Honolulu’s familiar blue Biki bikes are a lot closer to disappearing than most riders think. Years of theft, vandalism and a brutal pandemic hit to tourism have thinned the fleet and drained the operator’s cash. City officials and Secure Bikeshare say they need about $800,000 just to keep core service rolling, and for now they are openly calling Biki’s outlook precarious.
City Seeks $800,000 Lifeline As Operator Grows Wary
According to Hawaii News Now, Department of Transportation Services Director Roger Morton is putting Biki’s chances of survival “in the 50 percent range,” noting that investors are hesitant to keep pouring money into a system with negative cash flow. The city and Secure Bikeshare are pushing for an $800,000 rescue from the city’s resiliency fund to cover maintenance and replace bikes. The same report notes the operator had to vacate its Kakaako office after storm damage, a hit that has made repairs and parts storage even more of a grind.
DTS Briefing Charts A Slow Bleed In Revenue
As laid out by the Department of Transportation Services, a strong revenue bump in 2021 has steadily faded. Revenues dropped 31% in 2022, another 5% in 2023 and 7% in 2024, with early 2025 fare revenue averaging about $133,000 a month. The briefing also details fleet shortages driven by normal wear and tear and what it describes as “extreme vandalism,” and notes the city currently owns roughly one third of the equipment. Those hits have left Secure Bikeshare in the red, including a $314,000 operating loss in 2024 that grew worse in early 2025, making private investors even more reluctant to keep writing checks.
Higher Fares And Sponsors Have Only Softened The Blow
Local coverage previously showed that Biki has already nudged up fares and scrambled for other ways to pay for stolen and damaged bikes, including rolling out pricier e-bikes and chasing sponsorship deals, per Civil Beat. That reporting found about one third of the original fleet was out of service and that Biki’s leadership had been pressing the city for help for years. Those moves have slowed the slide but have not brought the system back to its pre-pandemic scale.
Transit Card Tie-In Floated As Long-Term Fix
The DTS briefing also sketches out a longer game that would plug Biki directly into the HOLO transit card and create a more predictable funding stream. The plan would have the city pay Biki $200,000 each quarter, or about $800,000 a year, so transit pass holders could take short Biki rides at no extra cost, according to Department of Transportation Services. Staff say the setup would make Biki more useful for last-mile trips from TheBus and Skyline and could help turn occasional tourist riders into everyday commuters.
Everyday Riders Say Losing Biki Would Sting
People who rely on Biki told local reporters the system quietly fills a big gap in town. “A lot of things start off really good, and then something happens along the way, and things aren’t as maintained as they were,” rider William Ammons told Hawaii News Now. A visiting rider said Biki is their family’s go-to alternative to renting a car. If the bikes disappear, many riders say they will be pushed back into cars and higher costs for short, everyday trips.
City officials and Secure Bikeshare leaders say the next few weeks are crucial as they lobby for a resiliency fund allocation and hustle for new sponsorships and federal grants. If the money comes through, Biki could hang on in a smaller, reworked form. If it does not, Honolulu could be on the verge of losing a bike-share system that residents and visitors have quietly built into their daily routines.
