Ewa Residents Appreciate New Express Bus Service

Bus riders in Ewa now have a faster bus ride into town. On December 2, 2007, the CountryExpress! Route “E” became TheBus’s newest rapid bus service. The new route travels between Ewa Beach and Downtown and on to Waikiki. The service uses the H1 Freeway from Waipahu to Downtown and in the town areas it makes only limited stops. Riders traveling from Ewa Beach to Waikiki can save up to 30 minutes on a one-way trip compared to the local bus and more than an hour for a daily round trip. The new service operates from early morning until late evening, seven-days a week.

“Reducing travel time improves the quality of life for Ewa and Waipahu residents who work in Downtown or Waikiki” said Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann. “Fast, reliable transit is an investment in sustainable communities,” he said.

The Ewa community is one of the fastest growing regions on Oahu. From1990 to 2006, the area has grown almost 80%. The Fort Weaver corridor is one of the most congested highways on Oahu and bus routes along the corridor were often overloaded.

“During peak times, the existing Express bus service along Fort Weaver Road was often filled to capacity by the time the bus reached Renton Road”, stated Roger Morton, General Manager of Oahu Transit Services, Inc. “With the new route, bus service along Fort Weaver Road will increase from a bus every 30 minutes to a bus every 15 minutes”, he said.  

The Ewa and Waipahu communities also have one of the highest rates of transit use on Oahu according to Wayne Yoshioka, Director, Department of Transportation Services. “We believe this new service will get even more Ewa residents out of their cars and onto fast public transit,” he added.

TheBus has more than 100 routes serving about 225,000 boarding passengers per day. Routes maps and schedules can be obtained on the web at www.thebus.org.