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Bikeshare Hawaii Receives National Grant Award to Expand Biki Outreach Efforts
We're excited to announce that Bikeshare Hawaii was a recipient of a nationally competitive mini-grant funded by the Better Bike Share Partnership! This grant will help us continue to increase the accessibility of Biki by expanding our reach and communication with residents of public and affordable housing, as well as public high school students.
Bikeshare Hawaii’s mission is to provide the public with high quality, convenient, reliable and affordable Bikeshare services that enhance community health and livability, strengthen our public transportation system, and connect people to more places where they live work and play throughout Hawaii nei.
How can we best achieve this? By asking, listening to, and learning from Honolulu residents! In 2019, we’re making it a priority to spend more face to face time with the community and this grant will serve as a step to achieve this. It’s important to us to demystify the concept and technology of bikeshare for those that have walked by our 130+ Biki Stops, or seen someone on one of our 1.4 million trips to date, but haven’t been able to try it out yet, or aren't aware of the affordable resident membership options available.
From past programs and community feedback, we believe there are a few keys ways to help those who may be unfamiliar with bikeshare to get more comfortable on a Biki:
- Review the rights and responsibilities of cyclists, safety tips and applicable laws.
- Get a hands-on tutorial of the bike, the Biki App and Biki Stop.
- Hear true experiences and testimonials about how resident Biki riders save time, save money, exercise more, and have more fun getting from A to B.
- And of course, to actually go for a ride and experience Biki firsthand.
The Better Bike Share Partnership is a collaboration funded by The JPB Foundation to build equitable and replicable bike share systems. The partners include The City of Philadelphia, Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) and the PeopleForBikes Foundation. Initially funded in 2014 for a three-year period, The JPB Foundation renewed funding in 2017 for an additional two years.
How are we increasing this access?
In 2018, we partnered with AARP to offer more than 100 Honolulu residents aged 50+ the opportunity to get back on a bike after 1, 10, and even 30 years. The popular program was a great success thanks to support from Blue Zones Project 4M and Hawaii Bicycling League, organizations that will continue partnering with us to implement this new program along with Thrive Global, Department of Housing and Urban Development, and Department of Health.
Biki Social Rides, offered to residents aged 50+, included a guided group ride, healthy lunch and a trial membership!
Although the program won't kick-off until mid-march, we recently invited Tippi from Thrive Global, and a handful of Honolulu residents who were brand new to the Biki system, to participate in a trial ride! The morning consisted of a hands-on tutorial of the Biki Stop, Biki App, and bike, as well as a bike safety and etiquette refresher. We then rode as a group through Ala Moana Beach Park and around Kakaako to tour the new POW! WOW! murals, finishing with lunch courtesy of Down to Earth Kakaako!
Get involved
Bikeshare Hawaii is looking for more opportunities to come to your offices, classrooms, and neighborhoods and share our history, mission and impact! Help us by:
- Encouraging your employer to invite us in for a presentation or workshop. They may even consider offering subsidized Biki memberships as a commuter or wellness benefit, like HDR Inc., Mobi and SSFM!
2. Getting a group of friends to attend a Biki Basics workshop in the neighbors you like to ride in. If you have a group of 5 or more ask us about scheduling a private event!
3. Organizing a Biki ride or excursion on your own like Lealyn, a resident who recently began organizing regular group Biki rides to and from Barefoot Beach Cafe!
4. Spreading the word to your teen's high school about the opportunity to host a Biki presentation (we don’t need to tell you a Bikeshare membership for your 16-year-old is cheaper than a car)!
GET IN TOUCH!
Learn more about how you can get involved or support current and future community programming.
POW! WOW! recently returned to Hawaii, making the Kaka'ako area even more colorful. The best way to explore these new murals? By Biki of course! We have several Biki Stops located throughout the area that make it easy to go from one mural to the next. In addition to the art, the Kakaako and Ward Village areas have plenty of cafes, breweries and other eateries for you to sample in between your mural tour, making the neighborhood one of our most highly popular #WheretoBiki spots. We recommend both SALT block and South Shore Market for their variety of options and their close proximity to bikeshare stations.
