Each day, dozens of Hilo-area residents get up before 4 a.m. and spend two hours on a county bus getting to their jobs across the island in Waikoloa. After work, it's another two-hour ride home. That's the equivalent of riding the Honolulu's No. 55 Circle Island route every day.

But now there is at least one good thing about the long, draining ride on the Big Island: It's free.

In fact, all of the county's 350,000 yearly riders on 12 Hele-On bus routes will be able to travel for free for the next three months, effective yesterday. And some county officials, including Mayor Harry Kim, hope to make the change permanent.

"It's something that could change the lifestyle of the whole island," said Tom Brown, the county's Mass Transit administrator.

The free rides come at a welcome time for many Hawai'i Island residents, who have the longest average commutes in the state and pay among the highest prices for gasoline. Last week, Kona residents were paying as high as $3.48 for a gallon of regular gas.

But the new service, planned long before gas prices rose sharply this fall, has benefits that go far beyond the pump, Brown and others said.

"It could be a real economic driver," said Councilman Pete Hoffman. "With the money people will save on bus fares, they'll be able to buy other economic necessities for their families."

In addition, the free bus service will give residents in remote rural areas better access to work, doctor, school and recreation areas, and allow officials to help develop more affordable housing in rural areas served by new bus routes. With more people taking advantage of the free bus service, traffic congestion in some parts of the island also could be eased, officials said.

The biggest potential problem with the plan: The county could lose an estimated $300,000 in bus fare revenues this fiscal year if the free rides continue into 2006.

Mass transportation is heavily subsidized in most cities and towns nationwide, but few places make the service entirely free. Instead, fares have been rising steadily nationwide in recent years. In Honolulu, for instance, the taxpayers contribute more than $100 million each year to keep the buses running. Even so, county laws require that fare-paying passengers contribute about one-third of the system's operating budget; that led officials to raise one-way adult fares to $2 per ride two years ago.

Hawai'i County officials say the Big Island's spread-out nature, with long distances between homes and jobs, means they have to take another approach.

Brown said the lost revenue will be more than made up to the county's economy in other ways, including less traffic congestion, more opportunity for teenagers to find work and stay out of trouble, and fewer costly traffic accidents.

"I honestly think this helps all age groups and people and will be a boon to the economy," Hoffman said.

The county first started experimenting with free bus ridership zones early this year, when Kim asked department officials to find ways to reduce traffic congestion in the Kailua, Kona area and ease the pain of commuters forced into the long rides, Brown said.

The first free zones were created on routes between Pahoa and Hilo and Ocean View and Kawaihae. They were extended later to include all bus service from Ocean View to Kona and South Kohala.

But residents in other areas, including the long run from Hilo to Waikoloa, can easily spend more than $100 a month on the bus, Brown said. "This is money that can be used by the riders to have a better lifestyle," he said.

Kim's administration plans to introduce a bill at the Hawai'i County Council this week to extend the islandwide free ridership period for two years.

"I'd be very disappointed if my colleagues on the council have too much heartburn over extending this. I hope they'll give it at least another year to let the benefits start to show," Hoffman said.

Reach Mike Leidemann at mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.