TheBus

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For a general article about the bus (uncapitalized) as a mode of transportation, see bus.

For an article about the Pittsburgh Steelers running back known as "The Bus", see Jerome Bettis.

TheBus, established by Mayor Frank Fasi, is Honolulu's mass transit system, and has been twice honored as America's Best Transit System.

The Bus, also trademarked as TheBus, is the public transportation service of the City & County of Honolulu in the United States. Nationally recognized for its efficiency, customer service and popularity among residents, The Bus has a ridership of approximately 68 million passengers annually through 4,200 bus stops on the island of Oahu. With a fleet of over 525 buses, The Bus serves 93 routes traveling 21.5 million miles and burning 6 million gallons of diesel fuel each year.

Currently, The Bus is privately managed by Oahu Transit Services, Incorporated, which operates the system under contract with the Department of Transportation Services.

[edit] "America's Best Transit System"

Founded and developed by Mayor Frank Fasi in the 1960s, TheBus has been the only mass transit system to be recognized twice by the American Public Transportation Association as America's Best Transit System for 1994-1995 and 2000-2001, beating the largest systems in the United States including the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Chicago Transit Authority.^{[citation needed]} Plans are currently underway to enter the 2006-2007 competition.

[edit] Recent developments

In April of 2005, Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann announced that the city would stop development of the bus rapid transit (BRT) system that had been started under the previous administration of Jeremy Harris. Route E, also known as TheTransit for its use of articulated diesel-electric hybrid buses, was planned as a beginning stage of the BRT project and entered service on November 18, 2004. It was discontinued permanently just under seven months later on June 11, 2005, due to budget cuts and low ridership. The hybrid buses that had been purchased specifically for use on Route E were reassigned to other routes, primarily the limited-stop CityExpress Route A service. Hannemann was a noted opponent of BRT, and currently has plans to develop a rail-transit system for Oʻahu. [1] [2]