HALAWA, Hawaii (KHON2) -- The second segment of Rail is less than six months away from opening to the public if all goes according to plan. Service will extend to Middle Street and open up access to a couple of important job centers. Audit reveals Honolulu rail system falls short of rider ship goals Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi said in March that he expects the second segment of Rail to open by Wednesday, Oct. 1. Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transit (HART) executive director Lori Kahikina has grown used to his deadlines. "Mayor, I kept saying end of the year, end of the year, to open. But in his State of the City address, he wanted to put a date. So he said Oct. 1," Kahikina said. "But if something comes up, we're not going to cut corners, we're not going to compromise safety." Kahikina is still confident that Segment 2 will open in October, HART is currently going through testing and said trial runs will begin in July. The Department of Transportation Services -- which will take over after trial runs -- said they will shift bus routes to make riding the Rail more competitive with driving a car. Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news "Right now, it's not really competitive. The car's still faster because we have to deal with all that traffic from stadium into town. But as we get the system closer and closer to town, then we're going to be able to take advantage and we're really putting a lot of effort on and making it a speedy as possible," said DTS director Roger Morton. Morton said ridership numbers for Rail's first segment were a bit under expectations, but he is hopeful that opening access to job centers like Pearl Harbor and the Airport will help boost those figures. "Those are really not there in our first segment. We don't have a lot of employment centers that is easily served by mass transportation. But going forward, we're going to have those. So I'm very confident that our ridership is going to go up significantly," Morton said. Daily riders of Rail told KHON2 that they have gotten used to sitting next to an empty seat, but they would be happy to trade the extra room for a transit system that is more effective. Check out more news from around Hawaii "That's going to bring a lot of tourism, a lot of jobs, a lot of different activities. I mean, like when the only time I see the rail being utilized is when there's no school," said Chinatown resident Helen Reedy. Four new stations will open when Rail's next segment goes live, click here for more information. ...read more read less