The County of Hawaiʻi recently held a blessing ceremony for nine new Paratransit vans serving people with disabilities and four all-electric buses.
The Paratransit vehicles include two six-passenger vans and seven eight-passenger vans, each with wheelchair accessibility. With these new vehicles, the County’s Mass Transit Agency has 16 vehicles in its Paratransit fleet, helping to increase on-time performance and reliability for users.
“It is quite remarkable that we can more than double the size of our Paratransit fleet,” said Mayor Kimo Alameda. “Everyone needs access to transportation, and we are excited to be able to improve services for our disabled residents on these routes.”
The Paratransit service is provided up to 1 mile of fixed routes in Hilo, Kona, and Puna.
“We are very pleased to add these new vehicles to our fleet,” said Mass Transit Administrator Zachary Bergum. “These new all-electric buses mark an important step toward reducing our emissions, and as Paratransit ridership continues to increase, these vans will ensure that we meet demand for this critical service.”
See available Paratransit routes, days and times below:
Hilo
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Within 1 mile of Routes 101, 102, 103, 104
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Monday-Saturday: 6 a.m.-8 p.m.
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Sundays: 9:15 a.m.-6 p.m.
Kona
Puna
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Within 1 mile of Routes 40, 401, 402
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Monday-Friday: 5 a.m.-10:30 p.m.
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Saturday-Sunday: 6:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m.
About Paratransit
Paratransit is a shared ride, advance reservation, origin-to-destination transportation service for people with disabilities who are unable to use the fixed route bus. For more information, call 808-204-6467 or visit: www.heleonbus.hawaiicounty.gov/programs/hele-on-kako-o-paratransit-services.