HONOLULU (KHON2) -- The Hawaii State Department of Education (HIDOE) announced Wednesday that 20 school bus routes in Central Oahu, which were previously suspended, will be back in service starting Monday, August 26.
This restoration will benefit around 604 students across seven schools. Last week, HIDOE had already reinstated 34 routes for 1,200 students.
To get these routes up and running, bus service contractor Ground Transport Inc. (GTI) brought in extra drivers and buses by partnering with Polynesian Adventure Tours. The newly restored routes will be serviced by buses from GTI, Roberts Hawaii, and Polynesian Adventure.
In a move to speed things up, seven of the reinstated routes will use Polynesian Adventure motor coaches rather than traditional yellow school buses. These larger vehicles may require adjustments to bus routes and stop locations in residential areas to ensure safe navigation.
Parents and guardians of affected students will be directly notified about the restored routes and any changes to bus stops.
The following Central Oahu bus routes will resume service on August 26:
ʻAiea-Moanalua-Radford Complex Area: 8 routes
- ʻAiea Intermediate - HR02A
- Aliamanu Middle - HR07A, HR08A, HR14A
- Moanalua High - HR19B, HR20B
- Radford High - HR14B, HR16B
Leilehua-Mililani-Waialua Complex Area: 12 routes
- Leilehua High - CR13B, CR18B, CR20B
- Mililani Middle - CR01B, CR01C, CR02B, CR04A, CR04B, CR05A, CR05B
- Wahiawa Middle - CR13A, CR17B
“Every possible remedy is being investigated to restore suspended school bus routes, and we thank our students and their families for their patience,” said Superintendent Keith Hayashi. “We are working diligently with our contractor to get every available driver and to train new drivers to get more routes back into service as quickly as possible.”
The 20 routes set to resume on Monday add to the 34 routes restored on August 12.
Efforts to bring back the remaining 93 suspended routes are ongoing. Superintendent Hayashi has also requested help from the Hawaii National Guard to support student transportation needs.
Additionally, HIDOE is working with the mayors of Hawaii, Maui, and Honolulu counties to increase public transportation options for students.
Ground Transport is actively recruiting new drivers and utilizing the governor’s emergency proclamation to expedite the hiring process.
This proclamation allows drivers with a commercial driver's license (CDL) and a "P" endorsement—permitting passenger transport—to operate school buses temporarily, instead of requiring the specific "S" endorsement for school bus drivers.
The company is also looking into partnerships with other tour bus operators to boost capacity further.