"We can ring the bell when we stop, which is just so sweet," Tania Cyrlin told Big Island Now in October, talking about the open-air trolley her company shipped to Kona from Savannah, Georgia. She's president of Island RV, the private company that owns and runs it. The Historic Kailua Village Business Improvement District asked her to bring a trolley back to the village, and the new Kona Trolley started its one-mile loop on October 1, 2026.
Six weeks later, the bell runs on a schedule that matters as Kailua Village heads into its busiest community stretch of the year. The trolley runs Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with one trolley making the loop about once an hour. Almost every date on the village's holiday calendar falls on a Saturday, a Sunday or an evening.
A pass priced for weekday regulars
The route links three places village regulars already know well: Kailua Pier, Kona Commons and the Brew Block, home of Kona Brewing Co. Big Island Now reported that more stops are planned. The trolley is fully cashless. You buy passes in the free EZRideFare app and show them from the app's wallet when you board, and TripShot shows where the trolley is in real time. That tracking answers an old complaint about the earlier trolley, which riders said was often late.
Here's what it costs to ride, as reported in October 2026:
| Pass | Kamaʻāina | Visitor |
|---|---|---|
| Daily | $5 | $8 |
| Weekly | $20 | $35 |
| Monthly | $65 | Not offered |
| Lap children under 3 | Free | Free |
Kamaʻāina fares require a valid Hawaiʻi State ID or driver's license. The monthly pass, the only one sold just to residents, pays for itself after 13 daily rides. A typical month has about 21 or 22 weekdays when the trolley runs. So the pass makes sense for someone heading into the village most workdays, say for lunch near the pier or errands at Kona Commons. It does little for someone who mostly goes to the village on weekends.
That's a change from the last version. Robert's Hawaiʻi first ran the Kona Trolley. After the pandemic shutdown, Hawaiʻi County relaunched it in 2021 as part of the Hele-On system, and rides were free. Ross Wilson, executive director of the Kailua Village Business Improvement District, told Big Island Now the old route carried 144,000 riders a year before it ended three years ago, and that it was "not only for visitors, but also for locals moving around the village." The new trolley is paid, private and limited to daytime hours. Its schedule lines up with the village's weekday business hours far more than with its community calendar.
Every big date this season falls outside the schedule
The Kona Coffee Cultural Festival opened on November 6 with the lantern parade from Kailua Pier to Hale Halawai County Pavilion, and it runs through November 15. Everything left on the village calendar from here to mid-December lines up like this:
| Date | Event | Hours | Trolley running? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., Nov. 14 | Kona Coffee Cultural Festival Hoʻolauleʻa, Makaeʻo Pavilion | See festival schedule | No |
| Sat., Nov. 14 | Kona Commons artisan fair | See village calendar | No |
| Sun., Nov. 15 | Kokua Kailua Village Stroll | 1–6 p.m. | No |
| Thu., Nov. 26 | Thanksgiving Day | No trolley service | No |
| Sat., Dec. 5 | Christmas with the Chefs, Outrigger Kona Resort & Spa at Keauhou Bay | 5:30–8:30 p.m. | No, off route |
| Sat., Dec. 12 | Kona Commons artisan fair | See village calendar | No |
| Sat., Dec. 12 | Kailua Village Christmas Parade, "Mele Kalikimaka Magic" | 5:30 p.m. | No |
| Sun., Dec. 13 | Kokua Kailua Village Stroll | 1–6 p.m. | No |
The two Village Strolls line up most closely with the trolley route. During Kokua Kailua, the village is closed to cars from Kailua Pier through to Hualalai Road, 1 to 6 p.m. That's the same stretch the trolley covers on weekdays, but the strolls fall on Sundays, when it doesn't run. The Kailua Village Christmas Parade starts at 5:30 p.m. on a Saturday, so it misses both the trolley's days and its hours. The Thanksgiving gap is listed on the trolley's live tracking page.
Weekday evenings work the same way. The Kona Pub calendar lists live music at 5 p.m. on November 13 and November 17. That's the hour the trolley finishes for the day, even though the Brew Block is one of its stops. A 4 p.m. loop gets you there in time for the first set. The ride home is up to you.
Nine weekdays when the schedule fits
One stretch of the holiday season fits the trolley's schedule almost perfectly. Under the rules for the BID's 2026 Kailua Kalikimaka Window Decorating Contest, entries must be finished and ready for judging by Monday, November 30. Judging begins Tuesday, December 1, and winners are announced at the Christmas Parade on December 12. The contest covers only decorations you can see from outside, so the windows can be seen from the sidewalk at any time.
From December 1 through December 11, the windows are finished and judging is underway. Here's how those days fall:
- Tuesday, December 1, through Friday, December 4. Four weekdays, with the trolley running all day. Judging starts on the first of these days.
- Saturday, December 5, and Sunday, December 6. The trolley doesn't run. On Saturday evening, Christmas with the Chefs takes place at Keauhou Bay, well off the loop.
- Monday, December 7, through Friday, December 11. Five more weekdays of hourly loops, ending the day before the parade where the winners are named.
That adds up to nine weekdays, each with eight hours of service. On a $5 kamaʻāina day pass, you can stop at Kailua Pier, walk the decorated windows, ride to Kona Commons for errands and catch a later loop back, all without moving the car. The contest guidelines also ask businesses to think about lighting their windows at night. So a weekday daytime ride and a weekend evening walk will show you the same windows in two different ways.
What would change the schedule
The trolley's own site says a second trolley and seven-day service are goals that depend on ridership growing. Big Island Now reported the specifics. With a second trolley, it would run every 30 minutes instead of every hour, and businesses could sponsor stops to extend the route. Cyrlin told the outlet she had first hoped to launch in the summer but waited because of bad weather and the need to finalize funding.
For now, the trolley reaches Kailua Pier, Kona Commons and the Brew Block every weekday, about once an hour, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The strolls, the parade and the artisan fairs happen on weekends, when you'll be walking.
Whether your home is a short trolley ride from the pier or up the hill in Holualoa's coffee country, what it's worth this season depends on its street, its view and how close it sits to places like these. If you'd like to know where your home stands as Kailua Village heads into its holiday stretch, Lovette Llantos is glad to help. Get Your Free Home Valuation, and enjoy the windows while they're up.
