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Honolulu council approves modest transit fare increase after amendment to preserve current fares fails
Summary
The Honolulu City Council voted 6–3 to pass Bill 54 (2025 CD2), approving a transit fare package projected to raise about $4 million; an amendment to retain current fares and remove a proposed paratransit increase failed 3–6 after extensive public testimony opposing higher fares.
Honolulu — The City Council voted 6–3 to approve Bill 54 (2025 CD2) on third reading, adopting a package of fare adjustments the Department of Transportation Services (DTS) says will raise roughly $4 million in additional revenue.
The council had before it an amendment (FD1) offered by Council Member dos Santos Tam that would have retained the current fare structure — including keeping fares for people with extremely low incomes unchanged and deleting a provision that would increase one‑way paratransit fares for those with paratransit eligibility ID cards. That amendment failed on a roll call vote the council recorded as 3 ayes and 6 no's.
Why it mattered: Director Roger Martin told the council DTS’s operating budget is roughly $440 million, with projected cost increases of about $11 million this year and next. He said the bill’s revenue would cover an estimated 20 percent of the two‑year rise in…
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