The new Kona Trolley has a bell. "We can ring the bell when we stop, which is just so sweet," Tania Cyrlin told Big Island Now in its October 5 story on the launch. The trolley is open-air with brown wooden seats, and it came from Savannah Trolley Tours in Georgia. Cyrlin, president of Island RV, said she spent almost as much to ship it here as she did to buy it.
It started running on October 1, 2026. Anyone who rode the old Kona Trolley around the village will notice right away that you now need a pass to get on. Meanwhile, the county bus that took over the old trolley's job is still running down Ali'i Drive with no fare at all. For anyone in Kailua-Kona, there are now two different services sharing one famous name, and they serve different hours, different blocks, and different errands.
Where the old trolley went
The Kona Trolley began as a Robert's Hawai'i operation. Service stopped during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Hawai'i County relaunched it in 2021 as part of the Hele-On system, and rides were free. Mayor Kimo Alameda said the village trolley was discontinued shortly before he took office in 2024. The vehicle went back into the general Hele-On fleet and still turns up now and then on Route 201 along Ali'i Drive with its old "Kona Trolley" signage removed. "You still see it around sometimes," said Ross Wilson, executive director of the Kailua Village Business Improvement District.
According to Wilson, the original village route carried 144,000 riders a year before it was discontinued, and "it was not only for visitors, but also for locals moving around the village." That ridership is why the business improvement district went looking for a partner. Cyrlin, who also runs Clark's Hawai'i Tours, said the district approached her company, and the timing fit her own goal of moving Island RV further into transportation beyond tours. West Hawaii Today describes the new trolley as privately financed and run by Island RV Inc.
So the free county bus kept the old trolley's job on Ali'i Drive, and the trolley name went to a new, paid service. Most of the decisions below follow from that split.
Two services, side by side
| New Kona Trolley | Hele-On Route 201 | |
|---|---|---|
| Operator | Island RV Inc., private | Hawai'i County Mass Transit Agency |
| Fare | Kama'aina $5 day, $20 week, $65 for 30 days; visitor $8 day, $35 week | Free for all passengers through December 31, 2028 |
| Days | Monday through Friday | Seven days a week |
| Hours | 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. | 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. |
| Frequency | One loop about every hour | Every 60 minutes |
| Ground covered | About a 1-mile village loop | Loloku Street Park & Ride to Keauhou |
| How to board | Pass in the EZRideFare app, no cash | Board at designated Hele-On stops |
Trolley fares and hours come from the Kona Trolley FAQ and West Hawaii Today's October 2 report. Route 201 details come from the county's Route 201 schedule page, effective July 12, 2026, and the Hele-On fares page. The county page's web address still reads "route-201-kona-trolley-via-ali-i-dr," a leftover of the old name.
The two services run at the same frequency. The free bus runs 12 more hours per week day, 15 hours on each weekend day, and covers a much longer stretch of road. So the trolley has to justify its fare with where it goes, since it can't compete on hours.
Where each one actually stops
According to West Hawaii Today, the new trolley's confirmed stops are Kona Commons, which gets two stops, Kailua Pier, and Kona Brewing Company at Brewery Block, with more stops to be added in the coming weeks. The operator hasn't published the full stop sequence yet, so the order of the loop is still unconfirmed.
Route 201's southbound timetable starts at the Loloku Street Park & Ride at the top of each hour. The bus reaches Palani Road at Kona Coast Shopping Center at :10, Palani at Ali'i Drive at :12, Ali'i across from Hualalai Road at :14, across from Coconut Grove Marketplace at :15, Royal Kona Resort at :16, Honl's Beach Park at :17, and Kona Reef Liquor & Deli/Casa-de-Emdeko at :19, then continues south toward Keauhou Shopping Center. The county requires riders to board at designated stops and doesn't allow flag stops on Ali'i Drive.
Neither Kona Commons nor Brewery Block appears among Route 201's published village stops. Those two are exactly where the private loop has confirmed stops, and they're the destinations Cyrlin and the district are counting on. Cyrlin described the loop as connecting "visitors and locals to local businesses who need the foot traffic while minimizing traffic and assisting with parking issues." Until the trolley publishes a full stop list, the safest summary is that the two services overlap in the village center around the pier and Palani Road, but they aren't confirmed stop-for-stop matches.
Doing the pass math as a kama'aina rider
The trolley only runs on weekdays, so each pass covers fewer service days than its length suggests:
- Daily, $5. Good for 24 hours of unlimited rides. Buy this one for a single weekday errand run between Kona Commons and the pier.
- Weekly, $20. Good for seven consecutive days, but those seven days include at most five days of service. Five daily passes would cost $25, so the weekly pass comes out ahead once you ride on four separate weekdays.
- Monthly, $65. Good for 30 days from activation and sold only at the kama'aina rate. It pays off once you ride on 13 separate days, which is a regular weekday commute into the village.
Kama'aina riders need to show a valid Hawai'i State ID or Hawai'i driver's license every time they board, not just when they buy the pass. Children under three ride free only if they sit on a paying rider's lap. No cash is accepted on board. You buy the pass in the EZRideFare app and show the app's wallet pass to the driver.
The app also fixes the biggest complaint about the old trolley. Big Island Now reported that riders used to say it was often late, while the new one can be tracked live the way you'd track a rideshare. The live map runs on TripShot, linked from konatrolley.com.
Matching the ride to the errand
Taken together, the schedules sort themselves out:
- A weekday lunch or shopping run between Kona Commons, Brewery Block and the pier. The private trolley's confirmed stops line up with this trip, and a $5 kama'aina day pass covers as many rides as you want.
- Anything after 5 p.m., or anything on a weekend. Only Route 201 is running. Its last southbound trip leaves Loloku Street at 9 p.m.
- Ali'i Drive south of the village, toward Honl's Beach Park, Casa-de-Emdeko or Keauhou. This is Route 201's corridor, and it's free.
- Leaving the car outside the village. Route 201 starts at the Loloku Street Park & Ride and reaches Palani at Ali'i Drive 12 minutes later.
Ironman week shows how the split works under pressure. The trolley launched just ahead of the World Championship, and Wilson said he expects 10,000 spectators to enjoy it. The trolley's posted schedule still lists only Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., so plan any weekend trips during race week around Route 201. Cyrlin said she had hoped to launch in summer but waited a few months because of bad weather and the need to line up funding, so the Ironman timing was a coincidence.
What would change the math
All three of the trolley's planned upgrades depend on ridership. A second trolley would cut the wait to about every 30 minutes. Seven-day service would put it head to head with Route 201 on weekends. Businesses will also be able to sponsor stops as the route grows. The trolley running now holds up to 44 passengers.
"The Kona Trolley will allow more people to live, work and play in the village," Wilson said in the launch press release. On the county side, the posted fare policy keeps Route 201 free for all passengers until December 31, 2028.
Getting around the village without a car affects daily life, and over time it can affect what a home near the pier or Kona Commons is worth. If you live in Kailua Village and wonder how changes like this show up in your home's value, Hawai'i Estates is in Kealakekua and keeps track of them. Get your Instant Home Valuation and see where your address stands.
