Biking to work

[Eric]

For years, I have been thinking of commuting to work by bicycle. I live close to town, so theoretically it's doable. And it'd be a great workout. But as a long-time Honolulu driver, I know how Honolulu drivers usually treat bicyclists: with contempt. I'm afraid that if I tried biking during rush hour, I'd get run down in the first week. Has anyone tried biking to work? How is it?

[pzarquon]

It depends on your route. If you travel congested thoroughfares particularly during rush hour, you might have the advantage as you'll be moving while most automobiles will be crawling! However, if you're looking at more narrow side streets where speeding, cutting in and blind turns are an issue, you'll be a target for sure. Time of day (available light) and weather are big issues, too... there may be some days bicycling just won't be a good idea.

I drive, but I used to bike a lot, so I have empathy for cyclists, and will generally give them room. Unless, of course, they bicycle recklessly or aggressively and themselves don't follow the rules of the road, in which case they're on their own!

Now I live in Mililani, so a town commute is a little rougher than I'd like. But I do want to get riding again.

[adrian]

I wish I can ride a bike. I can use the Pearl Harbor bike route that goes behind my house all the way to Honolulu (some friends of mine biked from Ala Moana to Waipahu Depot Road once, so it is doable).

But pzarquon, TheBus has those bike racks and if you want, you can take a bus to somewhere that is "easy" and bike from there.

[Eric]

Somewhere I read that it's legal to ride your bicycle on the sidewalk in most (but not all) parts of Oahu. How do you know where it's not allowed? Is there a map somewhere that shows this information?

[Linkmeister]

Somewhere I read that it's legal to ride your bicycle on the sidewalk in most (but not all) parts of Oahu. How do you know where it's not allowed? Is there a map somewhere that shows this information?
Not a map, but here's a PDF (http://www.co.honolulu.hi.us/dts/bikeregulations2002.pdf) from the City and County of Honolulu which tells you the rules about roadways/bikeways.

[Eric]

Thanks. According to the brochure, you can't ride on the sidewalks where signs say you can't, or "within a business district (such as Downtown Honolulu, Waikiki)". OK, so exactly where are all the business districts and what are their boundaries? :confused:

[Albert]

I don't know what the details of the law are but I do know that people ride their bicycles on sidewalks all over this town.

I just wish they'd get a bell or a horn, instead of whizzing so close they brush my tee shirt sleeve, without any notice.

[adrian]

I don't know what the details of the law are but I do know that people ride their bicycles on sidewalks all over this town.

I just wish they'd get a bell or a horn, instead of whizzing so close they brush my tee shirt sleeve, without any notice.
Funny that you mentioned that, because the other day on the bus going on Kapiolani by Heald, a biker was using a whistle to tell people infront of him to move.

I'm sure that a simple bell would suffice, but I guess whatever's handy.

[craigwatanabe]

I used to bike to work then after almost being killed following the traffic laws I put that death trap away and rode the beast that almost killed me TheBus. After six months of riding that refrigerator and coming to work sick, I ended up scrapping the idea of saving the world and went back to driving my own car.

The problem with biking is that there is no safe transit route from East Honolulu to Downtown. Everyday I'd almost get run down by motorists telling me to get off the road. So I get on the sidewalks in the commercial districts and get yelled at by pedestrians (yes I had a bell and pretty much walked my bike the six miles back home).

The problem with taking the bus was simply one of rights. Here I am a middle-aged man that rented a house in Kaimuki (no tax breaks here) standing in a shoulder to shoulder bus smelling the other guy's armpit being tossed around as if I'm surfing Point Panic. I end up paying the highest bus fare while elderly senior citizens and UH school kids defiantly sit in their taxpayer subsidized aisle seats. Now I can see the student being on the bus the same time as me (5:30am) but Senior Citizens on the bus at 5:30am? They're retired, they deserve to get up late, leave the seats for full-paying riders, McDonalds opens up at 6am now!

