FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                      July 13, 2005

Release M-49

MAYOR ENCOURAGES COLLEGE STUDENTS TO USE NEW  BUS PASSES

Mayor Mufi Hannemann is encouraging students at the University of Hawaii-Manoa, Chaminade University and Hawaii Pacific University to use new student passes to ride TheBus at a deep discount.

 The City Department of Transportation Services has completed agreements with all three schools to make the University Student Discount Bus Pass (UPASS) available to their students for $100 per semester. Monthly bus passes currently cost $40, so a UPASS could save a college student enrolled in a four-month semester $60.

“I urge students to use the new discount  bus passes beginning this fall,” said the mayor. “Parking is a problem for commuting students and the universities and their neighbors.  More bus use means fewer parking problems – and fewer cars on our congested roads. And the UPASS can be used on just about any trip on TheBus, just like a regular bus pass.”

Beginning this fall, any student who receives a valid identification card at one of the participating universities will be able to purchase a single bus pass for an entire semester. Each student will simply purchase a UPASS and apply that sticker to his/her student identification card.

Stickers will be available to the universities just before each semester. Students at Chaminade and Hawaii Pacific will be able to purchase UPASS stickers from their respective bookstores, while UH-Manoa students may purchase UPASS stickers from the University of Hawaii Parking Office.

The UPASS stems from a 2002 City ordinance that authorizes the Department of Transportation Services to enter into agreements with colleges and universities for a public transportation pass program.  The City and the schools all share a desire to reduce single-occupant vehicle commute trips and to provide greater mobility choices for university students.

DTS and Oahu Transit Services, Inc., (OTS) will join each university in helping to market the UPASS.  For more information on TheBus, call 848-5555 or visit its web site at www.thebus.org. For information on the participating schools, visit their web sites: http://www.chaminade.edu/, http://web2.hpu.edu/, and http://www.uhm.hawaii.edu/.

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Contact:      James Burke, Acting Chief, Public Transit Division, Department of Transportation Services, 527-6891