Bikes and Scooters in Honolulu

Biki station, Kaka'ako, Hawaii

Maybe you're coming to Hawaii and planning on staying in Honolulu. You want to check out Waikiki, of course, and you think, everything's right here, we don't need a car.

Well, you do. If you want to go Diamond Head or Turtle Beach or Makapu'u Lighthouse, and you don't want to be crammed into a tiny van with the rest of sunburned humanity on a tour, you'll need a car. 

But, if you're just bumming on the beach for a couple days or don't plan to leave the resort, maybe you think you'll just bike around.

Honolulu is a relatively safe city for biking. There are a few dedicated bike lanes next to the lanes for traffic, but for the most part, you'll be riding in the same lanes as cars. So, wear a helmet. And, I prefer to stay away from the busiest streets.

Another Biki station in Kaka'ako, Hawaii

If you want to rent a bike, I'd suggest Biki. They have 100 locations around the city where you can rent a bike with your credit card. It's $3.50 a ride, but they also have monthly passes. Biki is very popular, the one by my house has space for twenty bikes and during the day, most of them are rented.

Lime scooters parked on the sidewalk, Kaka'ako, Hawaii

Another company, Lime, just started operating their scooter rental company in Honolulu, but ran into some legal issues. The city says Lime does not have legal permission to operate and some residents and business owners are complaining because there are no docks for the scooters. Users just leave them anywhere when they finish a trip which has led to complaints of the scooters obstructing doorways, sidewalks, and roadways. One scooter was even fished out of the canal.

As I was listening to the excellent 99% Invisible podcast (Episode 308 "Curb Cuts"), another issue came to my attention. Not only are these scooters a nuisance for people walking on the sidewalk and for business owners who find the scooters blocking their entrances, but also for people in wheelchairs. You might know that the heroine of my novel "Truffle Hunt" is a paraplegic who uses a wheelchair to get around. When scooters or other objects block the sidewalk, these individuals can't walk around them like able-bodied folks, it creates a real access issue.  

Lime says their employees pick up the scooters every night, charge them (they're battery operated) and set them out the next morning. All this didn't sit well with the city who classified Lime's scooters as mopeds, meaning Lime needed licensing from the city to operate. As of now, Lime has suspended service in Honolulu and I haven't seen any scooters on the street for a couple weeks.
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