POW! WOW! is an annual celebration of art that takes place in cities across the globe, including Honolulu! The week-long event commenced on February 18th, but the murals will remain all year long. Learn more about the murals and artists here.
Biki HQ now even has a mural! The Biki Crew had a blast watching the mural evolve over the week and are psyched with the outcome. According to artist Shepard Fairey, the mural is called “Golden Future?” and it addresses the need to preserve the planet for future generations. As a sustainable transportation option, we could not be more proud to share a wall with this important message. Learn more about how a Biki Membership can help reduce your carbon footprint in this guest blog.
"Golden Future?" can be found at the intersection of Ala Moana and Ward. Ride to our Biki Stop (#244) and check it out!
Pow! Wow! By Biki
Before doing a Biki tour of the art murals, we recommend signing up for a Biki Membership so you can unlock a bike in seconds with a Biki Pass or App. The Free Spirit plan is a perfect option for the occasional rider as it offers a bank of 300 minutes for $20 that can be used at any time and in any increment.
We’re excited to share big news from ANA, All Nippon Airways! Japan's largest 5-Star airline will soon be introducing the “Flying Honu”, the first Japanese-operated Airbus A380 offering 10 weekly round-trip flights between Narita and Honolulu starting May 24, 2019. The designs of the three Flying Honu aircrafts were inspired by the Hawaiian sky, ocean and sun and selected from a contest with over 2,000 submissions.
Best of all, YOU can be one of the first to travel on the Flying Honu! Tickets are now available for purchase for flights servicing the Honolulu-Tokyo route this coming May. As part of their debut, ANA is offering special rates for flights between May 24 and July 11, 2019. The airline is also celebrating the launch by donating 520 milo (Pacific Rosewood) to the Hawaiian Legacy Reforestation Initiative, one native tree for every seat on the aircraft.
Courtesy of RKT Media Hawaii
Pictured: ANA cabin attendant Ryoko Go, cabin attendant Sakurako Furukawa, ANA Sales President Junichiro Miyagawa, Secure Bike Share CEO Kelvin Tjia, Bikeshare Hawaii Marketing Manager Kelsey Colpitts, ANA Senior Executive Vice President Takashi Shiki, ANA Honolulu Vice President & General Manager Hiroshi Shibata, cabin attendant Kana Nogami, ANA Honolulu Station Manager Hiro Noguchi, ANA Sales Americas Senior Vice President & General Manager, Hawaii Region Masaru Goto
About ANA and Biki
ANA began a partnership with Bikeshare Hawaii and Biki in May 2018 to support an alternative means of transportation that encourages healthy living and promotes environmentally-friendly practices. ANA’s commitment to taking CO2 reduction actions dates back to 2008, when the ANA Group became the airline and transport industry’s first certified Eco-First company. Some of their initiatives include the ANA Carbon Offset Program aimed at regenerating Japan’s forests, e-flights to consider the global environment together with customers, “3R” (reduce, reuse and recycle) activities, participation in forestation and coral regeneration programs, and the introduction of biofuels.
ANA also participated in our Millionth Ride campaign in August 2018, awarding Honolulu resident Ashley Gallaraga, the lucky rider of the millionth Biki trip, with two round-trip tickets to Japan!
We’re very proud to partner with ANA and other forward-thinking organizations that want to make a difference in the community. Congratulations to our partners - we can’t wait until May!
Interested in partnering with Biki? Please get in touch to learn what opportunities are available! Kelsey@bikesharehawaii.org.
Achieve your 2019 health goals with Biki!
Waikiki Health Pilot Program results in the free distribution of 150+ helmets!
Starting in 2017, Bikeshare Hawaii has been working with Waikiki Health to expand the awareness of Biki and the health benefits of bikeshare and biking to their community, clients, and employees. Waikiki Health hosts six sites across the Biki service area and their mission is to provide quality medical and social services that are accessible and affordable for everyone, regardless of ability to pay.
