The Kona Trolley Is Back on Weekdays. Kailua Village's December Weekends Run on a Different Ride.

The new Kona Trolley has brown wooden seats, a wooden ceiling with small windows, and etched glass at the front and back. Its owner told Big Island Now that it cost almost as much to ship from Savannah, Georgia, as it did to buy. It started running in Historic Kailua Village on October 1, 2026, and the open-air car has been looping between Kailua Pier and Kona Commons on weekdays ever since.

Its schedule matters this time of year. Kailua Village holds its biggest December gatherings on a Saturday evening and a Sunday afternoon, and the new trolley doesn't run on either day. The ride that does is the county's Hele-On Route 201. It runs seven days a week, it costs nothing, and the county sometimes runs the old trolley car on it.

A Car From Savannah, a Loop of One Mile

Island RV owns and operates the new trolley. Its president, Tania Cyrlin, also runs Clark's Hawaiʻi Tours. Cyrlin told Big Island Now that the Historic Kailua Village Business Improvement District approached her about bringing a trolley back. "They were just looking for partners and reached out to us," she said.

According to the Kona Trolley FAQ, here's how it works:

• Hours: Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The operator says it is working toward seven-day service as ridership grows.
• Frequency: One trolley completes the loop about once an hour. A second trolley is planned, which would cut the wait to about 30 minutes.
• Stops: West Hawaii Today listed the confirmed stops at launch as two at Kona Commons, one at Kailua Pier and one at Kona Brewing Company and the Brewery Block, with more to be added.
• Fares: Kamaʻāina pay $5 a day, $20 a week or $65 a month. Visitors pay $8 a day or $35 a week. Children under 3 ride free on a paying adult's lap.
• Proof of residency: To get the kamaʻāina rate, you show a valid Hawaiʻi State ID or Hawaiʻi driver's license to the driver every time you board.
• Paying: The trolley is cashless. You buy passes in the free EZRideFare app, show them from the app's wallet, and each pass starts on its first use.
• Tracking: TripShot shows where the trolley is in real time. That answers a common complaint about the old trolley, which was often late.

The tracking page also says the trolley won't run on Thanksgiving Day.

For someone who lives here, the $65 monthly pass is the one to look at. If you have weekday errands between Kona Commons and the pier, that's about the cost of a few village parking hassles. Cyrlin described the loop to Big Island Now as a way of "connecting visitors and locals to local businesses who need the foot traffic while minimizing traffic and assisting with parking issues."

The Old Trolley Car Still Rides Aliʻi Drive

The previous Kona Trolley worked differently. Robert's Hawaiʻi ran it until the pandemic suspended it in 2020. Hawaiʻi County relaunched it in 2021 as part of Hele-On, rides were free, and it was later folded back into the regular bus system. Ross Wilson, executive director of the Kailua Village Business Improvement District, told Big Island Now that the old trolley carried 144,000 riders a year before it was discontinued, "not only for visitors, but also for locals moving around the village."

The old car is still around. Hele-On sometimes uses it on Route 201 along Aliʻi Drive, with its "Kona Trolley" signs removed. "You still see it around sometimes," Wilson told Big Island Now. The county's web address for the route still has "kona-trolley" in it.

The Route 201 schedule took effect July 12, 2026. The bus runs between the Loloku Street Park & Ride and Keauhou seven days a week, from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., once an hour. The Hele-On fares page says the system "is free for all passengers until December 31, 2028."

The two routes do different jobs. The private trolley runs short, frequent loops between the shopping centers above the village and the pier, and you can see on your phone where it is. Route 201 runs the full length of Aliʻi Drive, with southbound stops at Coconut Grove Marketplace, Royal Kona Resort, Honl's Beach Park, Magic Sands Beach Park, Kahaluʻu Beach and Outrigger Keauhou before it ends near Keauhou Shopping Center. The trolley ends at 5 p.m. on weekdays. On every day of the week, Route 201's last trip leaves the Park & Ride at 9 p.m. and reaches the stop across from Hualālai Road at 9:14 p.m.

December Puts the Village's Biggest Nights on the Weekend

That evening and weekend coverage matters most next month, when Kailua Village's holiday events fall on a Saturday and a Sunday. Here's the calendar in order:

1. Kailua Kalikimaka Window Decorating Contest, December 1 to 31. This is a new contest from the Historic Kailua Village Business Improvement District. Judging starts Tuesday, December 1, and shops keep their windows decorated through the end of the month. The windows are up on weekdays too, so a daytime trolley loop is an easy way to see them.
2. Kailua Village Christmas Parade, Saturday, December 12, at 5:30 p.m. The theme on Parades in Kona is "Mele Kalikimaka Magic." The Kailua Village Parade Association organizes it. The parade traditionally starts on Kuakini Highway, turns onto Palani Road, then follows Aliʻi Drive past Coconut Grove Marketplace and ends at Walua Road. Window contest winners are announced during the parade.
3. Kokua Kailua Village Stroll, Sunday, December 13, 1 to 6 p.m. For the stroll, Aliʻi Drive closes to cars from Kailua Pier through the village to Hualālai Road, and the street becomes a pedestrian marketplace with vendor booths, musicians and village merchants.

The new trolley's weekday-only schedule doesn't cover the parade or the stroll. Route 201 runs both days. It stops at Palani Road and Aliʻi Drive and across from Hualālai Road, the end of the stretch that closes for the stroll, and hourly service continues past the parade's 5:30 start. The county posts rider alerts, delays and cancellations for the route on its @heleonbus account, so check there before you leave on a day when Aliʻi Drive is closed.

The Loloku Street Park & Ride is the first stop, at the top of the line. If you drive in for the parade, parking there and taking the 4 p.m. or 5 p.m. bus gets you to Aliʻi Drive at 4:12 or 5:12, before the 5:30 start.

A Table Along the Route

Both rides pass near one of the village's newest restaurant names. Voyagers has replaced Kona Canoe Club at the Kona Inn Shopping Village. It's run by Island Restaurant Group, which bought the Canoe Club and Kona Inn Restaurant in April 2026 and also owns Jackie Rey's, Harbor House and Umekes. Nakoa Pabre, the group's executive chairman, told Big Island Now that he dropped the "Canoe Club" name because it "can sometimes sound like a private club."

The menu draws on cuisines from Japan to Micronesia. It includes ahi poke parfait, lomi salmon bruschetta, ʻulu vegetable Japanese curry and a wagyu loco moco burger. Pupus run $18 to $24 and entrées $32 to $44, and happy hour is 2 to 5 p.m. daily with $10 mai tais. The Voyagers website gives the address as 75-5744 Aliʻi Drive, Unit 21, and lists lanai seating over Kailua Bay. It's open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until midnight on Friday and Saturday. Happy hour ends at 5, the same time the trolley stops for the day. After that, Route 201 runs on Aliʻi Drive until 9 p.m.

How you get around the village is part of what you're choosing when you look at homes near Aliʻi Drive. If that's on your mind as the holidays start, Deborah Thompson would be glad to tell you what she knows about Kailua-Kona's walkable pockets and the routes that connect them. Let's Connect.