House Standing Committee on Transportation

Good morning. Convening the House Committee on Transportation hearing for the Thursday, February 13, 2023 agenda 10:00am agenda here in Hawaii State Capitol Conference Room 4:30 for today's agenda on February 13th.

This will be our last hearing before our first lateral deadline as all bills at this point have had the need to go through their final committees and the Transportation Committee has only really been the first Committee for some of these measures. So with that, let's read this as housekeeping.

In order to allow as many people to testify if we need to, we will Institute a two minute time limit per testifier because morning hearings must adjourn prior to session. If you do not have the opportunity to testify, please know your written testimony is being considered for decision making.

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This is for online streaming YouTube services so they do not get copyrighted or stricken from online archives. Please refrain from profanity or civil behavior as Rep. Evslin had said, has not happened in our Committee, but in the case of such grounds for removal.

Okay, so with that we'll get Underway with our 10 o'clock agenda on our first measure for this morning, HB 1163 relating to Commercial Driver's Licensing amend Section 286-236 hrs to meet current federal regulations to allow the State to issue a limited term non domiciled commercial learner's perfect and non domiciled commercial driver's license for applicants who are unable to provide proof of citizen or a lawful permanent residency.

But Vice Chair for the testimony.

Department of Transportation in support.

Aloha Chair, Vice Chair, Members. Ed Sniffen, DOT. This is just a fix of our issue that FMCSA found in our program. Thank you.

Thank you.

Individ Frank Schultz Individual in opposition Is there anyone else in person or on Zoom who'd like to testify on HB 1163?

Thank you Vice Chair Members. Any questions? All right, seeing none. We'll move on to our next measure this morning. HB 1166 relating to automated Speed Enforcement Systems programs. Appropriate funds out of the State Highway Fund for deposit into. Excuse me.

Appropriates funds out of the State Highway Fund for deposit into the Automated Speed Enforcement Assistance Program Special Fund and appropriates funds out of Automated Speed Enforcement Assistance Program Special Fund for fiscal year 2025-2026 Vice Chair for testimony.in support and in support thank you. Thank you.

Department of Law Enforcement and support Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization in support Frank Schultz individual in opposition Chad Taniguchi Individual in support Edgardo Diaz Vega Individual in support on Zoom present Is there anyone else in person or on Zoom who'd like to testify?

Thank you. Vice Chair Members questions? Okay. Seeing none. We'll move on to our next measure. HB 1231 relating to traffic safety requires the state to prioritize installation of photo red light imaging detector systems in school zones.

If the state establishes a photo red light imaging detector system requires proceeds of fines collected for disregarding a steady red signal pursuant to a photo red light imaging detector system installed in the school zone to deposit to be deposited into the Safe House to School Program Special Fund Vice Chair for testimony Judiciary with.

Comments Department of Transportation in support on. Oh.

Aloha Chair, Vice Chair, Members. Ed Sniffen at DOT. Support the intent of this Want to make sure that everybody understands that when we select the locations we have to go with safety issues from the past, volumes in that area, potential conflicts with bikes and pedestrians and all of that has to be considered.

So very difficult for us to put a preference into an area specifically. That being said, there is a big preference if you consider volumes and pedestrian activity and potential conflicts in school zones. So in General you're going to see it in those in those types of areas.

But what we've seen in the past is people who are running red lights or speeding are those that are trying to get onto or off of an off ramp. Those are the areas that we see significant red light running and speed and potential crashes in those areas.

So I would be hesitant to put in a preference for a different area like this and also to be hesitant to move the funding from the citations into another area and the concern for that when we start looking at the funding that's necessary to expand the system in the future.

And I will say I would love that other communities are asking for these types of things in their areas. If we don't have a funding source for that, it becomes very difficult for us to expand the program. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Going back to the judiciary on Zoom offering comments.

Hello Chair Kila. Ernest Delima with second Judicial Circuit. We've submitted our written testimony on this. It would stand with that. We would just like to point out the potential impacts on court operations and the district courts with further implementation of more red light cameras.

I think we kind of noted that with the current existing cameras, we're averaging about almost 2,000 additional citations monthly that are being processed. So we just like to bring that to everyone's attention. Thank you. Thank you.

Hawaii Bicycling League in support Vice Chair.

We stand on our written testimony. Thank you.

Thank you.

Ulupono Initiative in support.

Thank you, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee Mariah Yoshizu on behalf of Ulupona Initiative, we just wanted to say that an analysis of Hawaii EMS calls found that pedestrian and bicycling injuries to children are most likely to occur during the hours that they are traveling to and from school.

Walking and biking in Hawaii have gotten progressively more dangerous and now we are now the 12th most dangerous state to for walking and biking. With over 800 million in identified state projects under the Safe Routes to School program.

This proposed fee and the proposed fee in this Bill is critical for these projects to protect our most vulnerable road users in Keiki. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Hawaii Appleseed in support.

Aloha Chair, Vice Chair and Members of the Committee. My name is Abby Seitz with Hawaii Apple Seed. We stand in support of this Bill. We support the Safe Routes to School funding which provides support for bike and pedestrian projects within a 1 mile radius of schools.

For context of that impact, nearly 80% of our residents live within that radius. So we as such, we believe this Bill could not only help our Kiki get to and from school safely, but also help improve the mobility of our residents across the state. Thank you for this opportunity to thank you.

