HONOLULU — The Hawai‘i State Department of Education (HIDOE) announced today that starting March 24, one previously suspended school bus route serving Kalama Intermediate and King Kekaulike High on Maui and one route serving Keaʻau High on Hawaiʻi Island will be reinstated. These two routes will provide service for approximately 31 student bus riders total.
The latest restored routes will be serviced by bus service provider Ground Transport, Inc. Parents and guardians of student riders will be notified about restored routes and stop details from their schools.
The following school bus routes will resume service, effective Monday, March 24.
MAUI
Baldwin-Kekaulike-Kūlanihākoʻi-Maui Complex: 1 route
- Kalama Intermediate, King Kekaulike High – UR20A/B
HAWAIʻI ISLAND
Kaʻū-Keaʻau-Pāhoa Complex: 1 route
- Keaʻau High – SR31A
Following the restoration of the two routes on March 24, a total of 125 routes have been restored. Efforts to restore the remaining 13 suspended bus routes are ongoing.
Ground Transport is actively recruiting new drivers, leveraging the governor’s emergency proclamation to streamline the hiring process. The proclamation allows drivers with a commercial driver’s license (CDL) and a “P” endorsement – permitting them to transport passengers – to operate school buses temporarily, in lieu of the “S” endorsement specifically required for school bus drivers. The company is also exploring partnerships with other tour bus operators to further expand capacity. More updates will be provided as additional bus routes are restored.
