The first day of paid rail ridership saw a drop in interest, as expected, with only 1,245 passengers boarding Skyline trains.
Wednesday’s ridership numbers represented a steep contrast to the 8,952 passengers who packed trains for the inaugural four hours of free service on Friday that culminated through the Fourth of July with a total of 71,722 passengers who all rode for free.
With the beginning of paid service on Wednesday to ride the first leg of 11 miles of track along nine stations from East Kapolei to Halawa, the city Department of Transportation Services said that it “anticipated reduced ridership on Skyline following the fare-free period which ended after the July 4th holiday.”
“All transit services generally require time to grow and develop a dedicated ridership base,” DTS said in a statement. “We recognize, in this mid-summer period, public and private schools and colleges and universities are on holiday. We are confident that ridership will grow through the summer and increase as we transition into regular commute patterns in August at the summer’s end. Additionally, as more riders become familiar with our new connecting bus services to Skyline stations, adjacent neighborhoods, and regional destinations, we are ready to welcome current and new riders onto our City’s multimodal system.”
The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation continues to build the rail system for a total of 19 miles of track and 19 stations ending in Kakaako by 2031 for a total cost of $9.8 billion.
Discussions continue to generate funding to reach rail’s original destination at Ala Moana Center, Hawaii’s largest transit hub.
As more stations enter service, DTS said it expects ridership to grow, especially with the completion of the Airport Project Segment by mid-2025.
“At this time, with the addition of four miles and four more stations, Skyline service will operate to Kahauiki Middle Street Station via the Makalapa Pearl Harbor, Lelepaua Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, and Ahua Lagoon Drive Stations, extending the reach of Skyline and the effectiveness of TheBus connections,” DTS said.
How many people ride rail, how much fare revenue the city generates and how much it costs to maintain America’s first driverless, automated system remain unknown.
Roger Morton, director of the city Department of Transportation Services, which in June assumed responsibility for operating Skyline, earlier said the contract with Hitachi Rail Honolulu is a $54 million-per-year expense, while operational costs, including use of electricity throughout the system, adds up to $75 million
annually.
DTS expects about 8,000 to 10,000 riders per day by the end of the year, with the next segment from Halawa past the airport to Middle Street likely generating about 25,000 riders per day.
Ridership is expected to grow to about 85,000 per day after the final segment opens from Middle Street to the downtown and Kakaako areas.
Ahead of paid ridership this week, Council members Andria Tupola and Val Okimoto told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that they remain concerned whether HOLO card revenue will be enough to cover annual operational and maintenance costs.
Tupola said previously that the next year will represent a “pilot project” to determine a full year of paid ridership numbers, revenue and rail’s actual operations and maintenance costs.