Wahoo Metropolitan Planning, organization and support Chad Taniguchi individual offering comments Edgardo Diaz Vega individual in support Daniel Smith individual in support Elena Araga individual in support Is there anyone else in person or on Zoom who'd like to testify?

Thank you Vice Chair Members. Any questions? Rep Muraoka.

Morning Ed. Good morning. You know Chair, this is more of a comment I just wanted to ask. Miss it. So on my way to work to and from every day to this capital, I got to pass three schools. Makai Elementary, Waianae High and Waianae Intermediate.

And I've noticed that the speed bumps in front of Waianae High School have helped significantly. Do you think speed bumps or those speed humps in front of the schools would deter much more than these red light cameras will?

I don't know if I would say much more, but I will say from my perspective the reason the speed humps went in first was because it's a fixed physical thing. You got to slow down every time no matter what.

There's potentials that people could run a red light, could run, could run or speed through an intersection and we catch them on the back end. What the speed humps do is catch them on the front end, which is why we led with that initiative.

First, I'll admit I was a opponent of the speed bumps initially, but seeing how drastically they change and helped in our community, I'm now a proponent and I'd like to see more involved and especially around the schools and stuff. Happy to work with you on that.

Thank you. Thank you, thank you. Rep. And I echo your sentiment. I am a pro Speed bumper as well. Members. Any other questions?

I have one more question just to clarify. So right now the current the fines collected go back to the cam, like to installing more cameras. Is that like how long do we need to keep doing that for?

Well, it depends on how many we put out there. Got it. So the difficulty right now that I have is when we start looking at the types of intersections and the type of crashes that we have in different communities. We have a list of like 50 or 60.

The 10 intersections that we signalized was about a million a year. So when we start looking at that from that perspective, we don't know.

Well, I'm hopeful that after we start putting these types of programs in that there's going to be significant reductions in citations because everybody understands in these areas you knock on speed, you knock on run the red lights, but I'm not sure yet.

So considering from the court's perspective, and I totally understand judiciary's concerns with the numbers of citations that could go through instead of expanding as fast as we can, we're going to be working with them first to see how we make sure we build up that capacity for first internally on the enforcement side and second with the courts so that we don't inundate everything.

But I don't know how fast and if we look at the different Members who had asked for their communities to have red light and speedcams in there, we could have another 50 locations next year if we had the funding and the resources to do so.

So very difficult for me to say how much we need and for how long.

Okay, thank you so much.

Question, Chair.

Rep. La Chica Sorry.

Thank you. Chair Hello, Director Question. So for wanting to ask, other than crash, what's the process of working with the county? Because as we all know, a lot of these intersections are within city and county roads. For example, in my district One of our highest crash site is the intersection between Mela Parkway and Lanikuhana.

And it's where everyone has to turn that left with the Mililani Town Center. And just in the last couple of months we've had vehicles that have crashed directly into the traffic light. And it's. We had one car that actually drove away with the traffic light on the vehicle. And that was widely shared with on social media.

And so how do you work with sitting county Honolulu and then in other counties as well? And then what is the engagement with communities as we seek input?

Because they also kind of know, you know, in especially like the rural areas, how to like best prevent and you know, can provide input if they don't have active, you know, crash data. Because it's more like we're reacting to something versus we're preventing something from happening, right?

Absolutely. And so there's like a 88 questions in two. Let me start with the first. We work really well with all our counties and that goes with the city County of Honolulu.

So anytime you have concerns about an intersection or roadway that's in the city area, I always ask that you either email their Director or the Legislator in that area and copy me so that we can start working on things together.

That's if we're looking at speed reductions or speed management in different areas or crash mitigation like in this instance. Once we do that, then we can start coordinating between each other. Now if we're looking at red light and speed enforcement in those areas, what we would do is tell them it's a priority by helping them Fund it.

Which goes back to Vice Chair's question. If we have this pot of money that allows us to react very quickly to ensure that we can tell the city it's your intersection, but we're going to support you on this and Fund it out of this Fund to ensure that we can put this up sooner rather than later.

That's how we're working with them on those pieces for the community. Initially when we started rolling out the speed humps, we didn't ask anybody if it was okay. We did it because there was a safety need.

We know that if we throw it out to the community in the beginning without testing it, the comments back are going to be negative. It's new, it's something different. Right.

But once we put it out and roll it out and everybody can see how it works, it doesn't slow you down below the speed limit, but it does slow down the maximum speeds to those areas to make sure that we can improve safety, then people can see it, people can feel it, understand it, and then we can start asking, okay, in your community, what problems do you have?

Does this help you resolve them? And if not, what other things can we consider? On top of the speed humps that we're putting in, very soon you're going to start seeing rapid flashing beacons coordinated with them. Flashing beacons by themselves. I don't agree that they work very well.

But with the speed hump and with the technology that we're putting in with a street light that's on top of that's going to highlight the crosswalk, it's going to be tremendous. So those are the types of pieces that we're putting in to ensure that we improve safety but also manage speed while we're doing it.

Right. Okay. Mahalo. Thank you for all your work on this. Director. Thank you.

Thank you. Rep. Muraoka.

As Education and Board of Education? Because there's got to be some type of training for our kids. So they're street savvy, right? They know when to cross, what the stoplights mean, what the blinking hand means, what the countdown means.

