The restriction was put in place in August by Maui Circuit Judge Joel August to address worries about congestion at one of the island's busiest intersections. The two-vehicles-per-minute rule was opposed by ferry and state officials because it might cause lengthy delays for arriving passengers and could perhaps interfere with the high-speed catamaran's turnaround time.

When the company's 350-foot catamaran, Alakai, came to Maui on Aug. 27 — the last time it sailed to Kahului — it took 55 minutes to get the nearly 90 disembarking vehicles onto public roads instead of the 20 minutes predicted by ferry officials.

August today said he would drop the rule, ordering the state Department of Transportation instead to provide three trained personnel to manage the traffic flow based "on real-time conditions." The 350-foot vessel is due to resume Maui service Dec. 1. The ferry will depart Honolulu at 6:30 a.m. and arrive at Kahului Harbor three hours later.

The departure time back to Honolulu is 11 a.m.

The court case over the ferry's potential traffic impacts was initiated by the Maui Tomorrow Foundation, the Kahului Harbor Coalition and Friends of Haleakala National Park, who disputed an environmental assessment of a group of projects contained in the DOT's Kahului Harbor Master Plan 2025. One of the projects already completed is a bridge over a drainage canal that will be used by vehicles going to and from the ferry.