Bikeshare Hawaii, the non-profit organization that manages the Biki program, has partnered with Waikiki Health by sharing information through hosting pop-up tabling events at each of their clinics, participating in their health and wellness events, hosting Biki Basics for clients and staff, and working with Care Coordinators to distribute subsidized bikeshare memberships and monitor health impacts for a pilot group of clients.
Since 2017, we’ve distributed over 150 helmets to the Waikiki Health community and gathered nearly 200 perspectives on perceptions and barriers to bikeshare!
Waikiki Health is also one of our partners that offers Biki as a benefit to employees, reimbursing 100% of their employees Free Spirit and Monthly Memberships. We are proud that more workplaces are recognizing bikeshare as a healthy, sustainable transportation option, and providing Biki as an incentive!
“As a community health center, Waikiki Health values wellness for our employees. We encourage our staff to get out, get moving and utilize our community's Biki bike share system in a safe way." says Liz Makarra, Director of Emergency Operations and Community Wellness. "It's an affordable mode of transportation that contributes to overall health, we feel it's a benefit for our staff and a part of our robust wellness program.”
Waikiki Health served over 10,000 unique Honolulu residents in 2017, and the 2014 expansion of their Makahiki clinic means an increase in capacity to serve a greater number of Honolulu residents. This has made Waikiki Health a key partner in initiatives to engage with the community and share information about how bikeshare works, what the community health impacts are, and gather community insights on the perception and accessibility of our services.
Interested in sponsoring a Biki Access program that extends the benefits of bikeshare to others in the community? Please contact info@bikesharehawaii.org to share your goals and ideas. Please also consider making a tax-deductible donation to support our ongoing programs and developments.
A few of our Biki’s recently posed for an art class! 5-7th graders from all over Oahu participated in a 12 week painting and drawing class, at the Honolulu Museum of Art. The artwork was displayed at the Fall 2018 Young Artist Exhibition in December.
Instructor Lauren Okana and the Director of Children's Classes, Pearlyn Salvador, reached out to us requesting to borrow two Biki's for two Saturday sessions. We were amazed by the finished product and blown away by the talent of these young artists. Check them out!
"I love my Saturday art classes because these kids are so motivated to learn art & I have been teaching art classes at the Honolulu Museum of Art for over 20 years. This semester I took the kids to the museum to see the new King Kalakaua show and they drew at the museum and painted for the last few weeks during class. The theme is "Old Hawaii" & New Hawaii and the Biki bike project represents "New Hawaii"
We used large paper and drew the bikes with charcoal pencils several different perspectives. I also had the students use a viewfinder and look at a section of the drawing to create a painting with their view."
-Lauren Okano, Instructor
Interested in having Biki participate in an event or project? Submit an Event Request Form or contact us for more details!
With the end of 2018 right around the corner, we're excited to look back at some of our favorite moments from the year and give you a glimpse as to what might be coming up next! We hope 2019 is filled with health, happiness and, of course, lots of Biki rides. Mele kalikimaka and happy holidays from the Biki Crew to you!
After months of planning, research and community outreach, our first major expansion is complete. It’s been a long process, and your feedback, support and (especially) patience have been much appreciated. Within 5 days, 33 Biki Stops and a total of 680 docking points were added to the bikeshare system. Keep reading to find out where you can ride now!
It's official...Honolulu likes to bike. A record number of Biki rides were taken in October, surpassing 100,000 trips in a single month for the very first time in Honolulu. Congratulations riders! You are saving more CO2 emissions, burning more calories and spending more time out in the beautiful Hawaii sunshine. Thank you for helping us achieve this milestone.
2017 vs 2018
October 2017
67,777 rides
57% taken by Biki members
Vs.
October 2018
100,954 rides
67% taken by Biki members
This results in 3.2 rides per bike per day, well over the national bikeshare average of 1.7 rides per bike per day. (NACTO 2017)
October 2018 Daily report
The graph below is taken directly from our internal system and shows the total daily rides (gray), rides by members (light blue) and rides by casual users (dark blue). Biki Members are those who purchased a Free Spirit or Monthly plan on GoBiki.org or the Biki App, while casual users purchased their rides directly from a Biki Stop kiosk. The graph indicates an obvious dip in rides on the weekends especially for Members, who tend to use bikeshare for weekday commutes and errands. The weather also effects ridership, as demonstrated by the significant drop on October 30th which resulted from heavy rain and wind.
