Bill to regulate Big Island bike tours advances | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Tuesday, June 11,2024

6/11/24, 9:22 AM

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HAWAII NEWSBill to regulate Big
Island bike tours
advances
By Michael Brestovansky Hawaii Tribune-Herald
June 7, 2024
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https://www.staradvertiser.com/2024/06/07/hawaii-news/bill-to-regulate-big-island-bike-tours-advances/#

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Bill to regulate Big Island bike tours advances | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

6/11/24, 9:22 AM

1/1
KELSEY WALLING / TRIBUNE-HERALD / DEC. 30
A tour guide begins an e-bike tour in Hawai‘i Volcanoes
National Park.

A proposal to impose regulations uponcommercial bike tour operators in Hawaii
County has advanced despite pushback frombicyclists and tour groups.
County Council Bill 125 began life in January
as a simple measure to prohibit bike tour
groups from operating on two specificstretches of West Hawaii roads — Kohala
Mountain Road and a roughly 8-mile stretchof Akoni Pule Highway between Kohala
Mountain Road and Pololu Valley Lookout —due to safety concerns about poor sight lines
and limited shoulder space.
But since then, over the course of multiplecommittee meetings and amendments, thehttps://www.staradvertiser.com/2024/06/07/hawaii-news/bill-to-regulate-big-island-bike-tours-advances/#Page 2 of 8

Bill to regulate Big Island bike tours advances | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

6/11/24, 9:22 AM

bill has morphed into a more holistic series ofcode changes that would require bike tour
operators to register with the county andallow it to prohibit bike tour groups on any
road where their presence would be deemed
detrimental to public safety.
ADVERTISINGThe latest incarnation of the bill went before
the full Council on Wednesday for its firstreading, where it was amended for a fifthtime.
As currently written, the bill requires
operators to register with the county eachyear for a first-time fee of $500 and $250 for
every subsequent year. Failure to do so will
incur a $1,000 fine.
While the earlier drafts of the measure —which were largely focused on road safety inhttps://www.staradvertiser.com/2024/06/07/hawaii-news/bill-to-regulate-big-island-bike-tours-advances/#Page 3 of 8Bill to regulate Big Island bike tours advances | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

6/11/24, 9:22 AMvery specific areas — were well supported byresidents, the more recent versions havebeen less popular, particularly among
bicyclists. Several tour operators testified
against the bill, arguing that it unfairly restricts
their businesses.
“This is the exact opposite of what Hawaii
should be doing,” wrote Alexander
Candelario, owner and founder of Big Island
Bike Tours. “If people are not going to beallowed to explore on a bicycle, then they willdrive, rent a car, or join a bus or van tour.
This not only has more of an impact on roads
and highways, but it also negatively impacts
the environment, neighborhoods andparking.”
Travis Counsell, president of the Hawaii
Bicycling League, wrote that the effort behindthe bill would be better spent elsewhere.

“People riding bicycles have the same rights
https://www.staradvertiser.com/2024/06/07/hawaii-news/bill-to-regulate-big-island-bike-tours-advances/#

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Bill to regulate Big Island bike tours advances | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

6/11/24, 9:22 AM

to the road as people driving vehicles across
Hawaii,” Counsell wrote. “If a roadway has‘limited lines of sight and a lack of passable
shoulders’ as noted in the bill, the mostequitable and effective solution would be to
improve road signage, reduce speed limits
and conduct more education about
everyone’s responsibility to share the roadsafely.”
Hilo Council member Jenn Kagiwada agreed,saying that the measure seems to fly in theface of the county administration’scommitment to “Complete Streets,” a policy ofmaking all county roads safe and accessible
for multiple forms of transportation, not justcars. She suggested the bill appears defeatistin that it identifies unsafe roads only to restrict
access to them rather than work to makethose roads safer.
On the other hand, Hilo Council member Sue
Lee Loy said she supports the intention
behind the bill because it puts better
regulations upon businesses that rely on
county roads to operate.
“They are using our infrastructure to run theircommercial enterprises,” Lee Loy said,
adding that the bill at least allows for thecounty to track how many tour groups thereare on the island and where they areoperating.
https://www.staradvertiser.com/2024/06/07/hawaii-news/bill-to-regulate-big-island-bike-tours-advances/#

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Bill to regulate Big Island bike tours advances | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

6/11/24, 9:22 AM

The Council voted to pass the bill on firstreading, with Kagiwada voting against.
———

Email Michael Brestovansky atmbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.

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