HI: Skyline counts 61,968 rides in first 4 days after new segment opened

City officials counted 61, 968 rides taken on Skyline rail trains in the first four days after opening a new 5.2-mile segment that takes passengers into four, critical new stations, including Daniel K. International Airport.

Thursday marked the first day of public, paid ridership for Skyline’s Segment 2, which saw 11, 879 rides aboard Skyline trains, followed by a second day of paid ridership on Friday, when the rail system counted 10, 471 rides. The city then offered two days of free fares that saw the number of rides leap to 19, 562 on Saturday and 20, 056 on Sunday.

Paid ridership resumed Monday morning.

Skyline counts individual rides, not passengers, so one person who takes several trips aboard the train in a day will account for multiple rides.

When Skyline opened to the public in June 2023, the city offered four days of free ridership that saw 71, 722 rides from June 30 through July 4, 2023. They counted 8, 942 initial 2023 rides during only four hours of truncated service on June 30 to a high of 18, 108 riders on July 4.

The original segment runs from East Kapolei to the Halawa station across from the empty and abandoned Aloha Stadium.

The new section extends from Halawa to the Makalapa /Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam and Airport stations—two major employment centers—into Lagoon Drive where Skyline passengers can then ride express buses into downtown, Ala Moana Center and the University of Hawaii. The last of the current four stops ends at Middle Street, another employment center for the Kalihi area.

Mayor Rick Blangiardi has set a goal of increasing rail ridership to 25, 000 passengers a day within a year and said that last week’s ride numbers show that his goal can be reached.

He told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that many of the Segment 2 passengers “were potential users ” compared to many of the passengers who rode Segment 1, who came from all over Oahu to ride Skyline for “the novelty.”

The extended line allows passengers to travel from East Kapolei to the Airport Station in 32 minutes without the risk of getting stuck in traffic and having to pay for gas and airport parking.

Trains arrive at stations every 10 minutes and offer “quality of life, cost efficiency and safety, ” Blangiardi said. “We’re really going to bang that drum loudly. It has never existed on this island. That is powerful and such a resource for people. That’s why I’m so confident. We’re excited.”

The city’s Department of Transportation Services operates both TheBus and Skyline, which offer one fare to ride both using a HOLO card.

In a statement announcing the latest passenger counts, DTS Director Roger Morton said, “The growing interest of Skyline Segment 2 shows that Honolulu is ready to embrace a new era of public transportation. Skyline is helping to redefine how we move around Oahu, linking major employment centers, improving daily commutes, and becoming an essential part of a more connected and sustainable transit network for our island.”

Also on Monday, the Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation—which continues to build rail’s third and final segment to Kakaako—invited the public to a design workshop from 6 to 8 :30 p.m. for its upcoming Kuwili Station in Iwilei to reach the final Civic Center Station.

HART and its contractor, Tutor Perini Corporation, have scheduled Thursday’s meeting at the King David Kalakaua Middle School Cafeteria at 821 Kalihi Street.

The public is encouraged to ask questions and provide feedback on the preliminary design of the Iwilei Station.

© 2025 The Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
Visit www.staradvertiser.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.