Biki has been talking about expanding for a while now.  This morning I thought I saw the first sign of it (a new station) but it turns out it was just a relocation of an existing one.  Still, they relocated it to a decent location.

Wait, that station wasn’t there yesterday…

I was heading to a meeting this morning, walking from work down to the Pucks Alley station.  On a shortcut through the back streets to get there, I checked the app to make sure bikes were available and found that there were actually two stations–the one I was heading for and one across the street.

The new station is right in front of Hale Mahana, a new residential building catering to students.  They’ve been a recent sponsor of Biki, advertising on many of their bikes.  It might seem strange to have one station across the street from another but I have the feeling this will work.  In my case, I’ll be more inclined to swing by Kokua Market without having to cross back and forth across King Street.  Besides, the lone original station went through bikes a lot, at times either being completely full or completely empty.  Another nearby will help mitigate that.

This sign taunts me twice daily. It’s located along the route I walk between work and the (as of now) nearest Biki station.

Actually, part of me expects them to move the original Pucks Alley station, perhaps around the corner to University Ave near the old Varsity Building.  Space might be an issue on the sidewalk where it is now and that move would make them more evenly distributed.  I could embrace that change too, since it means we’ll have stations close to Kokua AND close to BeerLab.

The big expansion I’m waiting for is the one to UH Manoa.  Originally it was supposed to occur earlier this fall but now might not be until November.  That was my only question when I saw the Biki tent at the UH Commuter Fair earlier this month:  “When?!?!” Apparently they’re waiting on hardware imports.  I was ready to give them a pass thinking Hurricane Lane gummed up the works.  Turns out we might have to wait until after hurricane season wraps up anyway.

New stations are exciting! They’re even better when they’re near someplace you want to go!