Betting on bicycles

Harrison Rue is administrator of the city’s transit-oriented development (TOD) program, helping to direct the way the city intersects — and how all the other transit modes connect — with the rail project.

But years ahead of the tracks, one of those modes, cycling, is enjoying a raised profile with the addition of a protected bike lane down King Street, so Rue has been focused on that old-school form of transportation. The cycle track is, officials have said, a significant step in Honolulu’s evolution into a more bike-friendly city, but it’s anything but clear exactly how the city gets to that brave new world from here.

Rue is feeling positive about that step, all the same.

"We’re pretty convinced it is going to work," he added, "but it is a pilot, to be cautious."

Honolulu is a bit late to the bikeways scene compared to many cities increasingly lined with dedicated cycling lanes. It is part of a movement toward treating streets and roads more like public spaces to be shared.

It’s a global movement. At a recent TOD conference, the city hosted Gil Penalosa, who has the idealized vision clearly in mind. He is executive director of 8-80 Cities, a Canadian nonprofit dedicated to making cities welcoming to all ages, whether they’re cycling, walking or driving.

"What if everything you did in Honolulu’s public spaces is great, for an 8- and an 80-year-old?" he asked, explaining the philosophy behind his organization’s name. "Then it would be good for everyone."

But there’s reason to worry that realizing that vision is tough. Last month in Los Angeles County, home to 120 miles of lanes installed in the past five years, hit-and-run collisions between cars and bikes surged 42 percent. That doesn’t seem illustrative of a city where the road is being shared nicely.

And here in the islands, some Honolulu drivers are not radiating happiness about the city’s new track. It’s only 2 miles long, separated from vehicular traffic by a painted asphalt berm and a buffer zone.

One critic is Bob Vieira, whose real-estate work and visits to the doctor at Straub Clinic bring him down King a lot. He echoed the refrain voiced by many. This, critics maintain, is simply too hazardous to stand.

And although enthusiasts point to an increase in ridership, the counterargument is that cyclist counts can be very low at times. On one trip down the length of King Street, Vieira counted one cyclist in the track and one on the sidewalk. But safety is his main concern.

"It’s just mind-boggling," he added, in a phone interview last week. "They’re blind to the fact that this is an accident waiting to happen. … It’s crazy. It’s nuts."

Rue was preparing for that critique for months before the cycle track. Any change takes some getting used to, he said, but Honolulu can adjust, as other cities have.

"Just observing: Hawaii has never liked to watch other cities — ‘Nothing will ever work here that worked anywhere else.’

"But we’re the 58th city to install," Rue said. "So, 57 other cities have tried this, and it works pretty much everywhere."

The cycle track, which takes up the far left lane between Alapai and Isenberg streets, is the central spine in what officials hope will develop into a skeletal bike network in the urban core. The pilot project, which was preceded by a round of community forums, will be evaluated over the course of two years.

The track is one-way for now, said Georgette Deemer, the city’s deputy managing director, but it can become two-way in a few six months. That’s when specialized traffic signals will arrive; once installed, they will alert Ewa-bound bikers to the traffic cycles and signals aimed at King Street motorists.

City officials have said placing the track on the far right was considered, but that would have created conflicts at city bus stops. They also have pointed out that, although drivers like Vieira have argued for a more conventional, narrow bike lane, the city strongly favored a lane insulated from traffic that was wide enough for two-way cycling.

The reason: The Ewa-bound lane would provide safer transit for westbound cyclists than Beretania Street, which is too narrow in sections to accommodate a bike lane, said city spokesman Jesse Broder Van Dyke.

He acknowledged that there are cyclists jumping the gun and riding against traffic already, but said the city administration’s aim for police enforcement is directed more at cyclists who still ride on King Street sidewalks.

Rue said the city is looking at mauka-makai routes for cyclists, too. Pensacola and Piikoi streets are certainly wide enough for bike lanes, and other possible connectors include McCully and Keeaumoku streets, he said.

