Pearl Harbor Transportation Depot
The Pearl Harbor Transportation Depot is located within the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center, mountainside, between the Pearl Harbor Education Building and the entrance to the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum. The National Park Service oversees the operation, but the service is paid for by the Battleship USS Missouri and Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum. Since the Battleship Missouri pays 2/3 of the Fort Island Shuttle cost, the routing stops at their destination first. Thus, the route is the Visitor Center to the Battleship Missouri to Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum and back to the Visitor Center. Motorcoaches can accommodate 60 passengers and leave every 15 minutes, from 8 am to 5 pm.
The Shuttle is equipped to handle wheelchair passengers, and baby strollers can be stored in the vehicle’s luggage compartment. There is a covered passenger holding area at the Bus Depot, and passengers must show their tickets for either the Missouri battleship or Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum before boarding. If you only have reservations, visitors should first check in at the Pearl Harbor Historic Sites desk, located in the courtyard of the Visitor Center. In boarding the motorcoach, the first two seats are reserved for slow walkers; we suggest you try and sit up front on the vehicle so you can be the first off and the first to get to the check-in entrance area.
Across the street from the entrance of the Battleship Missouri is the battleship USS Oklahoma Memorial. A stop at the battleship USS Oklahoma Memorial is included with your ticket if you have paid for a battleship USS Missouri or Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum tour; if not, you should pay a nominal transportation fee of $3.00 per person where the USS Missouri tickets are sold.
Launched on May 16, 1916, the battleship USS Oklahoma was the 37th battleship built by the United States. On Dec 7th, she capsized after the first Japanese torpedo hit her broadside. The battleship USS Oklahoma had the second-highest casualties of the attack.
The battleship USS Oklahoma Memorial consists of 429 seven-foot high, white standards, each with the sailor’s name and rank. The black granite symbolizes the ship’s hull, and the white standards are the sailor coming home for the last time. Viewing the Memorial, you cannot help but get emotional seeing the hundreds upon hundreds of white bars, each representing a lost American.
The Ford Island Bus Depot is in a secured area, so there are no future security checkpoints. You can bring bags of merchandise you bought from the battleship USS Arizona Memorial Museum Store or the USS Bowfin gift store. However, the Military has a strict policy of no picture taking on your bus ride to your destination; once you get to the Battleship Missouri or the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum, you can take all the photos you want with a regular camera or phone.
Even though you did not purchase your ticket to the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum in advance, passengers can get off the Shuttle and pay the fee at their front desk. This is a great destination, with two vast hangers of US military aircraft and helicopters from WWII, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Gulf Wars. It also has the best restaurant at Pearl Harbor to have lunch.
Security on Ford Island is provided by the Navy Military Police and not the National Park Service; please know that you cannot bring a high-powered, long-lens camera to Fort Island, and you cannot wander away from the Battleship Missouri, battleship USS Oklahoma Memorial, or the Aviation Museum. The Military police are everywhere, and they do not want civilians walking in secured zones or their military housing areas.
During the holidays and peak summer period, the bus Depot can get very congested, and waiting lines can be very long. So, if you have a scheduled tour time at the Missouri battleship or Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum, you may want to monitor the waiting line at the Bus Depot. On many days, the wait time can be 30 to 45 minutes to get on the motorcoach. Then the ride to battleship USS Missouri will take about 10 minutes. Passengers will disembark, and others will board before the motorcoach departs for the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum, which is about 5 minutes away. Again, passengers will leave and board, and then the last segment of the shuttle returns to the Visitor Center and will arrive in about 15 minutes.
Military personnel with valid IDs do not have to take the shuttle and can drive to Ford Island after a brief stop at the Security checkpoint at the Ford Island Bridge. These individuals can also visit the battleship USS Utah Memorial if time permits. Unfortunately, the Ford Island Shuttle cannot take visitors to the battleship USS Utah Memorial because it is located in a restricted Navy Housing area.
