Urging The Department Of Education To Collaborate With The Department Of Transportation, Safe Routes To School Advisory Committee, And The County Of Hawaii To Conduct An Inventory Of Bus Stops On Hawaii Island Utilized By Children To Travel To School And Develop Strategies To Improve Safety At Each Location.
SR98 is a Senate Resolution urging the Department of Education to work with the Department of Transportation, the Safe Routes to School Advisory Committee, and the County of Hawaii to inventory bus stops on Hawaii Island used by children traveling to school. The resolution is focused on identifying safety problems at each stop and developing strategies to improve conditions for students who rely on public transportation or school transportation arrangements, especially in rural and underserved areas.
The requested inventory would examine factors such as sidewalks, crosswalks, lighting, visibility, traffic congestion, proximity to high-speed roads, shelters, seating, route adequacy, and other hazards. The resolution also asks the agencies to develop recommendations that may include infrastructure upgrades, traffic calming, additional bus routes, and community engagement, and to report findings and a prioritized list of urgent improvements to the Legislature before the 2026 Regular Session.
As a resolution, SR98 does not directly amend state statutes or create enforceable legal requirements. Instead, it expresses the Senate’s intent and urges coordinated action by the Department of Education, Department of Transportation, the Safe Routes to School Advisory Committee, and the County of Hawaii to assess and improve school bus stop safety on Hawaii Island. Its practical impact would be to prompt a formal review, identify deficiencies, and potentially guide future appropriations, planning, or infrastructure and transportation policy changes affecting student transit safety.
The overall sentiment appears strongly supportive and safety-oriented. The bill passed both referenced committees unanimously, with amendments, indicating broad agreement that student transportation safety on Hawaii Island is an important issue. The resolution’s findings emphasize concern for keiki, rural access, and unsafe walking conditions, reflecting a consensus that the state should better evaluate and improve bus stop conditions.
No major opposition is reflected in the available record, and the committee votes were unanimous. The main policy issues underlying the resolution are practical rather than ideological: whether existing bus routes are sufficient, how to address driver shortages and funding constraints, and what level of infrastructure improvement is needed at individual stops. Any contention would likely center on the cost and feasibility of adding routes, upgrading roads and crossings, and coordinating responsibilities among state and county agencies rather than on the goal of improving child safety.