And they also got to know when to get off of their bike and push their bike through across world as well as putting their phones down, walking on, you know, so much different. I mean DOT cannot just foot the blame on everything and then. No, we take the blame for everything.

That's our job.

But to your question, we have a walk wise Hawaii program where we go into different schools, start as early as possible, taking them on walks in their community to ensure that they see what pedestrian safety is supposed to look like. Bicycling League does a really good job of doing training in schools in different areas.

The problem I see though, in the past we were working with individual principals to try and get to get into the schools to talk to the kids about safety. What we're doing now is working at the upper level with Keith to try and see how we can put together a program that that goes across the system.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Rep.

Members, any other questions? Seeing none. Move on to our next measure, HB 1471, relating to transportation. Requires and appropriates fund to the Department of Transportation to install traffic actuated signals, including pedestrian and the leading pedestrian intervals and accessible pedestrian signals and detectors. Imposes an additional fee of $5 for a certificate of registration for motor vehicles to be deposited into the Safe Routes to School Program Special Fund. Vice Chair for festimony.

Department of Transportation with comments.

We support the intent with comments. On this one, LPI is important and we're upgrading all of our controllers now. We have these legacy controllers, they're like 30 years old already, that have base timings and peak timings that make it very difficult for us to program in LPIs.

They're possible, but it makes it very difficult for the program on the system. We have a project now that's moving forward that's going to be upgrading all of our controllers statewide to ensure that we can move LPIs a lot faster. It also gives us more real time data so that we can adjust fast to the needs of the public. But LPI is at a big piece. Thank you.

Department of Consumer Services, City and County of Honolulu offering comments. PATH, People for Active Transportation Hawaii, in support. Hawaii Self Advocacy Advisory Council in support. Hawaii Appleseed in support.

Aloha again, Chair, Vice Chair, and Members of the Committee. My name is Abbey Seitz, and I'm testifying on behalf of Hawaii Appleseed in support of HB 1471. We are in support of this bill as we believe it would greatly improve roadway safety, and particularly for vulnerable roadway users.

This is critically important as every year we see on average about 100 people die on our roadways with hundreds more critically injured. In 2024, a staggering 42% of the those fatalities were pedestrians in bicyclists. These tragic incidents cause a great deal of harm for the individuals involved and also is costly for our state.

We believe this bill begins to address these issues by creating requirements for leading pedestrian intervals, or LPIs, which allow pedestrians a few extra seconds to start crossing the street before the light turns green. This makes pedestrians more visible and also reduces the blind spot for drivers.

LPIs are one of the most cost effective way to reduce collisions between pedestrians and vehicles at intersections. Just as one example, in New York City they studied the effectiveness of LPIs and found that they, at the locations that they were implemented, contributed to a 34% reduction in pedestrian fatalities and serious injuries.

They also found that on average each LPI only cost about $1,200 each. This bill also generates much needed funding for the Safe Routes to School Program, which I spoke to earlier about the benefits of. So we believe in tandem with the Safe Routes to School Program funds in addition to the LPIs that this bill could be transformational for the way that our residents safely move around our islands. Thank you for the opportunity to testify.

Thank you.

Hawaii Bicycling League in support.

Aloha, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee. My name is Eduardo Hernandez with the Hawaii Bicycling League. I'd like to echo the comments my colleague from Hawaii Appleseed Center just made and then just add a few other comments for you. One example, an intersection where I live at the corner of Ward and Kapiolani. There are two condos across from the Blaisdell Center, and this is an intersection that prioritizes vehicles. If you are a pedestrian, if you fail to push the button, we call it a beg button, you will not get the signal to walk.

We need, pedestrians across the state need that few extra seconds to get out in front of the traffic to be visible. Also, as paired with the Safe Routes to School Program, we're talking about more than 100 people a year dying. That's the equivalent of a Lahaina Fire, you know, fire tragedy every single year on our roadways. We need to do something significant, and this is a relatively low cost technology to implement and, and to help fund our Safe Routes to School. Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Department of Health offering comments.

Good morning. I'm Lola Irvin representing Dr. Kenny Fink for the Department of Health. So thank you, Chair Kila and Vice Chair Grandinetti and Committee Members, for the opportunity to provide comments. I echo the comments from our Department of Transportation colleague. And from the Department of Health perspective, we want fair and just opportunity for people to be healthy.

And we applaud the Department of Transportation's efforts to work towards that, knowing that the environment can hinder or actually by default provide the opportunity for safe physical activity. So we have been working on start Living Healthy to get people to move and be active and do it as a default, right? Step out the door, take a walk. Well, that means we need those healthy environments to do so. We also need people to understand what we mean by Vision Zero, getting to that point of zero fatalities on the road.

So we have been working with our colleague in the Department of Transportation and the counties. In focus groups, we have learned that people kept saying, Sara Yara, you know, in terms of what happened, she was on a crosswalk. And people in Hawaii care, and they want to know how to be part of that solution. So we're working on messaging with our colleagues so that we can educate.

As Representative Muraoka talked about, how do we get people to understand why we have these road treatments? And so that's what we're working towards so people can embrace it. Right? Because we can build it, and we need to make our roads safer, and we want people to understand and embrace it. It's for all of us, and especially our keiki. And so things like the leading pedestrian intervals, where I cross the street all the time in downtown, and it's hard to be visible when I'm only 5ft 2.

