Honolulu packs three transit modes into one HOLO card: buses that go anywhere on Oahu’s south shore, a new driverless train, and a door-to-door paratransit van. One tap, one $3 fare, and a daily cap that means you’ll rarely pay more than $7.50 no matter how much you ride.
The basics
TheBus is the workhorse — a bus network that has run the island since 1971, connecting Waikiki, downtown Honolulu, Ala Moana Center, and the University of Hawaii, then stretching out to the North Shore, the Windward Coast, and West Oahu.
Skyline is Oahu’s new elevated rail line, fully automated with no driver on board. It currently runs from East Kapolei to Kalihi Transit Center — 13 stations, including a stop right at the airport — with six more stations under construction toward Chinatown, Downtown, and Civic Center. The line isn’t finished yet: it doesn’t reach Waikiki or Ala Moana, which are a separate, later phase of the project.
TheHandi-Van is the city’s ADA paratransit service — a shared, curb-to-curb ride for people who can’t use fixed-route buses or Skyline, reached after an in-person eligibility interview.
How to pay
Get a HOLO card — it’s the only way to ride Skyline, and it’s the cheaper way to ride TheBus too:
- Buy an Adult HOLO card ($2) at Skyline stations, participating retail stores (ABC Stores in Waikiki sell one preloaded with a day pass — an easy option for visitors), or online at holocard.net (mailed to you, though not to international or hotel addresses).
- Load it with value or a pass, then tap it on the reader every time you board TheBus or pass through a Skyline fare gate. Listen for the ukulele tone or watch for the shaka sign — that’s your confirmation the fare went through.
- Cash still works on TheBus and the Handi-Van — pay the driver exact fare, since they carry no change. Cash does not work on Skyline; you’ll need a HOLO card, available from vending machines at every station.
One quirk worth knowing: on TheBus you only tap when boarding. On Skyline, it’s a real fare-gated system — you tap in and tap out.
There’s no tap-to-pay with a bank card or phone here yet — HOLO says that’s a future feature, not a current one.
Fares
A single tap buys 2 hours of unlimited transfers across TheBus and Skyline (cash fares get no transfer — pay again each time you reboard):
| HOLO fare | Day cap | Month cap | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult | $3.00 | $7.50 | $90.00 |
| Senior (65+) | $1.25 | $3.00 | $20.00 |
| Youth (6–17, or students to 19) | $1.50 | $3.75 | $40.00 |
| TheHandi-Van (eligible riders) | $1.00 | $2.00 | $6.00 |
| Kids 5 & under | Free | — | — |
You don’t have to buy a pass upfront — fare capping means the card just stops charging once you hit the daily or monthly cap. Staying a few days? A 3-Day Pass is $20 and a 7-Day Pass is $45, both loadable onto the same HOLO card. An Adult annual pass is $990.
Getting from the airport
The simplest one-seat ride from Daniel K. Inouye International Airport to Waikiki is the W Line bus, stopping right at the terminals and running via downtown Honolulu, Kakaako, and Ala Moana Center before ending in Waikiki.
- Cost: $3.00 with a HOLO card (2-hour transfer window) or $3.25 cash (no transfer).
- How often: every 10 minutes at peak and every 15 minutes off-peak on weekdays, every 15 minutes on weekends, dropping to every 30 minutes after 7pm every day.
- Late night: Route 42 covers the airport after 10:30pm, though only with one eastbound trip a day toward Waikiki.
If you’re headed to downtown or Chinatown instead, Skyline also stops at the airport (Lelepaua Station) and runs every 10–15 minutes from 4am to 10pm — just note it currently ends at Kalihi Transit Center, so reaching Waikiki this way means transferring to a bus.
Apps to download
- DaBus2 — the official City app for real-time bus tracking.
- Transit — covers both TheBus and Skyline with live arrivals and trip planning; it’s the app the airport itself points visitors to.
- HOLO account at holocard.net — not a phone-tap app yet, but where you register your card, reload it, and watch your fare-cap balance.
When it runs
Skyline runs daily from 4am to 10pm, every 10 minutes until 8:30pm and every 15 minutes after that until 10:30pm (a few additional late trips run but don’t cover the full line).
TheBus frequency varies by route — the routes serving the airport and Waikiki corridor (the W Line) run every 10–15 minutes for most of the day, stretching to every 30 minutes in the evening. Check Transit or thebus.org for a specific route’s schedule.
Accessibility
Every Skyline station has elevators, level boarding with the standard ADA 3-inch platform gap, braille and tactile signage, audio announcements, and priority seating — the system was built to ADA standards from the start. TheBus fleet is wheelchair-accessible with lifts or low floors and stop announcements. Riders who can’t use either can apply for TheHandi-Van, a curb-to-curb, origin-to-destination shared-ride service — eligibility requires an in-person assessment at the Handi-Van Eligibility Center.
Etiquette & local quirks
- Board through the front door — it’s against the rules to board from the rear unless the driver directs you to.
- No food or drink unless it’s in a sealed, spill-proof container, and no smoking — including e-cigarettes — on board or within 20 feet of a stop.
- Beach gear rides free, within limits: a soft boogie board (no fin, sand-free) up to 48”, a golf club or fishing pole in a covered case, a folded stroller, a beach mat shaken clean of sand — all specifically called out in TheBus’s baggage rules, because this is Honolulu.
- Give up the courtesy seats near the front for seniors and riders with disabilities.
- Bikes ride on the front-mounted rack on buses.
Good to know
- Fare evasion is a misdemeanor here, not just a fine — and threatening a bus driver is a Class C felony under state law, so tempers stay in check on board.
- Skyline stations are staffed and camera-monitored, with attendants, security cameras, and emergency phones at every stop.
- If you’re only visiting for a few days, skip the per-ride math: grab an Adult HOLO card preloaded with a day pass from an ABC Store in Waikiki, or load a 3-Day or 7-Day pass once you land.