Action Alert Update! (3/15/19)

Let’s Improve the Civic Center Path!

HB857 HD2 as amended, thanks to an outpouring of support the Civic Center Path, will provide for the widening of the Civic Center Path between Richard Street and Punchbowl Street. This is a big turn-around from the bills original language that would have banned bicycling on this important route.

HB857 HD2 is scheduled for a hearing 3/18/19 Monday 2:05pm. Please join us in supporting an improved path! Testify by this Sunday 3/17.

How to Submit Testimony

1. Click here to create an account Hawaii legislator (it only takes a second)
2. Click here for HB857 HD2
3. Select “Submit Testimony”
4. Write your testimony (it doesn’t need to be long) – Thank You for Improving this Important Path!

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Good News Update! (2/28/19)

Good news! HB857, which would ban bicycling on a section of the Civic Center Path, was amended to delete the ban and instead provide funding to widen the makai side path to provide a separate place to bicycle between Punchbowl St and Richards St (see below). Thank you to the 94 of you that submitted written testimony and the 22 that came out to testify in person – your voices were definitely heard!
In terms of process, HB857 is on its way to clearing the House. It then has to make it through the Senate before becoming law. Make sure you’re on the Advocacy Team email HBL.org/AdvocacyTeam to get the latest.

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Old post (see updates above)

Protect the Civic Center Path

Ban bikes from riding on the Civic Center Path that runs between Iolani Palace and the Capitol??? In spite of the fact that this is a crucial part of our bikeway network serving countless bicyclists, that is exactly what HB857 would do.

HB857 – Bicycle and motor scooter traffic prohibited; state capitol area. No person shall operate a bicycle or motor scooter within the state capitol area, specifically the area of Honolulu bounded by Richards, Beretania, Punchbowl, and King Streets that includes the grounds of the Hawaii state capitol and lolani Palace, and the main branch of the Hawaii state library.

HB857 is scheduled for a hearing 2/26/19 Tuesday 2:05pm. Please submit opposing testimony by Monday 2/25! Better yet, come out in person to have more impact.

How to Submit Testimony

1. Click here to create an account Hawaii legislator (it only takes a second)
2. Click here for HB857
3. Select “Submit Testimony”
4. Write your testimony (it doesn’t need to be long) – But ban! Improve it!

Why HB857 is a bad idea

• The Civic Center Path is the primary bikeway that connects Downtown with everything east of Downtown
  • 88 – that is the number of bicyclists using the path in one-hour (we did a count 2/8/19 7:45-8:45am)
• Prohibiting bicycling on the Civic Center Path would do two things:
  • 1. Force people to bike on King St and Beretania St on these sections that have NO bike lanes and a history of safety issues (in the last 10 years the 1-block of King St and Beretania St had 6 and 1 serious bicycle injuries, respectively)
  • 2. Lead to fewer people bicycling = more driving, more congestion, more pollution, more parking problems, etc
• The Oahu Bike Plan includes widening the Civic Center Path as a priority 1 project – the path should be improved, not eliminated for use (see OBP map below).
• We need more safe places for people to bike, not less!

Thank you for being involved! Please get on our Bike Advocacy Team Email List to make sure you receive the latest updates on how to support a bicycle friendly Hawaii.

Pushing to Make it Better

We’ll be urging that the path be improved. Simply adding 6-feet to the existing path (as was done on the Civic Center Path between Punchbowl St and Alapai St) would make work much better for walking and bicycling! And Hawaii Department of Transportation agrees – in the 2/8 hearing they said the path should be improved. Join us in saying – Don’t Ban It! Improve It!

Update from 2/8 hearing

The Transportation Committee passed HB857 at their 2/8/19 hearing. Thank you to the 41 of you that submitted testimony in opposition – this was definitely heard. While acknowledging the testimony in opposition and concern, the committee elected to move the bill forward to “continue the conversation”. Despite the fact that no bike-pedestrian injuries have been recorded on this section of the Civic Center Path, committee members said that had heard of close calls and that they’d like to see safety improvements. HBL, Hawaii DOT, and many others testified that if the desire is to make the path more comfortable for walking and biking that the solution is to widen it (for which there is ample space). We’ll be working hard to make sure this bill doesn’t advance as written and instead encouraging action to widen/improve the path. Please make sure you’re on our Bike Advocacy Team email list to get the latest on when testimony is needed.

How do we get more people bicycling and make it safer to cycle?

The 5Es – engineering (infrastructure), education, enforcement, encouragement, and evaluation (to make sure it’s working & to make adjustments) – all play a key and inter-related role.

At HBL, we push for a network of bikeways to provide dedicated places for people to ride, we advocate for laws that will help keep our streets safe for all, we educate bicyclists and motorists on how to safely share our roads, we hold events to get people out feeling comfortable and confident cycling, and we support enforcement focused on making bicyclists, motorists, pedestrians, and everyone safer. All these items have a crucial role to play if we are going to make Hawaii truly bicycle friendly. So when we had the opportunity to have Peter Flucke, a bicycle safety and enforcement expert, conduct a training with HPD we jumped on it.

Enforcement Focused on Safety

Mr. Flucke (WE BIKE etc) conducted a 3-hour training – “A Law Officer’s Good Practices Guide to Bicycle Safety and Enforcement” – with HPD covering driver and bicyclists violations that contribute to bicycle injuries and fatalities and how to use focused enforcement to address these. At the core of Mr. Flucke’s training is something the idea, one we’ve been working hard to make the common understanding, that traffic crashes are preventable instead of being unpreventable “accidents”. With this starting point, (according Mr. Flucke) here are the main motorist and bicyclist violations that contribute to bicycle crashes, injuries, and fatalities:

Motorist

• Speed
• Failure to yield right of right-of-way
• Disregard signs and signals
• Turning and backing
• School zone congestion
• Alcohol/drugs

Bicyclist

• Wrong way riding
• Disregard signs and signals
• Failure to yield right-of-way
• No lights at night

Focusing enforcement on these main violations that contribute to crashes and injuries and fatalities is key to having the greatest impact in making our streets safer.

Enforcing our 3 Foot Safe Passing Law

The training also included a section on how to enforce our new 3 Foot Safe Passing law. Mr. Flucke brought with him a C3FT device – which measures precisely the distance between bike and passing vehicle and can be effectively used to enforce the Safe Passing 3 Foot law. See video demonstrating the C3FT device. As part of our Safe Passing 3 Foot law implementation campaign, HBL will be working to get this tool in the hands of HPD

Partnering for Safer Streets

The training was made possible by HBL and is part our ongoing efforts to partner with HPD to make our streets safer.