So it's really great if I can be visible before the cars start turning towards me on Punchbowl. And then if I have a colleague on a wheelchair or somebody pushing a stroller, it's great to give them that fair opportunity to be visible. And it's fair to the vehicular driver too, to go, oh, I see them now. Right. Give everyone an opportunity to see each other. So I appreciate the opportunity to provide comments. Thank you.

Yeah, same thing at five foot two. I feel you.

Ulupono Initiative in support.

Thank you, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee. Mariah Yoshizu on behalf of Ulupono Initiative in support of this measure. There's a lot that's already been said. I think that, you know, everybody has summarized this one very well. We just wanted to note that LPIs, or the leading pedestrian intervals, are an underutilized Federal Highway Administration proven safety countermeasure that is effective in reducing roadway fatalities and serious injuries and is strongly encouraged for widespread implementation.

They increase the visibility of pedestrians, reduce conflicts between the drivers and pedestrians, and then improve the likelihood of drivers yielding to pedestrians in the crosswalks. I'll also echo just the previous sentiments from the previous sentiments from the last measure with the proposed fee for the motor vehicle registration. It would help provide sustainable funding source for the Safe Routes to School Program, as we have an immense need to implement these infrastructure projects and help our keiki getting to and from school. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization in support. Hawaii Public Health Institute in support on Zoom.

Aloha, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee. My name is Lauren Loor. I'm the Healthy Eating Active Living Program Manager at Hawaii Public Health Institute. We stand on our written testimony in strong support of HB 1471. A lot has been said that we echo as well, but just that we also support LPIs being installed at intersections with high rates of collisions and believe that it's a worthy investment for the added fee for the Safe Routes to School Program Special Funds for the investment for the health of our keiki and the communities around our schools. So mahalo for the opportunity to testify.

Thank you.

And we have 20 additional individuals in support and one in opposition. Is there anyone else in person or on Zoom who'd like to testify?

Seeing none. Members, any questions? Rep. Evslin, and then Rep. La Chica. Rep. Evslin.

I was not fixing my hair. A question for Eduardo. You mentioned the beg button, or whatever you refer to it as, which I agree is frustrating. Often you get there like one second after the cycle has changed and you got to wait for two full cycles before you can cross. But so would the LPI address that? I understand the leading part of it, but this would also require that the signal changes?

I would have to defer to my colleague at Transportation on that. But those few extra seconds, if we got it, it would make such a difference.

Okay, thank you. I guess I have a question for Ed. Thank you, Director Sniffen, for being here. So it wouldn't address that is what? And then also I often bike. And an issue on a bike is that you get to a red light, especially on Kauai, and if it's a not a busy day and there's no other cars, the signal will never change because it doesn't like, sense that you're there. Nothing in here would address that?

No, it wouldn't. It's all that electromagnetic that it senses. That's why.

Yeah. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Appreciate that.

Thank you. Well, I will say the new signals that we're putting in, the adaptive signals, they're not just sensing electromagnetic, they're also cameras. So the new systems that are coming in are going to be addressing most things that come through.

Okay. Just to kind of elaborate on that. The big issue with that on a bicycle is that I end up having to cross to the crosswalk to press the crosswalk signal, and then it makes a funky. Then you're crossing all the way back across.

Only because you do it right. Most of the people just going to shoot across the road. I mean, realistically, we see it all the time. Right. But that's what we're trying to address, to make sure that everybody can follow the law and be efficient about it.

Yeah. Okay. Appreciate that. Thank you.

Thank you, Rep. Evslin, for not breaking the law.

I do have a question either for Director or for Director Irvin. What has happened with the Safe Routes to School Program? Like, has it still been active or since the pandemic, do we still have a Safe Routes to School Program Coordinator?

There's two programs. There's one federal program that was mandated by FHWA. That program has a lot of strings to it. Very difficult for community to use it because first you got to understand how to run the federal process or you got to have a partner that runs this federal process. Mostly it's usually the counties.

And second, most of the funding can be used just for one time actions. It cannot be used to sustain a program long term. So it's very difficult for many to use that program. There's also a state Safe Routes to School Program that the Legislature took back from the DOT.

You don't have that in place right now?

We don't have it. It's with the Legislature now. So they felt that we weren't expanding it. But the difficulty again is the state can't use that money. It has to be used by counties or other community groups who couldn't deliver on the programs. I think there was like seven. I mean it's very small money at the time, so adding this funding is going to be tremendous in making sure that you can push bigger projects through those areas. But that's no longer under the DOT.

So the Safe Route. Is there still a Safe Route? So there's still a Safe Routes to School Special Fund? Is there still a Safe Routes to School Program Coordinator in each of the counties?

That I'm not sure.

Would you know, Director Irvin, if there's still infrastructure in each of the counties? or will Lauren, would you know if there's still a coalition?

Yes, and there are still coordinators as well.

There are county coordinators employed by the counties and they're still meeting about the Vision Zero?

Yes. With the HEAL Coalitions, we'll also meet with the Safe Routes to School Coordinators to talk about Vision Zero. But definitely any Safe Routes to School projects or the walk to school days, if there's anything like that happening. Sort of the software, as they call it, projects as well.

Okay. Okay. Just wanna... Yeah. If you have anything to add, Director.

