A new downhill bike law on Maui will change commercial bicycle tours near Haleakalā, limiting them to a 6.5-mile route.
Upcountry Councilmember Yuki Lei Sugimura said the law regulates what was an ongoing community concern.
"We also heard loud and clear from the residents who live on the street, who live on Crater Road, whose daily routine were being interrupted by all the bike tours that were going up and down," Sugimura said.
The bill was signed late last year, and goes into effect on Wednesday, Feb. 1.
"We were calling the bike tour companies, and they still had scheduled bike tours down Crater Road, well past Feb. 1, which is this week already," Sugimura said. "So I don't know if the bike tour companies are taking this law seriously."
The new law prohibits a full bike tour from the top of Haleakalā to Pāʻia or Haʻiku. From sunrise to sunset, guided and unguided tours of 10 or fewer may ride from mile marker 3 to mile marker 9.5 on Haleakalā Crater Road, according to the law.
Tours outside of that area on Haleakalā Crater Road, Haleakalā Hwy. and Kekaulike Ave. are prohibited.
Operators are also required to obtain a permit to bike on county and state property.
The bill was initially introduced by former Councilmember Mike Molina in September 2021. The bill eventually passed and was signed into law in October 2022.
Bike Maui's director of operations Phil Feliciano said the council and bike tour operators worked together on the bill, but eventually, discussions broke down.
"When it came down to like the 11th hour, they decided to eliminate (parts of the route) and not regulate," Feliciano said Monday morning.
The ramification on business will need to be assessed, but Feliciano said the law may have a drastic effect.
"It's going to gut our business, we'll probably lose employees," Feliciano said. "You know, they're taking essentially one of the really nice portions of the ride and eliminating it."
Bike Maui managers walked through the new route with their employees Monday, prior to the law's enactment, but Feliciano wishes there was more time to address previously booked tours and business advertisements.
"The one thing that that the bike tour industry had asked for was more time to get everything implemented to change our advertising, address our websites, educate the public, educate our employees and deal with the reservations that were already in the books as people book tours six months to a year out," Feliciano said.
This law is only directed toward commercial bicycle tour operators — and not individuals.
"I'm also watching to see the impact in the future, because I think that more needs to be done for the safety of our residents," Sugimura said.
Sugimura said this law is just the beginning, and other communities have already reached out for inclusion.
"I don't think it went far enough," Sugimura said. "I will honestly say that for my community, which is the Upcountry area, Kula area, it was helpful, but for the other part of this particular community plan area, which is Makawao, that when this bill passed, we heard from the residents saying that they wanted to be included."
