Protected Bike Lane meeting

Tuesday 9/1  6pm at Blaisdell Center, Hawaii Suite

Eight months after opening the King Street protected bike lanes experience has been overwhelmingly positive. As of June, cycling rates were up 79% (from 381 to 720 in a 12 hour count). People bicycling on the sidewalk had decreased from 70% to 9%.

With the King Street protected bike lane, Honolulu joined 70 other American cities embracing protected bike lane design in use in Europe for decades. The real power in protected bike lanes is that they make bicycling accessible to the masses. National surveys have found around two-thirds of people would like to bicycle more, but need bikeways protected from cars to feel comfortable cycling. HBL’s survey of bicyclists and potential bicyclists on Oahu found that 77% preferred protected bike lanes or bike paths.

The King Street protected bike lane is just the start of a network needed to truly make cycling accessible. A Minimum Grid of protected bike lanes that bring one within a half-mile of everyone in Honolulu and one-mile of everyone in urbanized Oahu is needed to make cycling safe, convenient, and accessible.

The opportunity to transform Honolulu shouldn’t be understated. Starting in 2009, Washington DC started investing big in protected bike lanes, working to build a network. In the four subsequent years cycling rates increased from 2.5% to 5% of commute trips. This is a long way from the 45% bicycle rate of Copenhagen, but it’s headed in the right direction.

The City knows that we need a Minimum Grid of protected bike lanes and will be revealing their plans to begin building this network at a September 1, 2015 public meeting. A key part of this is the City’s commitment to construct at least one new protected bike lane each year in 2015 and 2016.

Come to the Tuesday 9/1/15 6:00pm meeting at Neil S. Blaisdell Center, Hawaii Suite to show your support for the implementation a Minimum Grid of protected bike lanes that will make cycling truly accessible to all. 

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Big changes are in the works on Oahu. The Rail. Transit-Oriented Development. A Bikeway Network.

On September 10, 5:00-7:30pm at Kakaako Agora (441 Cooke St.) come for a HBL hosted discussion on all the work that’s being done to make sure these work together with the people that are making it happen. RSVP online or via Facebook.

The full 20-mile Honolulu rail system is scheduled to open in 2019, linking East Kapolei to Ala Moana Center. The rail will not only bring about a new means of getting around, but will reshape our communities away from the car-centric and towards the people-centric. In order to facilitate this transformation, Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) plans for neighborhoods surrounding the system’s 21 stations have been created and will shape development in these areas. The City is also focusing on implementing improvements for people who bike in these TOD neighborhoods with a focus on protected bike lanes.

Bicycling will play a big role in transforming mobility on Oahu. Bicycling, the rail, and TOD will work in tandem to make get more people on the rail and on bikes. Every rail trip will be multi-modal, many will walk half or even more than a mile to get to stations, but bikes will allow those that live further away to use the system. Compact TOD communities will be well-suited for bicycling. This is a recipe that has been used by forward thinking cities around the globe. Vancouver has implemented it particularly effectively and percentage of trips made by walking, bicycling, and transit recently passed 50%. 

It’s our time on Oahu now to get the rail system, TOD, and bikes working together. If we do it right, the result will be more people bicycling, more people taking transit, more transportation choices for less money spent, healthier lives, and more liveable communities.

Be part of the conversation at the 9/10/15 talk hosted by HBL with speakers Mark Garrity – City Department of Transportation Service Deputy Director, Harrison Rue – City TOD Administrator, Ryan Tam – HART Planning Manager, John White – Pacific Resource Partnership Executive Director for a conversation moderated by Daniel Alexander – HBL Advocacy Director. Read speaker bios here. 

RSVP online or via Facebook.

HBL is working to advocate for bicycle infrastructure to the rail stations, bike parking at the stations, bikes on the rail, and bikes as a central part of TOD. Get involved in this work to make our voice stronger. Join our Bike Advocacy Team.