Thank you for the question. Yes, the Department of Health does fund partially for the Healthy Eating Active Living coalitions across the counties, and we do that with general funds and special, I mean federal funds. So we do fund them. We'll also continue working with the counties in terms of things like the quick build projects that are part of the Safe Routes, and especially in communities that have lower SES, lower socioeconomic status, Title 1 schools. So the counties are active.

And I, and I think just for a matter of clarification, in HB 1471, Section 6, page 10, does cite where you'll find the special fund for Safe Routes to School. It's in Section 29-4, and it does give a mechanism for a task force that meets and then makes determination. But I would have to defer to Chair Sniffen, I mean Director Sniffen, in terms of how the funds are appropriated.

Yeah, but it looks like if the Legislature hasn't looked at it or hasn't been investing in it in the past few years, maybe it looks like we're looking at it now and looks like we have mechanisms in place to start reinvesting in the fund and looking at it as a... Thank you. Thank you so much, Director.

Members, any other questions?

I have one more question. Can I... Abbey had her hand up. Did you want, did you have something to add?

Wait, come to the mic.

Thank you. I just wanted to address your question. There is a Safe Routes Advisory Committee that has been meeting. They started meeting last year, maybe in September, I want to say. And they were meeting about every two weeks, and now they meet every month.

And there is a committee report that they have submitted to the Legislature about the work that they're doing and the projects that, mostly county projects that they proposed, but there's also been an effort to identify all the state projects for Safe Routes to School as well.

Who is, who leads, who's the organization that leads those meetings?

It's actually our Director of Transportation Policy and Programs, Katie Rooney from Ulupono Initiative.

And then those meet, the reports are posted online in Ulupono's website?

They are on the DOT's website, I believe, all the reports are.

There's a Safe Route to... Oh, wait a minute. Safe Routes to School Program website on the DOT website. Okay. Okay. Thank you.

Director Sniffen.

This is a working group that was put together two years ago. The Legislature had told us we got to get more active in active transportation projects than we have. We let the legislation know, if you really want the projects, give us 50 million in general funds and we'll get it done.

You know, instead, the Legislature locked up 10 million of our funds for two years to put into this program that would be guided by this Committee. The Committee didn't meet the first year. They came in and met the second year. But instead of looking at state projects, they looked at all county projects.

In general, I'm not supportive of sending 10 million of the state's funds into the counties. The counties have funding in those areas. They should be addressing their areas. So we let them know we sent them projects that the state has on their areas to reconsider for those portions, especially if it's state funds only. And again, we are very supportive of the counties' projects and consider that the whole system is a statewide system, but I think everybody got to be responsible for their areas.

Duly noted.

I have one more question for Ed. Thanks. This one... So in your testimony, asked for the bill to be amended to evaluate for use of LPI rather than requiring instead installation. That makes sense. But I was also wondering, aside from like evaluating for prioritization, you mentioned evaluating for feasibility. Can you like, in what situation would an LPI not be feasible?

In areas where there's no pedestrians. I mean, there's portions of our system that don't allow pedestrians because there's an overpass. In those portions that, I mean, LPIs just shouldn't be in place. Right. So we would be looking at areas first that we would prioritize on the system, and after our system is upgraded with our new controllers, would be really easy for us to do. But when we do that, we want to make sure that we can prioritize them that way.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you. And then Members, I do want to note when I received the report, all Members on the Transportation Committee got the Safe Routes to School Report, and I can have my staff resend it if you folks would like. Okay. Seeing none. Sorry. Seeing no further questions. We'll move on to our next measure.

HB 235, relating to traffic safety, requires the Department of Transportation to expand the use of photo red light imaging detector systems and automated space enforcement systems to locations on the North Shore of Oahu. Vice Chair for testimony.

Judiciary with comments.

Aloha. Good morning, Chair. Ernest Delima again, on behalf of the Judiciary. In relation to HB 235, additional imaging detector systems and automated speed enforcement systems on the North Shore, we'd just like to make a couple of comments here.

I guess, you know, any additional citations that are going to come out of that particular area would be processed by our Wahiawa District Court, which is a small operation and would have potential impacts on that operation as noted in our written testimony.

We also would like the Committee to consider if this bill continues to move forward, amending Section 2b to read that in selecting these locations, the Department of Transportation shall seek public input from the community and the Judiciary, if that's something the Committee could consider. Thank you. And we're available for questions.

Department of Transportation in support.

Thank you. We support with the same concerns that we had on preference to different areas. We'll work with the courts on this consideration. And one of the things that we're asking for is if all of these e-ticketing, can we can go through one location?

Instead of going in different areas, if we can set up one location throughout for these e-ticketing to go through it be easier for everybody from our perspective, but we got to work with them now. Thank you.

Thank you.

Department of Law Enforcement in support. Frank Schultz in opposition. Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization in support and Edgardo Diaz Vega individual in support. Is there anyone else in person or on Zoom who'd like to testify?

Thank you. Vice Chair Members. Any questions? Seeing now move on to our next measure. HB334 relating to traffic citations, authorizes Department Law Enforcement to establish traffic cameras and issues a citation by mail for certain violations of traffic related laws. Establishes the intentional destruction or damage to a traffic camera as a class C felony.

Vice Chair for testimony Judiciary offering comments.

Aloha Again Chair Kila Committee Members Ernest Delima on behalf of the judiciary. We've submitted our written testimony on this and again it's similar concerns for the judiciary is the increase in potential citations that would come out of these systems. Thank you. Thank you.

