HONOLULU -- Honolulu City Council members on Thursday grilled city officials on concerns about seasickness and questions of success involving the new commuter ferries.

The city's new commuter ferry service has been operating for almost two weeks.

Council members asked about the ferries, which came to the island from smooth sailing in protected waters in Seattle and are now operating on Hawaii's open ocean.

"Have you been tracking the comfort level? What I mean by that is: how many people are getting sick on this?" Councilman Charles Djou asked

"We have been informally tracking that information, and so far we have been seeing roughly a 2 percent rate of people might be getting sick on the boat," ferry project manager Darin Mar said. "It is not a big concern."

The city said on some days, 3- to 5-foot swells were a definite challenge.

Since the original voyages, the city said it has learned to have the ferry slow down in 3- to 5-foot swells to give passengers a smoother ride.

Councilman Nestor Garcia asked if the city could get a bigger, more comfortable ferry.

"A larger boat would be more expensive, and it is not some thing we would entertain at this time," Mar said.

In the second week of service, the city said total passenger numbers have increased from about 250 to 375 per day. The largest single voyage was Wednesday's 4:20 p.m. ride from town to Kalaeloa. It had a full capacity of 149, city officials said.

City officials also said larger numbers could because fares this week are free.

When council members asked, the transportation director was unable to give passenger numbers that would show the ferry project is a success.