and indicated the education committee will be involved in prioritization and follow‑up.

The committee moved to subsequent agenda items after the vote; no additional public testimony on the measures was recorded.