When Honolulu鈥檚 bike-share system Biki launched in nearly a decade ago, it promised to bring Hawai驶i a transportation method that had seen success in places like New York City, Boston and Miami.
Residents and tourists could get around urban Honolulu by renting a bike for cheap from one of over a hundred stations and returning it somewhere else. In its first year, Biki was such a success that operating company Secure Bike Share added another 300 bikes to its original fleet of 1,000.
But time has not been kind to Biki. Vandalism along with normal wear and tear has depleted the fleet to less than half its original size. Only 478 bikes remained by the end of April, according to city spokesperson Travis Ota, a 60% drop.
People who want to use bikes often can鈥檛 find one, making it harder to generate needed revenue and trapping the system in a sort of doom spiral.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really frustrating that it鈥檚 not a reliable form of transportation,鈥� frequent Honolulu visitor Josiah Ryan said.
Officials at the Honolulu Department of Transportation Services declined an interview, saying they are working on pending contracts and therefore limited in what they can say. In a written statement, Director of Transit Jon Nouchi said the city鈥檚 goal is to eventually restore Biki鈥檚 fleet to its former heights.
鈥淲e also remain interested in expanding Biki service beyond its current service area into additional parts of urban Honolulu,鈥� he said, 鈥渉elping connect more residents and visitors to jobs, transit, and other destinations.鈥�
Honolulu City Council member Tyler Dos Santos-Tam submitted a budget amendment in early May to direct $800,000 toward the Office of Climate Change, Sustainability and Resiliency , though he said Tuesday he doesn鈥檛 know whether council budget chair Val Okimoto plans to approve it. Okimoto did not respond to a call and text for comment. A final vote on the budget is scheduled for Wednesday.
鈥楾he Poorest-Working System That I鈥檝e Used鈥�
Biki鈥檚 most recent ridership report says roughly 800,000 Biki rides were taken in 2023, 62% of which were taken by residents. At the time, it said, the fleet . Biki hasn鈥檛 published a ridership report since.
But Ryan noticed a drop in reliability in January 2025, he said, 鈥渁nd then it got much, much worse when I was here two months ago.鈥�
Compared to other cities he鈥檚 traveled to for work 鈥� like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Mexico City, Milan, and Washington, D.C., he said, 鈥渢he Biki system is the poorest-working system that I鈥檝e used.鈥�
It probably works more often than not, Ryan said, but too often it鈥檚 a tossup. Bikes sometimes display as available when the station they鈥檙e at turns out to be out of order, he said. Other times, the diminished fleet means no bikes are available in the immediate vicinity at all.
Some systems like New York鈥檚 CitiBike invest in redistribution programs to prevent some stations from emptying out while others overflow. But Biki lacks that option.
Within a 15-minute walk of the University of Hawai驶i M膩noa Campus Center, for example, six Biki stations contain a total of 117 slots for bikes. On a recent Tuesday morning, however, only one bike was available.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not really a system,鈥� Ryan said, explaining that he once rode a Biki to Kaimuk墨 but when he wanted to leave, there were no bikes in sight. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no other stations around. So if you bike up there, and you only brought one bike and someone else took it, that bike is gone, you鈥檙e stranded.鈥�
Paying is another issue, he said. The station kiosks don鈥檛 have tap-to-pay, and swiping your credit card so the system recognizes it sometimes takes a special touch that he had to practice. Another option is to use the app 鈥� which is called PBSC, not Biki 鈥� though Ryan said he struggled to find it in the app store the last time he tried.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 another reason that they鈥檙e losing revenue,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 even know how to take money from people.鈥�
鈥楢n Essential Part Of Our Transportation Network鈥�
This isn鈥檛 the first time Biki has teetered on the brink of failure. Like other bike-share systems around the country, Biki鈥檚 revenue plummeted during the pandemic. That, combined with supply chain woes and a spate of vandalism, brought its local fleet down in the spring of 2021.
Todd Boulanger, executive director of Biki鈥檚 then-parent organization Bikeshare Hawaii, said at the time that Biki might lose half its stations, though that was avoided after
Two and a half years later, however, it hit another dip from which it still hasn鈥檛 recovered.
By 2024, insurance prices were going up for Biki鈥檚 for-profit partner, Secure Bike Share LLC, Boulanger said at the time. He wanted to purchase almost 300 additional bikes and to raise money, Biki starting that June.
Prices when it launched were $15 per month for unlimited 30-minute rides, $25 for unlimited 60-minute rides or $20 for a 鈥淔ree Spirit鈥� plan for 300 minutes Monthly costs went up to $25 and $35, respectively, with the more expensive option shortening its unlimited rides to 45 minutes. The popular Free Spirit plan
The cost of a single 30-minute ride, which had already gone from $3.50 to $4.50, rose to $5.
The company wanted to replenish its fleet with more bikes, including some with electric pedal assist to make biking less strenuous, though as of June 2026 that still hasn鈥檛 happened.
鈥淭hey鈥檝e got to be like the only big system in the world in a big city that doesn鈥檛 have electric bikes now,鈥� Ryan said.
The city announced in late June 2024 it would take on oversight of Biki from Bikeshare Hawaii, leaving Secure Bike Share LLC in charge of operations and maintenance.
The takeover was via a one-year concessions contract that was supposed to last until the end of June 2025, and a city at the time said 鈥渞iders will not notice any changes in system availability, operations, Biki accounts or customer support.鈥�
In August 2025, council members approved from the new Climate Resiliency Fund to the Department of Transportation Services to boost Biki. Roger Morton, who heads the department, laid out his priorities in a letter to the council, in which he said he envisioned integrating bike-share with public transit, including by positioning stations closer to rail and bus stops and by allowing riders to use their Holo cards for Biki.
鈥淲ithout public support, Biki faces the very real threat of shut down,鈥� Morton said in 鈥淭his appropriation is not about creating a luxury; it is about preserving an essential part of our transportation network.鈥�
Morton told Hawai驶i News Now in April that he thought Biki had about a
Hawai驶i Bicycling League executive director Travis Counsell said his group supports Biki, but he too declined an interview because contract negotiations are ongoing.
In a recent interview, Honolulu City Council Chair Tommy Waters said he thinks the city鈥檚 transportation department should not operate Biki.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think they have the staff to do it,鈥� he said, saying it should go back to being operated by a nonprofit.
Kaka驶ako resident Drew Buchanan likes Biki because it鈥檚 a fun way to commute downtown and because the system means he doesn鈥檛 have to lug a bike in and out of his apartment building to go places.
But he too has noticed Biki鈥檚 dwindling performance. In an ideal world, he said Biki should be financially successful, given how many tourists use them and those tourists鈥� increased likelihood to spend big.
If it fails, Buchanan said, 鈥渢hat鈥檚 one less thing for folks that need equitable access to transportation.鈥�
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