King Street TheBus Only Lane Coming Soon

The City and County of Honolulu’s Department of Transportation Services will soon be formalizing a new TheBus only lane on King Street. This bus-only lane will utilize the rightmost travel lane on the one-way King Street from Dillingham Boulevard, through downtown, and ending at Punchbowl Street.

As the state’s busiest bus corridor, King Street was chosen to formalize the bus-only lane. King Street’s right lane serves 36 different TheBus routes coming from the Leeward, Central, Windward and North Shore of Oahu. Reducing any delay from congestion on King Street will improve bus service and safety for these routes and riders and reduce bus operation expenses.

“TheBusLane on King Street is another part of the City’s multimodal approach to Complete Streets” says Mayor Kirk Caldwell. “It’s about transportation equity for TheBus riders, all of whom are pedestrians before and after their ride. We want to move more people, not move more single-occupant cars. This dedicated bus lane is another example of providing extra benefits to people who choose to travel on transit.”

New signs and pavement markings including red paint will indicate that the right lane of King Street is for City buses only. Vehicles making right-hand turns will be allowed into the bus only lane to do so. No changes are being made to parking or loading zones.

Installation of the bus only lane is projected to take six to eight weeks (weather permitting), and is scheduled to start Monday, September 28th. The first phase of the project will end at Punchbowl Street. The second phase will reach Alapai Street with a future construction date. Travelers, please be aware of construction along King Street during this time.

For more information on the King Street bus-only lane, please visit http://www.honolulu.gov/completestreets/urbancore