I'm paying the highest bus fare, getting taxed the most and subsidizing someone else to sit in the bus while I get mercilessly tossed around on a bus while standing. I should be the one sitting, the student should be standing (they're younger and stronger and more able to survive being thrown out the front window from a bus driver's panic stop after nearly passing his next stop). I'm older, my knees are weak from arthritis, I need to survive because I'm the breadwinner to feed my kids and subsidize student and elderly bus riders. The City and County of Honolulu needs people like me to help pay for the Bus. We are not expendable yet we are hanging on dangerously to that slippery stainless steel pipe while the bus careens down the battlefield we call Kapiolani Blvd. :eek:

Ah I give up, next month I take my car to work and destroy our precious atmosphere. At least I'm sitting and in control of my environment instead of smelling someone's wreaking perfume, cologne or worse yet armpits while having to hear the treble-only sounds of someone's iPOD blasting some reggae or alternative music.

Riding the bus and riding a bike to work is no joy. I get enough stress from the job itself. :) Until there are safe bikeways and a law that limits bus riding to sitting passengers only, the heck with the environment.

My biking friends tell me you're at risk of dying by being a couch potato. I tell them it's safer than being whacked by a city bus, I'll take my chances. I could live another 20-years and die of cancer or diabetes, or I could die tomorrow when someone on a cellphone takes me out on Waialae Avenue. Either way you're gonna die, at least dying of a disease is something you have some control and responsibility over, incompetant drivers will take you out no matter how responsible your are. My dear friend Ruth Heidrich survived breast cancer only to end up in the hospital with broken bones after nearly being killed in a car/bike accident at Diamond Head several years ago. Guess what vehicle she choosed that day.

Yeah I'll take my chances and I choose the car sorry but I choose life and yes I'm a frickin republican too! That figures right? :eek: :)

[Eric]

Thanks Craig; your experience matches what I see through my windshield every day. And having commuted on TheBus for several years as well, I know what that's like too. But my guess is that a lot depends on whether the route you take is busy or not. And unfortunately, there's really only one way from East Honolulu to Downtown, at least until you get past Kaimuki.

I'd be going from Kalihi Valley to near Ward Warehouse, so I was thinking that I could avoid King Street by instead taking School and paralleling H-1, climbing Punchbowl on Magellan or Prospect (puff puff puff), and finally shooting all the way down Ward. Not sure how long it would take me, but it's worth a try.

[craigwatanabe]

I don't know what the details of the law are but I do know that people ride their bicycles on sidewalks all over this town.

I just wish they'd get a bell or a horn, instead of whizzing so close they brush my tee shirt sleeve, without any notice.


Bicyclists are supposed to yield to pedestrians in any circumstance. If there is no room to pass the bicyclist must dismount and walk his/her bike around the pedestrian in a safe manner.

Bicyclists are required to have a sounding device like a horn or bell (not, "hey you get outta my way") when passing pedestrians.

Bicyclists are allowed to ride on residential sidewalks only. So no bike riding in commercial/industrial areas where most bicyclists go to work (that figures)

Bicyclists must heed to pedestrians at all times even on bikepaths where there are no sidewalks (like Paki Street)

Bicyclists must stop at all red lights. Really? nah they make their own traffic rules.

So when passing a bicyclist the traffic code says you must leave at least 3-feet of passing distance between your car and the bicyclist. Does that mean when idling in traffic on Dole street in the right lane going Ewa, the bicyclist cannot pass you in the shoulder because there is less than 3-feet of distance between your passenger doorhandle and the curb?

Oh stupid me they don't use the shoulder, they ride between the cars and risk sterility after riding over those ceramic dots to signify lane separations and you thought that bicylist was blind and using the braille method. :D

[kimo55]

Ok, gang! here we go with another episode of:
"Who's the jerk who thought up THIS law, who is kicking back some payola to him and how can I get a job like that !?"


In this round, we tear more hair outta our heads in the vain attempt to guess the exact or near reasoning of this installment's query;
why can't we leisurely cruise on our bicycles in the sidewalk.
BUT!
Cops can... AND...
those absolutely geeky vertical "peoplemover bicycles with that gyroscope thing that is ridden only by yuppies who don't mind visually telling the world: "I have more money than sense, taste and ego security."
what are they called?!
we see them on kalakaua ridden by these people who have no a very limited sense of awareness, for they ride around with a perfectly straight face fully unaware of the amazed looks on other's faces and the headshaking incredulousity extended toward them.