Department of Law Enforcement in support Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization in support Policing Project at NYU School of Law in opposition, ACLU of Hawaii in opposition Frank Schultz, individual in opposition and Edgardo Diaz Vega individual in support. Is there anyone else in person or on Zoom who'd like to testify? Fine.

Thank you. Members, any questions?

Morocco the Judiciary Judiciary hello. Is the so you guys main I don't want to say objection, but is it be the courts backing up? Is that the main.

Point? Yes, that would be that's potentially one of the issues we have concerns with currently. There's a lack of interfaces as well with some of the current electronic systems. So when those citations come in, they come in as an image and then our staff then have to manually input those citations into the current Judiciary's information management system.

So as you can imagine, just with the current red lights that are in place with those additional citations coming in, that's a lot of additional work that's being done by the existing staff.

So you know, through all these bills and the potential for all of these additional cameras to be set up statewide, those workload issues can magnify significantly.

Is there a way maybe you guys could work with the DOT and some of the fines that these red lights issue, maybe hire additional personnel?

We definitely are willing to work with the DOT. Rep. That's, that's not a problem. And, and to explore considerations like that.

All right, thank you.

Thank you. Rep. And I I want to point there there was a measure we previously moved out of the Transportation Committee to actually help address your concern. Members, any other questions? Okay. See none. Members Moving on to our next measure, HB 941 relating to pedestrians.

Authorized pedestrians across roadways in a manner contrary to statewide traffic code under certain circumstances. Vice Chair for testimony.

Department of Transportation in opposition. Department of Health offering comments.

Good morning. I'm Lola Ervin representing Director Kenny Fink for the Department of Health, offering comments. And we know that the body was meant for movement and that for optimal health, we need the opportunity to move. What happened with the introduction of automobiles was an engineering of physical activity out of our daily lives, right.

And it was done to our environment as well as socially. So the term jaywalking, jay means to be foolish, so somebody who jaywalks is foolish. So again, we're working with our colleagues to get back into Everybody has a right to the street and roadway.

And so we do hope that we will be able to have policies and environments that support everyone having a right to use the road and that if we can be reasonably careful persons, and that is a term that we have to put in our contracts.

So it's not an unusual term to use, to use words that everybody should understand. A reasonably careful person can cross the street because there isn't a crosswalk and there are no cars coming their way. But that is a matter for comments. And so thank you for the opportunity to provide.

Thank you.

HPD in opposition, Hawaii Appleseed in support.

Hello. Good morning. I'm Trinity from Hawaii Appleseed and we are testifying in support of HB 941 and have also provided suggested amendments. We support this Bill because jaywalking citation impacts a large number of residents in Hawaii.

Based on data we collected from the Judiciary, on average, over 5,000 jaywalking tickets are given out each year, almost all of which are on Oahu. This is significantly higher than other states. For example, while Hawaii issues 349 jaywalking tickets per 100,000 people, Washington state only issue six per 100,000 people.

Most jaywalking tickets on Oahu are between $130 and $180. The steep fines disproportionately impacts Hawaii low-income residents and depends existing—and deepens existing—inequalities. Despite a high number of citations in Hawaii, jaywalk enforcement does not produce large sums of money for our local government.

Unpaid fines for individual also leads to serious consequences including damage to credit scores, barriers to employment and housing opportunity. Additionally, we recommend omitting the Bill to remove requirements that pedestrians must be more than 200 feet from a marked crosswalk, as it will be difficult to enforce.

Should the Committee feel it is necessary to restrict applicability of this Bill, my apologies, we suggest focusing on roadways that are two lanes wide or smaller. We believe this is more practical and can be easily assessed by both law enforcement and pedestrians. Ultimately, we seek to shift the approach away from excessive fines and towards building safer pedestrian infrastructure for all. Mahalo for your time in considering this Bill.

Thank you.

Hawaii Bicycling League in support.

Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee. This is a law that—it's not working, and it is demonstrating—brings inequity and inequality into our legal system. We just heard the Judiciary talking about how overloaded they are with, with cases, and it doesn't add safety. At the HBL, safety is our, you know, we lead with that.

That is the number one concern for our organization. But jaywalking is, doesn't—jaywalking laws haven't made us safer. We continue to see roadway deaths on our roadway that are just awful. So, thank you so much for this opportunity to testify. Thank you.

Grassroots Institute of Hawaii in support. Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization in support. Hawaii Public Health Institute in support on Zoom.

Aloha, Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee. Lauren Loor, Healthy Eating Active Living Program Manager with Hawaii Public Health Institute. We stand on our written testimony in strong support of HB 941.

This is another solution to get Hawaii's residents and communities active in their built environment and by taking away barriers to walk will lead to better health for our residents. So, just echoing the comments from DoH, and thank you so much for the opportunity to testify today.

Thank you.

Keiki Injury Prevention Coalition in opposition. And five individuals in support and one in opposition. Is there anyone else in person or online who would like to testify?

Thank you, Vice Chair. Members, any questions? Okay seeing none. Members, HB 1260, related to transportation, requires each county in collaboration with the Department of Transportation to establish a summer streets pilot program that closes vehicular traffic and repurposes roads for pedestrian and cyclists use, outdoor events and other community-driven activities.

Requires each county to submit an initial proposal to Director of Transportation, appropriates funds. Vice Chair for Testimony.

Department of Transportation in support.

