Kona Trolley in Kailua Village: Paid Loop vs. Free Route 201

You've probably seen an open-air trolley with wooden seats in Kailua Village this month, ringing a bell at each stop. Is it the Kona Trolley? Yes. Is it the one that used to carry you down Aliʻi Drive for free? No. The free service that replaced that one is also still running, still on Aliʻi Drive, and every so often it still uses the old trolley vehicle.

So since Oct. 1, 2026, the village has had two trolley-shaped options. One is new, private and charges a fare. The other is older and run by the county. It's free, and it covers far more of the map. Neither one replaces the other. To work out which one fits an errand, you need to know how the name got split in the first place.

How one name ended up on two services

The original Kona Trolley was run by the private company Robert's Hawaiʻi. It was suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Big Island Now reports that Hawaiʻi County relaunched it in 2021 as part of the Hele-On public bus system, specifically to carry passengers around Kailua Village, and riding it was free.

It had a following. Ross Wilson, executive director of the Kailua Village Business Improvement District, told Big Island Now that the route carried 144,000 riders a year before it was discontinued, "not only for visitors, but also for locals moving around the village."

When exactly it stopped depends on who you ask. In that same article, Wilson put it at "three years ago." Hawaiʻi County Mayor Kimo Alameda said it was discontinued just before he took office in 2024. Either way, the vehicle didn't leave town. It went back into the Hele-On system, and Big Island Now reports that it's occasionally used for passengers on Route 201 along Aliʻi Drive. "You still see it around sometimes," Wilson said, adding that the old "Kona Trolley" signage has been removed.

The name still lingers on the county side. The Route 201 schedule page on the Hele-On website has "kona-trolley" in its web address, though the page itself now calls the route the "Ali'i Drive Circulator."

What arrived on Oct. 1

The new Kona Trolley is a private venture. It's owned and operated by Island RV, whose 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, adding that she wanted to move her company further into transportation, beyond tours.

The vehicle came from Savannah Trolley Tours in Georgia. "I spent almost as much to ship her here as I did to purchase it," Cyrlin told the outlet. She didn't say what she paid. It seats up to 41 passengers and has a wooden ceiling, small windows and etched glass at the front and back. The detail Cyrlin seemed fondest of was the bell. "We can ring the bell when we stop, which is just so sweet," she said.

The way it runs is quite different from the old free trolley. It's entirely cashless, and you buy passes online before you ride. West Hawaii Today reports that you can track its location in real time through TripShot, the way you'd follow a rideshare, so you can see when it's coming instead of guessing.

Cyrlin had hoped to start in the summer. She told Big Island Now she held off a few months because of bad weather and the need to line up funding. The launch ended up coinciding with the Ironman World Championship, when Wilson expected about 10,000 spectators in town.

The two services, side by side

Kamaʻāina rates require a valid Hawaiʻi State ID or driver's license, and lap children under 3 ride the trolley free. The Hele-On fares page says the bus is free for all passengers until December 31, 2028. Route 201's current timetable took effect July 12, 2026. Flag stops aren't allowed on Aliʻi Drive, so you board at a designated Hele-On stop.

Where the two routes actually divide the work

Both services run about once an hour, but they cover different ground. The new trolley's confirmed stops are Kona Commons, which has two stops, Kailua Pier and Kona Brewing Co. at the Brewery Block. West Hawaii Today reported that more stops would join "in the weeks ahead." The operator hasn't published the order of those stops, so it's worth checking the route map at konatrolley.com before you plan a connection.

That makes the trolley's loop a tight circuit through the village's shopping and dining core. Cyrlin described it to Big Island Now in exactly those terms. She said the loop "really supports the economic engine of the economy by looping us and connecting visitors and locals to local businesses who need the foot traffic while minimizing traffic and assisting with parking issues." The way the route is meant to grow follows the same idea. As ridership increases, businesses can sponsor stops to extend it.

Route 201 covers a different problem. It starts at the Loloku Street Park & Ride, runs along Aliʻi Drive and ends at Keauhou Shopping Center. It starts three hours earlier than the trolley and finishes four hours later, and it runs on Saturdays and Sundays, when the trolley doesn't run at all. If you're heading to Keauhou, out after 5 p.m. or getting around on a weekend, the free bus is the only one of the two that's running.

The fares point the same way. For a kamaʻāina rider, a $65 monthly trolley pass buys unlimited trips on a one-mile weekday loop, while the county route that runs the length of Aliʻi Drive costs nothing. The trolley isn't really in the business of commuting, though. In the West Hawaii Today press coverage, Cyrlin said it's "built for the way people actually shop and stroll through the village today." Wilson, in the same piece, said it "will allow more people to live, work and play in the village." Those are village-scale goals, and the route matches them.

What's announced but not running yet

Several features of the new trolley are still plans, and it helps to keep them separate from what you can ride today. As of mid-October 2026, the published plans include:

1. A second trolley. Cyrlin told Big Island Now she intends to buy one. With two vehicles, the loop would run every 30 minutes instead of every hour.
2. Seven-day service. The operator describes this as coming once ridership grows. Until then, the trolley runs weekdays only.
3. More stops. Sponsored stops are the stated way to expand, but none of the coverage so far names a stop added beyond the four in the launch announcement.

How you buy a pass is a little unclear too. The FAQ on the operator's site tells riders to use the EZRideFare app and show the pass from its wallet when boarding. A social post on the site's homepage says you can buy through the website or a QR code with no app download. Since there's no cash option, settle the payment question before you're standing at Kailua Pier waiting for the bell.

Two trolleys, two jobs

The Kona Trolley name is back, but the free ride it used to mean is not. The paid trolley is a weekday daytime loop linking Kona Commons, Kailua Pier and the Brewery Block, with live tracking and a vintage ride. The free Route 201 is the longer Aliʻi Drive line to Keauhou, running seven days a week until 9 p.m., sometimes on the same vehicle that used to carry the Kona Trolley sign. Lots of trips around Kailua-Kona will fit one service much better than the other.

If you're thinking about where you live, or might live, in relation to Kailua Village, these routes affect daily errands more than any listing description will. I'm happy to talk through how a particular street lines up with the trolley loop or Route 201, or with what's in walking distance. You can find me at Missy Elliott whenever it's useful. Let's Connect.