Efforts to make Oahu bicycle friendly behind schedule, despite popular support

Several years ago, I asked a prominent traffic expert about the role of bicycle commuting in reducing traffic congestion in Honolulu.

I was told it wasn’t very probable that Honolulu would get above a 1 percent to 2 percent bicycle commuting rate.

Then Oahu voters passed Charter Amendment 8 by an overwhelming majority, mandating that the city director of transportation services make it a priority of the DTS to make Honolulu a pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly city.

Shortly thereafter, 30 out of 33 neighborhood boards along with the Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization and City Council supported the Bicycle Safety Resolution. Complete Streets, a policy that requires planners and designers to consider all roadway users, was enacted at the state level in 2009, and the City Council recently passed a bill that would implement this policy on a county level.

The state Legislature also passed a bill that would set up a statewide Safe Routes to School fund and program that will be implemented at the county level.

Time and time again, we have seen support for improving the environment for bicyclists and pedestrians. Noticeable improvement, however, has lagged, as evidenced by our minuscule spending on bike facilities at both the state and county levels and continued struggle to educate motorists, bicyclists, pedestrians and even police officers about the rights and responsibilities of bicyclists and pedestrians.

The Oahu Master Bike Plan is 21⁄2 years past due. The state has yet to award several million dollars in federal Safe Routes to School grants. And the Leeward Bike Path, which was scheduled for completion in 2003, has yet to even be started, among other things.

With this information in mind, and the fact that other places around the world have much higher bicycle commuting rates (nine places in Europe are over 33 percent), the Hawaii Safe Routes to School Challenge was issued earlier this year. Parents and others were invited to pick a school, pick a route (walkable or bikeable) and pick up kids along that route the fourth Wednesday of every month.

The challenge culminated in a special Bike to School Day on May 15. Honolulu Waldorf School took that challenge by the horns and set an aggressive goal of 50 percent participation for that day — and with a participation rate of 58 percent of the student body, the students, parents and teachers showed that using non-motorized transportation can be fun and make a positive impact. While students walked with friends or teachers to school, they were able to socialize and get exercise at the same time, and they arrived at school ready to learn. Physical activity is positively related to academic performance in children, as noted in the January edition of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. In the 1960s, approximately 50 percent of children in the U.S. biked or walked to school. In 2009, that number was about 13 percent.

With problems of obesity, low academic performance and school bus funding looming over our heads, we must be aggressive in our approach and change course. We must make it more convenient and safer for children and people of all ages to use non-motorized methods of transportation.

Learn more about the Safe Routes to School program, and bike or walk to school with a child.