Cycling advocates, including members of the Hawaii Bicycling League, are bullish on prospects for growing the community of active bikers because of the new track. Ultimately, said Daniel Alexander, who heads the league advocacy and planning, it’s safer for everyone on the road to have a well-established corridor for bikers.

"One advantage is the concentration of cyclist in a predicted space," he said. "They’ll be off the sidewalk and off the other parts of the roadway. They (drivers) will know: This is where cyclists are."

On the safety issue, league President Chad Taniguchi said he saw the stories about L.A. hit-and-runs but, with a lot of the counterresearch at his fingertips, stressed that this has to be viewed in context.

"California bicycling rate increased by 60 percent over the last seven years, so you would get more deaths," he said. "California has the highest number of bike commuters in the country but the rate of fatalities is not the highest in the country."

Some of the complaints about the cycle track involve features that are there by design. Having a parking lane separating a two-way bike lane more effectively insulates it from traffic, in the same way raising it off the ground would, according to the National Association of City Transportation Officials.

This doesn’t make the naysayers feel any better just now. The City Council representative for the district, Ann Kobayashi, said she remains supportive of the track but is hearing complaints from some constituents.

Some are especially worried that when the lane goes two-way, drivers exiting driveways onto one-way King Street will need to be retrained to look both ways, rather than just look right, Kobayashi said.

"Once everyone’s accustomed to it, it will get better," she said.

There are signs up in crosswalks, pointing out that cars must yield to cyclists before crossing the track in a left turn. But signs are never sufficient, and even the advocates admit that the bikers can’t assume the right-of-way will be yielded at all times.

Everyone agrees on the need for caution, and public education. The league is conducting cycle-track classes, posted on its website (hbl.org), but some observers underscore that outreach will need to go wider than that.

One day on Week One, Broder Van Dyke, a cyclist himself, noticed that there was a line of five or six cars approaching the Ward Avenue intersection, their drivers patiently waiting for traffic to move. They evidently didn’t know about the track and didn’t realize that these were parked cars — now one lane over from the curb — and were not going anywhere, he said.

There will be tweaks made to the configuration, he said: The no-parking hours may be extended or contracted as needed, for example, to allow better traffic flow.

Vieira suggested that if the lane is there for good, the city should just eliminate all parking on the left side. The main problem with the parking lane is the passengers either have to exit into the bike lane or step out on the side with cars — into traffic that’s even busier, he said, now that the corridor has been compressed.

Cycle tracks may have worked in other cities, he said, but not in places with Honolulu’s narrow bands of congestion.

"I’m all for bike lanes in smaller dimensions, I’m all for Complete Streets," he said, referring to the city’s policy to make allowances for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists where it’s possible in roadway improvements.

"But to put the bicyclist ahead of safety," he said, "is not the way the city should be going."

ENLARGE CHART

NEW RULES OF THE ROAD
The city opened the King Street Cycle Track on Dec. 6. Bicycle traffic in special green lanes are marked for one-way travel, but eventually will be modified to allow two-way cycling.

IF YOU ARE WALKING 

1. Don’t block, walk or stand in the cycle track. 

2. You may walk across the cycle track to get to your car. 

3. Watch for people on bicycles before crossing the cycle track, even if you have the right of way. Look both ways.

IF YOU ARE DRIVING

4. Watch for people on bicycles before opening your door. No loading or unloading in track areas.

5. When turning, yield to people walking and bicycling. Use signals to make your intentions known.

6. On side streets, cyclists may be queued at the light.

7. When exiting/entering driveways, look both ways. Cyclists may be approaching from either direction.

IF YOU ARE BICYCLING

8. Watch for pedestrians and people exiting their cars.

9. Watch for crossing vehicle traffic at intersections, even if you have the right of way.

10. Give audible signals when passing. Pass only on the left.

11. To turn in a makai direction at an intersection, turn into the mauka-bound lane of the cross street and make a U-turn when safe. Proceed across the intersection when the light turns green.