Hearing concerns, city to relocate newly opened Chinatown bus stop

News admin June 24, 2026 0 Comments

Hearing concerns, city to relocate newly opened Chinatown bus stop

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – City transportation leaders plan to move a Chinatown bus stop that was installed just three weeks ago.

The stop on Maunakea Street opened May 31 for Route 151, but nearby businesses raised concerns, saying the area had long served as a loading zone.

“Chinatown parking is already so limited, especially for all the merchants and all the businesses,” Alex Lau of Cindy’s Lei Shoppe said. “There were three loading zone stalls here and it plays such a big role.”

“Basically what it does is it allows everybody in Chinatown to get access to the W line, which means they can get to Waikiki, or they can get to Skyline or to the airport,” said city Department of Transportation Services Director Jon Nouchi.

Shop owners said the change quickly created problems for deliveries and short-term customers.

“A lot of these produce people, they’re trying to unload and they couldn’t, right? I mean HPD was telling them to move. The buses were coming down,” Lau said.

In response, DTS leaders and elected officials are now working to relocate the stop to North Hotel Street, which is already a bus-only lane.

“We have pretty decent ridership using that bus stop, but we can still do that from the Hotel Street site instead of the Maunakea Street site,” Nouchi said.

Nouchi said the city needs time to rework the route, confirm space requirements and repaint the curb, but the change is welcome news for Chinatown regulars.

“They listened to us and I mean, jeez. They reacted so fast. They came down the next day even, we talked to the mayor,” Lau said. “We’re very fortunate that people will listen to the community.”

DTS said it expects to temporarily move the stop within two weeks while coordinating long-term plans for a permanent relocation.