The Kona Trolley Is Back in Kailua Village. Here's How It Fits With the Free Bus and the Paid Lots.

On Thursday, October 1, 2026, the open-air Kona Trolley went back into service in historic Kailua Village. It's now privately financed and run, it's cashless, and it runs one car an hour on weekdays. It also shares the village with a free county bus that follows nearly the same corridor. The county's own web address for that bus still calls it the "Kona Trolley via Aliʻi Dr." Since the county's last two attempts to ease downtown parking were dropped, these two services are now the easiest way into the village without paying for a lot. They differ more than the shared name suggests.

Two Services, One Familiar Name

The new Kona Trolley is privately funded and run by Island RV Inc. The Kailua Village Business Improvement District signed on as a partner. Ross Wilson Jr., the district's executive director, said the BID "recognized early on the need for more transportation options in the village," and that the trolley "will allow more people to live, work and play in the village."

Hele-On Route 201 is the county's Aliʻi Drive Circulator. Its current timetable took effect July 12, 2026. It runs from the Loloku Street Park & Ride to Keauhou and only stops at marked Hele-On stops. Flagging it down anywhere along Aliʻi Drive isn't allowed.

The two cover different needs. Route 201 is a long north-south line with stops at the beach parks and resorts along Aliʻi Drive. Southbound, it takes 30 minutes to get from the Park & Ride to Keauhou. The Kona Trolley is a village loop between the shopping centers, resorts and attractions around Kailua Village. Riders can follow it on a live map through TripShot, much like tracking a rideshare car.

Why the Answer Ended Up Being a Ride

The trolley makes more sense once you see what happened to the other fixes.

Big Island Now reported in November 2024 that the county had already tried a free trolley, along with a park-and-ride by Target. Very few people rode that trolley, and it was discontinued. That park-and-ride is the Loloku Street lot, and Route 201 still starts there. When the county opened it in 2023, it said all parts of the Park-n-Ride were free, including parking. The county hasn't put out a newer notice on the lot's price or hours.

Next the county tried changing the street. Starting May 1, 2025, about 0.4 miles of Aliʻi Drive between Kailua Pier and Hualālai Road became one-way southbound. The trial was supposed to last 90 days and added about 50 free on-street stalls. Two-way traffic came back on June 16, 2025, after reports of northbound congestion, backups on Kuakini Highway, and worries about foot traffic at the north end of Aliʻi Drive.

Then came the price cap. Bill 132 would have made the first three hours free at private lots in Kailua Village. After that, it would have capped parking at $2 an hour for the first 24 hours and $30 a day beyond that. The bill was withdrawn on May 19, 2026. At an April 2026 hearing on that bill, every testifier spoke against it. One was Manny Martinez, a Kailua-Kona property manager with SVN GO Commercial. He argued that the bill put the burden on small landowners while hotels and resorts were exempt.

The rule that did pass was narrower. On July 8, 2026, the County Council unanimously passed Bill 162. It requires every entrance to a paid lot to post the rates, extra fees, hours, towing charges and the towing company's contact information. Councilmember Rebecca Villegas sponsored it. She said most lots only had QR-code payment instructions without hourly prices, and called the bill "a small step in the right direction." She also said she was "heartbroken" by how empty the Kona shopping center lots were during the Fourth of July parade.

So the closed street lane and the rate cap were both dropped, and the posted-price rule changes what drivers can see, not what they pay. That leaves rides as the one approach still being expanded, and the business district has now backed a private one.

Pass Prices Next to Hourly Parking

As of April 2026, West Hawaii Today counted more than 20 private lots in Kailua Village. Rates ran from $9 to $21 an hour, and some lots used surge pricing at busy times. Some lots gave local residents free time or discounts. The free county-run lot along Aliʻi Drive has about 90 stalls.

At those rates, one hour in a private lot costs more than a kamaʻāina day pass on the Kona Trolley, which is $5. Even at the low end of $9 an hour, about seven hours of parking costs as much as a $65 monthly pass. Kamaʻāina riders have to show a valid Hawaiʻi State ID or Hawaiʻi driver's license every time they board. Children under 3 who ride on a lap are free.

Route 201 changes the math again. Hele-On is free for all passengers until December 31, 2028. For a trip that starts at the Loloku Street Park & Ride and ends near Coconut Grove Marketplace or across from Hualālai Road, the county bus is free and runs on weekends and into the evening, when the private trolley doesn't run. Southbound buses leave Loloku on the hour. They reach the stop across from Hualālai Road 14 minutes later and Coconut Grove Marketplace at 15 past.

The Kona Trolley's advantage is its stops. Of the two, only the trolley lists Kona Commons, Kailua Pier and Brewery Block, and it runs a short village loop instead of the full Aliʻi Drive run.

Matching the Ride to the Errand

Here's how the published schedules line up with a few common trips into the village:

1. A Saturday at Magic Sands or Kahaluʻu. The Kona Trolley doesn't run on weekends. Route 201 does, with stops at Magic Sands Beach Park and Kahaluʻu Beach. Southbound buses reach them at 23 and 25 minutes past each hour.
2. A weekday lunch from Kona Commons to the pier. This is the trolley's core trip. Kona Commons has two stops and Kailua Pier is on the route.
3. Dinner on Aliʻi Drive. The trolley's day ends at 5:00 p.m. The last southbound Route 201 bus leaves Loloku at 9:00 p.m.
4. Several weekdays downtown in one month. The $65 kamaʻāina monthly pass on the trolley costs about the same as a few hours in a private lot.

Dinner is a real reason to come downtown right now. The Island Restaurant Group took over the century-old Kona Inn Restaurant and the Kona Canoe Club. The group was formed by Jackie Rey's, Harbor House and Umekes Fish Market Bar & Grill. Chef Kaikili Roldan came over from Four Seasons Resort Hualālai. Nightly prime rib is back after years as a weekend special, while the crab cakes, calamari and mud pie stayed the same. The new owners kept the belt-driven ceiling fans and found the manufacturer to get parts for them. In the same story, Big Island Now listed the 2023 arrival of paid parking in the historic village among the problems the restaurant faced before the sale. For more places to eat along this stretch, see our Kona dining guide.

What Hasn't Been Settled Yet

The trolley is starting small on purpose. It launched with one car running hourly. The plan is to add a second car for 30-minute service and eventually run seven days a week as ridership grows. Island RV president Tania Cyrlin said the hope is that it becomes "a real part of daily life here in Kona and the village." According to the company's site, the first village trolley started in 2010 and carried more than 144,000 riders before it was folded into the county bus system. The county's free version was later dropped for low use. Whether this new paid version grows depends on the same thing.

The launch coverage said more stops would be added "in the weeks ahead." The full route map is on konatrolley.com. For the free route, the county keeps the Route 201 timetable up to date.

Parking still has one open item. In August 2025, the county planned to add 23 stalls to the free lot between Kuakini Highway and Likana Lane, with construction expected in the second or third quarter of 2026. We haven't found a report confirming the stalls were built. Until one comes out, Big Island Now's coverage of Bill 162 is the best guide to the rules that apply at each lot entrance.

If you're thinking about how close a home is to the trolley loop or a Route 201 stop, or how easy it is to get into the village from a hillside or Aliʻi Drive address, Kristina Vaughn-Hazard can help with that for your own street. Schedule a personalized Kona consultation, and we'll look at the stops and the nearest free lot from your address.