Thank you.

Hawaii County Council offering comments? Hawaii County Council District 1 in support. People for Active Transportation Hawaii in support. Hawaii Bicycling League in support.

Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee, thank you for this opportunity to testify. You have my written testimony before you. There were a couple other things that I wanted to highlight that came up after I submitted that written testimony. In the bill, it cites that this model is based on a program in Malmö, Sweden that was started in 2017.

Actually, the history of open streets dates back more than 50 years to Bogota, Colombia. They have had a program of open streets since 1974. They're a city of approximately 9 million people and every Sunday they have about 70 miles of streets that are dedicated just for walking, biking and rolling.

This is a project that exists in more than 400 cities around the world and there's numerous data that supports the socioeconomic and health benefits of open streets.

With that being said, the bill-- the pilot doesn't have any timeline for the implementation to occur, so I would recommend putting some kind of date so that we can get started on moving this project if it does pass. Furthermore, the bill does have a funding appropriation requirement to it and and that's a critical component.

If this bill passes without any funding, it becomes an unfunded mandate to the counties and it won't happen. So it needs to have at least some funding so that Hawaii can do this.

I think if we did it at the state level, I think we would be the first state in the United States to adopt an open streets at the state level.

It would be wonderful for our visitor industry programming to get visitors out of cars and on bikes and to experience some of the most beautiful roads in the country walking, riding and rolling. Thank you for this opportunity to testify.

Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization and support. Hawai'i Appleseed in support.

Thank you, Chair, Vice Chair. We stand on our written testimonies.

Cycle On Hawaii in support. Kauai Path in support. Department of Health in support.

Thank you, Chair and Vice Chair. I'm Lola Irvin with the Department of Health speaking on behalf of Director Kenny Fink. And we do support it with our colleague from the Department of Transportation. Summer streets and play street site programs allow children to be physically active, Ohana to come out and people to connect.

And so then we have then the benefits in terms of physical activity as well as emotional and community health. We do provide a link on our testimony. We like to footnote whatever we do, but there's a live link and we had a small example of it called Play Streets in Kailua-- not Kailua, Kauai.

And so it'll give you kind of a visual in terms of what it might look like. So Kauai is piloting this and it's moved from a pilot to something that they can spread. The county is working on it. We had a Covid grant that was to work on increasing physical activity and also to build resilience through community connectedness.

And so something like a summer streets program or play streets is a really great way to do that. And during COVID it was a safe way to do that so people could be physically active and then connected and not isolated and not pass around Covid. So thank you for the opportunity to testify.

Thank you.

Keiki Injury Prevention Coalition in support. Paul Bernstein individual in support on Zoom. And we have 15 additional individuals in support. Is there anyone else in person or online who'd like to testify?

Thank you, Vice Chair. Members, any questions? Muraoka.

Bicycling League. Can you give me an example of what this would look like and what type of area you guys are wanting to do this on?

Sure. We have-- there's many places that on each island, beautiful roads and we're asking for a few-- this project would ask for a few hours a year that it would be closed to vehicular traffic.

So 24/7 the roads are only for cars and a few hours a year to close them for people to enjoy them walking, riding and rolling. I could think of places. The Kaiwi coastline on Oahu to close that for a few hours on a Sunday during the summer. A place that we've had small pilot projects before.

Waikiki Kalakaua Avenue was closed during COVID. One thing, there was an event that happened about four times. It was called the Race to the Base. And it involved the H-3 highway. And I didn't get to personally participate, but the H-3 is one of the most beautiful highways in the United States.

And if it could be closed for a few hours for people to walk, ride and roll, people would come from all over the world just to do that one day to ride their bike on the H-3 or even part of the H-3. It's a mind shift-- As I said in Bogota, it happens.

There's a city of 9 million people. It does involve changing habits. People will have to figure out how they're going to get around that day. But everywhere where they've done it, in New York City, I linked in my testimony the economic benefits that they found when they do it in corridors.

It gets people out in business communities. We could do it along King Street on Oahu for several miles on a Sunday afternoon. We could do it-- You know, there's many lists.

The bicycling league would be glad to sit down with the counties and the state and make our recommendations for which roadways would be best suited for something like this. And it wouldn't--

You know, of course, I think there's accounting for taking up only part of the road so that you can still have emergency access and so on, depending where you do it. In New York City, they have an event called the Five Boro Bike Tour, and it takes people on major highways.

The FDR Drive, the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, and then up and over the Verrazzano Bridge. Those are also federal highways. They managed to close them for bicycling. People come from all over the world to experience those roadways that you never get to see. So did I answer your question or--

You gave me an idea of it. But here in Oahu, I just-- excuse me, here in Hawaii, most of our roadways already have bike lanes on them, right. And those that don't have bike lanes are still accessible by bike.

Sure.

My concern-- Sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off. My concern is closing off the roads to provide a free deal for bikes, roller skates, skateboards and what have you. When I pay my registration, I pay to use that road. So now asking us to shut down that road, I just don't see the fairness in that.

Well, the fairness is that you have that road for cars 24/7. But our roads belong to everyone, whether you have enough money to own a car or not. And as a cyclist, for instance, in East Oahu, on Kalanianaʻole Highway, I don't feel safe myself riding on the shoulder because cars go too fast and there's often debris in the shoulder.

