DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM The Kaimuki-Kapahulu-Waikiki Neighborhood Trolley will run its last day of service on Thursday. One trolley driver, Pola Nagaseu, was reflected as she waved to a friend she saw on the sidewalk on Tuesday.

City ends Kaimuki
trolley service

The trolley had also served tourists
and UH students, residents say

Residents are bemoaning the loss of the Kaimuki-Kapahulu-Waikiki trolley, which ends this week.

ON THE BUS Here is the schedule for the bus service on route 303, Kaimuki-Kapahulu-Waikiki, to start Thursday: » Monday through Thursday: every hour from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. » Friday and Saturday: every half-hour from 10:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. » Sunday: every half-hour from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.

"I'm so sad. Some of our employees even took the trolley," said Liz Schwartz, owner of Coffee Talk, at 3601 Waialae Ave.

University of Hawaii students housed in the Kapahulu and Waikiki areas due to the lack of dorm space on the Manoa campus also have relied on the trolley.

"They use it constantly," said Ginny Meade, executive director of the Greater East Honolulu Community Alliance. "Lots and lots more residents are using the trolley."

The Kaimuki-Kapahulu-Waikiki trolley operated by E Noa Tours will end Thursday . The route will be replaced the next day by small buses to be operated under Oahu Transit Services Inc., which operates the city bus system.

The route number will be 303 with a destination sign reading "Kaimuki-Kapahulu-Waikiki." Fares will be same as other bus routes: $2 a ride and $1 for seniors and students. Riders may also use their bus passes.

A ride on the trolley costs $1. Students and senior citizens are charged 50 cents.

City spokeswoman Carol Costa said the new route will cost the city no additional funds. The city had paid E Noa Tours a $240,000-a-year subsidy. She said the company was allowed to keep between $7,000 and $9,000 a month in fares.

Costa said buses will use the same route as the Kaimuki trolley, with the exception of using Kuhio Avenue instead of Kalakaua Avenue. The trolley has 26 stops starting at Royal Hawaiian Avenue and running along Kapahulu, Waialae and Kuhio avenues.

No new buses or drivers will be added, Costa said.

DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM Japanese tourists Makiyo Oda, left, and Kunihiko Ono caught the trolley from Waikiki to Kaimuki. They were looking to try a restaurant where the "locals" eat.

Ridership on the trolley increased after stops to the University of Hawaii at Manoa's Frear Hall and Chaminade University were added to the route last year.

Community members said the trolley gave tourists a chance to visit stores and restaurants outside Waikiki.

Schwartz said the open, blue trolley was a solution to the limited parking space available in Kaimuki.

"It's a nightmare," Schwartz said of the parking. "I feel so lucky that our customers brave it every day. The trolley helps with that."

City Councilman Charles Djou, who represents Kaimuki, said he was disappointed about the termination of the trolley service but said the buses are "better than nothing."

The community put a lot of effort to get this route going, Djou said. "It's high ridership, it's very popular and it was just beginning to take off."