After nearly two years of service as a water-borne commuting option for West O'ahu residents, TheBoat will make its final trips on Tuesday.

The demonstration project has been operating between Kalaeloa Harbor and Aloha Tower during peak traffic hours since September 2007.

The project costs $5 million a year and has served an average of 270 passengers per day. With City Council members threatening to delete it from the budget as a cost-cutting move, the Hannemann administration last month announced it was scuttling the project.

Mayor Mufi Hannemann yesterday said in a release that he is not ruling out a return of TheBoat if the city can secure a terminal in 'Ewa.

Supporters and opponents agreed that ridership would have been higher if the city had been allowed to use the harbor at Iroquois Point in 'Ewa Beach. But the Navy would not give clearance for it, as it had for a previous commuter shuttle pilot project.