HALEAKALA NATIONAL PARK — Several commercial bicycle tour companies say they are struggling to hang on to their businesses since Haleakala National Park banned the tours in the park in October citing safety concerns, The Maui News reported.

The ban was announced as temporary but has since been extended.

"It's been a very challenging last 4 1/2 months," said Brian Kramer of Mountain Riders. "We are only up and running because we are trying to get the business going."

Kramer said business is down 80 percent and he has been hurt by negative news reports. He said the public, including booking agencies that take customer reservations, does not understand that the bike tours are still operating. Customers cannot ride commercial tours in the park but can use public roads outside the park.

While Kramer struggles to keep his business afloat, a smaller company, Bike It Maui No Ka Oi, has stopped tours altogether.

"We didn't want to do a half-ass tour," said owner Ralph Johnson. "We wanted to do a good tour. We are waiting for the word.

"We are just trying to hold out and wait out," Johnson added.

Phil Feliciano, owner of Cruiser Phil's Volcano Riders, initially shut down his business and planned to wait until a decision about reopening the park to commercial tours was made.

But after several months passed and the park announced it would need additional time to process a safety study, Feliciano said he couldn't hold out any longer and needed to get back on the road.

"We can't weather 120 days without any income," he said.

Last week, Haleakala National Park Superintendent Marilyn Parris said she expects to make a final decision on the ban in early March.

A National Park Service Analysis Team, which includes a representative from Maui County along with park service specialists from the Mainland, is working on a report to be completed at the end of January.

The report will then be submitted to the NPS Pacific West Region Board of Review, which will take up the issue during its meeting Feb. 1 at its regional office in Oakland, Calif., Parris said.

The board of review, which includes Parris, will come up with a recommendation. But Parris has the final say.

The analysis team was on Maui in early December. The team interviewed tour companies, their customers, medical staff and others affected by the ban.

"I couldn't be more pleased at the effort they are putting in to coming up with the best recommendation as possible for all concerned," Parris said.

Wailuku attorney and bicycle enthusiast James H. Fosbinder, who has been retained by the Maui Bicycle Tour Association, which has five member companies providing guided downhill tours on Haleakala, also submitted a report to the analysis team on behalf of the companies.

Fosbinder's summary said the tours "pose virtually no threat to other visitors in the park," and that there is an "energy-efficient way of maximizing the park experience with no negative impact on the ecosystem."

He said there have been three bicycle fatalities in the park in the past 24 years, two of which occurred in 2007.

On Oct. 10, Haleakala National Park began its "safety stand-down" at the park, following a fatal crash in September involving a bicyclist on a tour. Parris had said at the time it was the "next prudent" step.

During the stand-down, studies were to be made on whether the tours can operate safely at the park. Individual bicyclists can still ride in the park on their own.

Initially, parks officials said the companies could not operate their bike tours in the park for at least 60 days until a study was done, but in November, parks officials said more time was needed. That pushed the safety stand-down into February instead of December.

In the meantime, companies deal with the ban's effects in different ways.

Kramer said his staff is down to one-fourth of what it was, and he also had to raise his prices to accommodate new features.

Like several other bike tour companies, Kramer had to contract with other businesses to get vehicles to take bike tour customers for a vehicle tour of the park and then start bike rides outside the park, as the sunrise at the summit is the big draw.

Five of the seven companies that used to run bicycle tours at the park do not have permits to conduct vehicle tours of the park. Two other companies have a vehicle tour permit.

Kramer said his prices have climbed 15 percent because of the expense of the vehicle tours of the park. Rates can reach up to $170, he said.

"Ultimately it costs the visitors."

Jon Thuro of Maui Mountain Cruisers also reports that he had to add $50 per person to the normal cost of the bike tour to have a van take his bike riders for a vehicle tour of the park.

Thuro said some customers have not booked because of the added costs.

He said customers have been unhappy that they cannot do the bike tour in their own national park.

"It's definitely a big hardship on us," Thuro said of the ban.

Thuro said businesses he has patronized on his tours, including Polli's Mexican Restaurant in Makawao and Sunrise Country Market, have suffered trickle-down effects.