A line of downhill bikers rides along Hanamu Road in Olinda in October 2021. A new law restricting riders’ ages, bike routes and hours of operation for bike tours Upcountry took effect on Wednesday, sparked by community concerns over safety and traffic issues related to the downhill bike tours. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo

Bicycle tour businesses are scrambling to make challenging adjustments to their operations as a new law that places restrictions on riders’ age, bike routes and tour hours took effect Wednesday. 

The ordinance, which is targeted toward the Makawao-Pukalani-Kula and Paia-Haiku community plan areas, limits both unguided and guided tours for individuals over the age of 15, from sunrise to sunset, only on Haleakala Crater Road (State Highway 378) from Mile Marker 3.0 to 9.5 daily. 

Guided and unguided bicycle tours may not operate on all other areas of Haleakala Crater Road, Haleakala Highway and Kekaulike Avenue. 

“It’s been difficult making these changes,” said Lewis Upfold, chief operating officer of Bike Maui, which has been conducting tours since 1995. “It’s a real unfortunate ordinance that will have some real negative effects on how we operate and on our business moving forward.” 

Former Maui County Council Member Mike Molina introduced the bill during the previous term to address public safety, traffic and litigation concerns. The proposal came in the wake of a lawsuit that claimed the county was negligent in allowing an unguided, unpermitted Haleakala bike tour that left a visitor paralyzed from the waist down.

Residents have said the bike tours have long posed a hazard, and that the winding Upcountry roads were not built for bikes and are dangerous when traversed by visitors unfamiliar with the area.

The bill was approved late last year and the County Council agreed on an effective date of Feb. 1, even though operators pleaded for at least one to two years of transitory time. 

“Given the period of time the ordinance was under review and consideration by the council prior to it becoming law, it’s our belief that the industry of bicycle tour companies operating on Maui have been aware of the new ordinance’s effective date,” said Maui County Chief of Communications Mahina Martin on Tuesday. 

Martin said they emailed licensed companies to amend their permits to comply with Bill 145 and assisted with questions they may have.

Though downhill tour companies were aware of the ordinance, it wasn’t until the Maui County Department of Motor Vehicles sent out new applications for permits via email last week that they realized they needed to pivot fast, some companies said.

“It has really caught a lot of us off guard,” Maui Sun Riders owner Jeff Robertson said Tuesday. “We are going to be able to abide by those and make the changes, and some of them we do agree with and we have worked with some (county officials) on them, but we really do wish that there could have been more of a meeting between the county and bike tour operators coming together first.” 

Maui Sun Riders halted operations Wednesday while the team figured out how to conduct tours on Wednesdays without Baldwin Avenue, as well as make advertising changes to the website, applications and general routes.

Upfold said Bike Maui will be in compliance as the new law takes effect. However, he said the crew was not given enough time to make adjustments.

“We are highly invested in this,” he said. “We were there, we poured our blood, sweat and tears into this thing, and we felt that we were constantly ignored over the situation, so we were aware of the direction that the County Council decided to take, but was surprised that we never received official notice of it.”  

Another rule states that businesses may conduct guided and unguided commercial bicycle tours for individuals over the age of 15 from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Baldwin Avenue, except on Wednesdays, King Kamehameha Day, Prince Kuhio Day and La Ho’iho’i Ea. 

The ordinance will ensure that commercial bicycle tour companies have permits on county and state property, including Haleakala Highway, Baldwin Avenue and Olinda Road.

“We are going to lose business here and there, there are some cancellations,” Robertson said. “Starting on Thursday, we are going to be operating, we will be following all of the new regulations and so forth, and we have trainings today and tomorrow to go over all of this and to set up best practices for the new tours and what it’s going to look like.” 

The part of the ordinance requiring permits is nothing new for operators. It’s the route getting cut nearly in half, including some of the best views, that will be the most challenging adjustment because it lowers the value of the tour, Upfold said. 

Changing the bike route also financially impacts local restaurants, shops and fruit stands that were used as pit stops along the tour.

“While that section of road will be missed, we’re trying to look at it in an optimistic way for the safety of everybody,” Robertson said. “The Wednesdays, not being able to ride, that’s kind of tough and I understand that schools get out at noon, so we’re going to adjust and we’ll ride the upper parts.”

Employees are concerned about their jobs, too, as companies have already begun to deal with tour cancellations and with the unknown. 

“We don’t know what the industry will be like as a result of the ordinance,” Upfold said. “Our staff is worried. They don’t know if we’ll be able to fill our buses come summer time or come winter time. They don’t know if we’ll have to downsize or completely shut down.” 

The age limitation will somewhat impact business because a lot of customers have families with children — there was already a policy in place that restricted rides to those 12 and up. While there are many capable and skilled kids between the ages of 12 and 15, operators agreed that it would be a simple change and is understandable for the sake of safety.

Still, they had hoped that the county had considered some of their proposals and recommendations of staggering start times with other companies to reduce traffic. Other proposals included adding bike racks in Makawao, collaborating on the use of land for pit stops, improving infrastructure on roadways and bike paths and other suggestions that would provide some relief to the public and industry.

As the date for the law to take effect loomed, some Kula residents had written to the Mayor’s Office and other county officials to voice concerns about a lack of public awareness on the new ordinance as downhill bike tour companies continue to advertise tours that begin at 6,500 feet, which are no longer lawful under the new ordinance.

“Proper enforcement of regulations is necessary for the health and safety of our community,” Council Member Yuki Lei Sugimura, who holds the Upcountry residency seat, said in a news release Friday. “Our community members are voicing their concerns on how Maui County plans to follow through on the limitations set by this ordinance.”

Though operators are asked to self-regulate, police officers and park security can issue citations for any violations.

“Although we’re hopeful that bicycle tour companies will comply, we will respond appropriately to any violations that may occur,” Martin said.

To review the full law, visit tinyurl.com/DownhillBikeLaw.

* Dakota Grossman can be reached at dgrossman@mauinews.com.