Increasing Access to Bike Share on Hawai‘i Island

To encourage bike share among Hawai‘i island residents, PATH is hosting learn to ride programming.

Journey to Hawai‘i Island, or the “Big Island,” and you’ll find a range of climates, from humid tropical rainforest climate in the east to drier and sunnier climates on the western side. People for Active Transportation Hawai‘i (PATH) works on both sides of the island to promote equitable transportation in the island’s major cities, Hilo and Kailua-Kona, through its HIBIKE Bikeshare program. 

To continue their efforts to educate new riders about bike share on Hawai‘i Island, HIBIKE Bikeshare applied for a BBSP mini-grant earlier this year and was awarded a grant to host classes in Kilo and Kailua-Kona. Kelly Hudik, Chief Operations Officer at PATH, learned from their programming last year that many participants are new or returning riders.

“I assumed that the people who signed up for the class were riders, and they weren’t at all,” says Hudik. “So that was one of the things I learned— to be more mindful that a lot of these people either haven’t been on a bike in four or five years, or longer, and are just not really comfortable on the bikes yet.”

PATH hosted two Learn to Ride classes. The first ride in Kona partnered with Ulu Wini, a low-income public housing complex, and the Hawai‘i Island Community Health Center. For the upcoming second ride, PATH aimed to make the class in Kilo more accessible to a wider audience through an adaptive program. PATH partnered with a Recreation Specialist at the Department of Parks & Recreation, who creates programming for adults with physical or developmental disabilities, to select participants who can participate in the program. Although the system does not have an adaptive fleet, Hudik hopes this ride will at least expose those with adaptive needs to bike share and bike safety, with a more tailored walk-through on how to sign up for HIBIKE. 

“The groups we’ve had in class aren’t necessarily going to walk up and just try HIBIKE on their own, says Hudik. “Giving them the opportunity to do it through this class has been a great way to encourage them to use the bikes.”

Class begins with an introduction to HIBIKE, followed by a bike safety lesson on bike hand signals and rules of the road. Classes are led by Hudik and program director Paul Burke, who does HIBIKE’s bike education programs for kids. Then, everyone hopped on a bike. Hudik talked through how to check the bikes to make sure they’re safe, checking the air brakes and the chains before embarking on the group ride. At the end of the program, each rider receives a free monthly pass for HIBIKE.

“We did about a half-mile ride, and then I would stop and give them some additional bike safety,” says Hudik. “I feel like people who don’t usually ride bikes, who are primarily drivers, if they’re more aware of how to be safe on a bike, they’re also going to be more aware of where bikes are supposed to be on the road when they’re driving, so it makes them safer drivers with bikes, as well as safer bikers.”

PATH and the County of Hawa‘ii Mass Transit Agency continue to partner to provide free first- and last-mile connections. Hele-On Bus riders get unlimited HIBIKE rides lasting 30 minutes or less for 24 hours when they ask their bus driver.

Hudik hopes to continue encouraging Hawai‘i island residents to both complete their daily errands and enjoy the weather the island has to offer. In addition, she continues to educate new riders about the partnership with Hele-On Bus, as the only shared micromobility system in the state that offers this first- and last-mile connection with transit.