Why are they allowed!
No, don't tell me. Cuz NO answer can justify it.

[pzarquon]

why can't we leisurely cruise on our bicycles in the sidewalk.If it had to be one or the other, I'd say I'd rather bikes be kept on the roads. Their speed and maneuverability have their best advantage on the road. Whether they're ridden well or responsibly in traffic is another matter, of course. As it stands, though, bicycles are fine on sidewalks except in "business districts" -- a definition that, as noted above, isn't entirely clear. Waikiki and downtown clearly qualify, at least.

what are they called?! Segways. As I noted in your dune buggy thread (http://www.hawaiithreads.com/showthread.php?t=2283), they're allowed in part because the Segway folks had a strong PR and lobbying effort (for which there has been some backlash (http://news.com.com/2100-1040-966433.html)). They are also tweaked so that their top speed is only 12 miles per hour, considerably slower than a bicycle (but faster than a walker). They're designed and pushed as an "urban transportation alternative," i.e. a good fit on sidewalks in cities.

I agree, they look silly, and they're incredibly expensive (the Waikiki folks have the right idea, though -- rent 'em!), and the iffy way they got into the law books in dozens of states is enough to make you gom "Hmm." But if you take them as a "standing motorized wheelchair" rather than a moped or scooter, they're as good a fit on sidewalks as anywhere.

[kimo55]

I agree, they look silly, and they're incredibly expensive (the Waikiki folks have the right idea, though -- rent 'em!),



rent em
yea. that still doesn't prevent the yuppies from looking like idjuts.; The dam things require a 60 dollar one hour prelim class/video thing.
haaa.

And I still don't think they are "the right idea". Faster that walking is no good, unless you allow slow bikers.

[mel]

All of the transportation options mentioned in this thread only cements my belief that the automobile is still the best way to get around in this city. Bikes are good if you can be totally and completely separate from faster vehicular traffic and slower pedestrians. Busses would only work with door to door service and a guaranteed seat for everyone. Unfortunately the world is not like this, so most people resort to the method of the most convenience and practicality ... the automobile.

[Eric]

Well, after my first week of biking to work, I think I can comment on this a bit more.

I live about 5 miles from my office, which most "bike to work" advocate web pages say is the upper end of the "easy to do" commute. It takes me, a novice bicyclist, about 50 minutes one-way. I use the sidewalks wherever I can. If I was confident enough to get on the road, I'm sure I could easily shave 10 or 15 minutes off that time.

Biking to work compares well with my typical morning automobile commute, which was about 30 to 40 minutes one-way. It takes a little longer, but then again I have been meaning to insert some sort of exercise into my schedule, so the extra time in the commute actually turns out to be less than the extra time I'd have spent on a separate exercise routine.

My biggest fear was safety, and what I have found out is that my view of bike safety has been colored by what I saw from behind my windshield, driving on the busiest, most bike-unfriendly streets of the city. Taking less-traveled streets really, really makes a huge difference.

I was surprised at how few pedestrians there are on the sidewalks. Again, it probably depends a lot what streets you take -- if you follow a TheBus route, you'll have busier sidewalks -- but it seems like most folks, aside from schoolkids, don't walk much in Honolulu.

So far, it's all been good. Why didn't I do this sooner? :D

[craigwatanabe]

Residential areas are the only places where bicycles are allowed on the sidewalks. All others are prohibited.

I figure they allow residential areas because kids ride their bikes near their homes.

As for cops riding their bikes on the sidewalks to issue citations to cyclists riding their bikes on the sidewalks...well you just gotta shake your head on that one.

I was walking by a motorist being ticketed for expired safety check when I pointed out to both the police officer and the motorists that the cop's safety check had expired as well. The motorist took down the information and promptly called the police on his cell phone as I walked away.

And as for cops not being required to wear safety belts because they need quick egress out of their vehicles, I guess being thrown out of your police car at high speed justifies that. I hope HPD looks at this hypocritical dual policies when it comes to riding on the sidewalks or driving without seatbelts.

[Pelix]

It really all depends on where and what your work is.
If it's okay to bike to work/get there sweaty etc, then why not? I always used to bike to work, but of course, I was working as a lifesaver then.. so it really was no problem for me.