New shuttle brings ‘a lot of love’ to businesses impacted by Kona lows

News admin July 3, 2026 0 Comments

New shuttle brings ‘a lot of love’ to businesses impacted by Kona lows

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – As merchants on Oahu’s North Shore continue to recoup losses from March’s Kona low storms, relief is coming their way in the form of foot traffic.

The Hawaiian Council launched a new shuttle this week, transporting dozens of tourists from Waikiki and Ko Olina to Waialua and Haleiwa, aiming to infuse money into area businesses recovering from the tragedies.

“I just see a lot of love and support coming in for the businesses that actually have taken losses due to the Kona lows,” Hawaiian Council representative Denise Matsuura shared.

Named the North Shore Huakaʻi (“trip” in Hawaiian), the two buses have been bringing more visitors from around the world to the hard-hit community, but not many more vehicles, as a carpool option.

“We have limited parking here, so it’s good. It’s good and everyone’s safe, everyone gets here and mills around for an hour and goes to all the different businesses,” said North Shore Soap Factory owner Debora Driscoll, one of the 50 business owners participating in the program.

The council’s hope is to boost businesses, but not exacerbate existing traffic troubles in the area, which recovering residents and merchants have been asking for.

Some passengers, including Charlie Smith of Texas, prefer the shuttle experience over driving a rental car because of Matsuura’s commentary onboard, sharing the history of the area, as well as updates on recovery efforts.

“We saw some of the results of that storm and it was rather devastating. I’m really happy to be able to come out here and spend a little bit of our money and meet some of the people, which I think, is more important,” Smith said.

The introductions are even more important to business owners like Driscoll.

“This is really nice, having a whole mix of people coming to the North Shore and come to the Waialua Sugar Mill where we’re generally off the beaten path, so it’s really nice,” Driscoll said.

Matsuura added, “People are reaching out. Businesses are reaching out saying they really want to be a part of it, so we are making sure that we involve everybody.”

Any business owners interested in joining the program can seek help from Matsuura at the Waialua Recovery Center at the Waialua Court House from Monday through Saturday.