Bikeshare Hawaii, a nonprofit that will work to establish a bike-sharing transportation system on Oahu, is under new leadership.
The organization has named Lori McCarney as chief executive officer and Ben Trevino as president and chief operating officer for a system that would provide an alternative to residents and visitors who use vehicles to drive short distances.
"Five- to 10-minute car trips, we want to eliminate that," said McCarney. "It would be easier and more efficient to use a bike to commute to places a short distance away instead of using a vehicle where a driver would have to exit a parking garage, sit in traffic and look for parking."
Along with alleviating traffic, the organization says a bike-sharing transportation system also promotes a healthy lifestyle. Riding a bicycle can burn approximately 40 calories for every mile traveled, and it also helps reduce levels of stress and depression.
Fewer cars on the roadways would reduce carbon emissions, Bikeshare Hawaii says.
"We’re not the solution to one thing," said McCarney. "We’re part of the solution to many things."
Bike-sharing is rapidly growing around the world as well as in major cities across the country such as New York, Washington, San Francisco and Minneapolis-St. Paul. According to a study, Honolulu is one of the nation’s 10 most popular destinations but the only one without bike-sharing.
The system will help make Honolulu more desirable for people to work, live and visit, advocates argue.
It has been supported by both Gov. Neil Abercrombie and Mayor Kirk Caldwell as well as organizations and institutions like the Ulupono Initiative and Hawaii Pacific University.
The bike-share program for Oahu would be similar to the pilot project launched in Kailua in 2011.
Bikeshare Hawaii plans to select a vendor by next summer and launch the system with 200 bike-docking stations and 2,000 bikes in early 2016.
Target areas for the docking stations include downtown Honolulu, Kakaako, Ala Moana, Waikiki and the University of Hawaii-Manoa campus.
McCarney, an avid cyclist and triathlete who also serves as board chairwoman of the Blood Bank of Hawaii and communications chairwoman for the Kapiolani Health Foundation, said being involved in establishing the bike-share system on Oahu combines her passion for cycling and helping the community.
For the past eight years, Trevino, who serves on the board for Common Cause Hawaii, said he regularly has used his bicycle to commute on Oahu. If the bike-share system is implemented in the right way, it’s going to encourage the city to install more docking stations, he added.
The system would complement the upcoming rail transit system as well as a bike track on King Street that is slated to open to the public during the first week of December.
The King Street Cycle Track, a two-year city pilot project, will run from Alapai to Isenberg streets. If the project is successful, the city plans to create more bike tracks in other communities in Honolulu.
If the bike-share program also proves successful on Oahu, the group will expand it to the neighbor islands.
For more information about the bike-share system, go to bikesharehawaii.org.