Over 100,000 trips despite a rainy day on October 30th! 90% of all Biki members are residents of Hawai'i.
Expansion update
The equipment is officially on its way and we are finalizing our expansion deployment plans. Thank you for your patience - we promise it will be worth the wait! We will add approximately 30 stations and 300 bikes to the system by the end of 2018, thanks to federal Transportation Alternative Program funds. Residents can expect expansion into new neighborhoods including Iwilei, Makiki and UH Manoa.
a few locations to expect -
NEW NEIGHBORHOODS
- Dole Cannery
- UH Manoa Campus
- Safeway Beretania
EXISTING SERVICE AREA
- Kamakee Street & Kapiolani Boulevard
- Queen Kapiolani Hotel
- Kamoku & Hihiwai Street
About a third of the new Biki Stops will be within Biki’s current footprint. These additional stations will increase the availability and convenience of bikeshare as ridership and demand continues to grow in the urban core.
Employees of HIC enjoying a team Biki outing downtown
With 63% of members reporting that they use Biki to dine, and 58% report Biki'ing to shop, we are pleased to help increase access to businesses that will be "biki-able" as a result of our expansion. This will also help serve the employees at these businesses, who will soon have bikeshare as an option for their commute.
Follow us on social media (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter) for the latest updates on the expansion!
Some words of excitement from the community -
“Everyone here at HONBLUE is very excited about the new Biki stations coming to our Iwilei neighborhood. A majority of our customers are in the central business district, and once the Iwilei Biki stations are operational we expect to replace 20 to 40 daily car trips with Biki. The City & County of Honolulu’s Complete Streets program is making multi-modal transportation viable for businesses like ours. In many cases we believe it will be easier, faster, and cheaper to service and meet with our clients utilizing Biki than driving a car into downtown.” - Larry Heim, president of HONBLUE
"Increasing the density of the Biki network will help me get around town efficiently. I'm particularly excited about new stations coming to my neighborhood in Moiliili and the expansion to Makiki and UH. With a closer station, my door to door time to work downtown will be much faster than driving and parking." - Jon Chin, resident
“Queen Kapiolani Hotel is honored to welcome Biki to our reimagined property. Our hotel is centered around the idea of experience – whether it’s an early morning surf session, a running tour of Waikiki or, now, a Biki ride to explore the lush grounds of Kapiolani Park. We believe Queen Kapiolani Hotel’s Biki station offers guests and locals alike prime access to an active lifestyle and a variety of experiences and events in Waikiki and beyond.” - Jeff Perkins, general manager, Queen Kapiolani Hotel
"I'm really looking forward to using the new Biki Station to switch up my commute from Kakaako to Iolani School and to save myself from battling McCully intersection traffic. The expansion will give me an incentive to use Biki more often when I want to go to paddling or Pau Hana in Waikiki." -Gabriel Yanagihara, Teacher at Iolani High School
"As a resident of the Makiki neighborhood, commuting to the UH Manoa campus for work and school can be a bit complicated. The distance is close just enough to not warrant the need for a car, but far enough away that walking on a hot day can be exhausting. I have recently been debating the idea of purchasing a vehicle for months. Driving to campus offers its own set of complications. Parking fees are steep. Parking space in Makiki is also in short supply. Thankfully I’ve learned that biki is expanding to serve both Makiki and UH Manoa! Now the debate is settled; no car for me! I will be able to bike directly from home to school in less than 20 minutes. I’ve often heard stories of commuters taking longer than that just looking for parking. I’m sure my neighbors with cars will be happy as well. Now they won’t have to compete with me for a parking stall too! I think the expansion will be great for students and workers. It will relieve the congestion around the campus neighborhoods and make life much easier for commuters who can’t afford or choose not to own a car." - Cody Winchester, resident