RES 318 Draft 01 2024-2026 - Laserfiche WebLink

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II. NEED FOR PROJECT: The County of Hawai'i Mass Transit Agency has deemed HIBIKE as a viable desirable, valuable, and feasible addition to the transit system. Over the course of the HIBIKE pilot project key themes that emerged relating to the public travel experience and travel options include: • HIBIKE helps reduce traffic congestion and improve automobile and transit times. • HIBIKE expands transportation options, increasing walking, bicycling, and enabling more people to use transit. • HIBIKE fills gaps in the Hele-On transit system acting as a "first/last mile" option. • HIBIKE seamlessly integrates with the Hele-On Bus. • HIBIKE creates an intergenerational bicycling culture in Kailua-Kona that normalizes the bicycle for transportation and recreation, stimulates public support for expanding bicycle infrastructure. Under the membership options designed with Hawai'i County residents in mind, the more you use the system the greater the value of the membership fee, and the farther your transportation dollars invested in HIBIKE membership goes. Additionally, HIBIKE has demonstrated in Honolulu and cities across the U.S. the ability to improve local environmental health, energy sustainability, quality of life, public health, and economic activity. No other form of public transportation is able to unlock such wide-ranging benefits for the same modest level of capital funds. As the HIBIKE system reaches its optimal station density, there will be significant potential to benefit elderly, disabled, minority, and low-income populations. HIBIKE offers these populations increased accessibility to bicycles that make transit trips more efficient or can replace the need for a personal vehicle, saving communities time and money. Also, HIBIKE has a better safety track record than private biking. The 2016 Bikesharing and Bicycle Safety report issued by the Mineta Transportation Institute finds that, "Collision and injury rates for bikesharing are lower than previously computed rates for personal bicycling. Experts and focus group participants independently pointed to bikesharing rider behavior and bikesharing bicycle design as possible factors. In particular, bikesharing bicycles are generally designed in ways that promote stability and limited speeds, which mitigate the conditions that contribute to collisions." Seniors and retirees can benefit from HIBIKE as an active recreation option and/or alternative to driving. Between 1995 and 2009, the most recent year for which National Household Travel Survey data is available, the rise in biking among people ages 60-79 accounted for 37 percent of the total nationwide increase in bicycle trips. HIBIKE memberships can contribute to lowering the transportation costs of households and make transit trips more efficient by proving a first mile/last- mile connection. PATH regularly offered free Adult Bike Safety Skills Training classes designed for riders of all skill levels prior to the pandemic and has begun holding those classes again starting in 2024We make 15