It's only been a couple of months, but proponents of a bike sharing program are optimistic about its potential.
It's not necessarily a novel concept - it's being used in major metropolitan areas all across the country. You need a bike - you go to a bike station - take the bike and when you're done - leave it where you found it - or at another station. It's going on now in Kailua.
"And those bikes have been ridden by over 140 members so far in the community and we've had about a 140,000 calories burned and about 3,200 carbon offsets," said Nguyen Le of Hawaii B-cycle.
There's more good news.
"Importantly, we haven't had any thefts. We have had some minor hiccups like communication issues which have been just temporary so just growing pains with the two stations," Le says.
The pending rail project could bring more bike riders across the island. But that development is only one.
"We've had a number of property developers approach us about the potential to expand the system. Kamehameha schools has approached us for Haleiwa town. And looking at helping to resolve the traffic situation there. Obviously, it's pretty bad. But it would be great if we could some stations in Haleiwa," Le says.
The program is pretty basic. You buy a $5 membership. If you ride the bike for less than a half hour and return it to a station - NO CHARGE!
"After the initial half hour, it's $2.50 per half hour and that's because we want to encourage people to use it for short rides and then lock it up so someone else can use it. It's not a long term bike rental program," Le says.
Currently there are two stations in Kailua. They cost about $40,000 each to set up. What are the chances of a similar program downtown?
"And we paid for the first two stations through a grant from the Department of Health, Healthy Hawaii Initiative, but now we are looking for more sponsors so we can expand the stations," Le says.