And if there could be a few hours that it would be closed to traffic, it would allow us-- So it is a matter of fairness. It's like, we're not asking you for it to be every day, all day, every week. This is a pilot. Try it. Let's see.

The experience in other cities where they've piloted has been that people love it. And what we hear at the bicycling league is that people don't ride bicycles because they don't feel safe. An event like this would help people to feel safer because they could bring keiki, they could bring kupuna, and they could try what it's like.

I mean, I understand, but for me, the argument would be, we already have parks. We already have this. And the counter argument is, me as a vehicle driver, I cannot take my vehicle for three hours a year to go drive on the beautiful Pearl Harbor bike path that is designated for walking, running, hiking, and so on.

So again, is it something that the taxpayers would have to pay up? When we pay registration, again, like I said, we pay to use these roads. Now you're asking for them to be closed.

Registration does not pay for the entire upkeep of roads. So our roads are paid for by everyone who pays taxes. So it's not fair to keep roads, which are literally our biggest resource, they're bigger than our parks in terms of miles. We have more miles of roadway than we have acreage in state parks.

So a few hours a year to dedicate it, to have people get out of their cars and to experience the environment. If you've ever ridden here in Tantalus, up Tantalus, you go in your car, it's beautiful. You go on a bike, it's a whole different experience.

And you're like, you really get to treasure this beautiful place that we live and respect the aina a few hours a year.

Thank you.

Thank you. And thank you. You Have A. Ed. Do you want to respond to some of Rep. Morocca stuff? Okay, thank you. Members, any other questions? Okay, last measure. HB144. HB 1444, relate to motor vehicles, requires motor vehicle safety inspections to be conducted every two years rather than annually. Vice Chair for the Testimony.

Department of Transportation in opposition.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Department of Customer Services, City and County of Honolulu in offering comments. And then we have 16 additional individuals in support and one in opposition. Is there anyone else in person or on Zoom who'd Like to testify?

Members, any questions?

Okay.

See now we're going to reconvening the 10am agenda here in the House Committee of Transportation for decision making on the following measures we just heard, Members. Our first measure, HB 1163 relating to commercial driver's licensing. Let's adopt the HD1 and then we'll do some numerous tech amendments for fixing fixing the style, formatting, clarity, consistency and style.

And I will defect the effective date July 1st, 3000. Members, questions, comments or concerns?

Vice Chair for the vote, please

Voting on HB 1163. Chair's recommendation is to pass with amendments. [Roll Call] Chair, your recommendation is adopted.

Thank you. Members, move on to our next measure, HB 1166 related to automated speed enforcement systems programs. Let's adopt HD1. I'll do tech amendments for clarity, consistency and style. I will blank the appropriation amount in this pro in this measure and I'll note in the Committee report the requested amount.

I'll defect the effective date July 1st, 3000 and that is my recommendation. Members, questions, comments or concerns? Seeing none. Vice Chair for the vote, please.

Voting on HB 1166. Chair's recommendation is to pass with amendments noting the excused absence of absences of Representatives Cochran, Evslin and Kitagawa for all further measures on this agenda unless otherwise noted. Are there any representatives voting? No or with reservations. Chair, your recommendation is adopted.

Thank you. Vice Chair. Members, next measure, HB 1231 relating to traffic safety. Let's adopt the HD1 defecting the effective date to July 1,3000. I'm going to remove parts of the bill in paragraph three. Sorry, I don't need to do that. Actually on page four, line five replacing the word shall with May.

Page six, line six replacing the word shall with may and then also adding language of consultation with Department of Transportation and Department of Education. I'm also going to insert language for a placeholder establishing specific percentage of fines and or maximum annual deposit amount leaving blank for further consideration by the Next Committee.

I had shared with the introducer the concern of the potential. The potential concerns we may run into is that the way that we have the rules written out for the program is that they are to be self sustaining and not necessarily generating revenue source.

So we may run into some issues later down but I will note that in the Committee report. Members, questions, comments or concerns.

Vice Chair for the vote, please voting on HB 1231. Chair's recommendation is to pass with amendments. Are there any representatives voting? No. Any with reservations? Chair, your recommendation is adopted.

Thank you, Members. Moving on to our next measure, HB 1471 related to transportation. Well, let's adopt the HD one. We'll do tech amendments for clarity, consistency and style defect the effective date to July 1, 3000. I'm going to remove any LPI language in the measure.

As Department of Transportation has noted, it's not necessary as they are working through the installation of these. And I will make sure that the Department is in communication with the Transportation Committee.

But the one thing I do want to applaud the measure is that we're floating in before the session begun looking for a funding source based on motor vehicle registration. And I think the way that we have that part of the bill is actually worth keeping alive for further discussion and funding.

So on page eight, paragraph C, I'm gonna replace the specified $5 amount with a blank and also indicate in the Committee report that the amount is subject to further deliberation by the Finance Committee. Deleting the second paragraph on page 10.

And I'll include specifying language that upon the adoption, the act shall take effect one year after its approval to allow counties sufficient time to educate the public and adjust their systems accordingly. And that date will be for now, July 1, 2026. With that, Members questions, comments or concerns seeing none. Vice Chair for the vote, please.

Voting on HB 1471. Chair's recommendation is to pass with amendments. Are there any representatives voting? No. Any with reservations. Oh, okay. Representative Pierick. Voting no. Any with reservations. Okay, Jerry, your recommendation is adopted.

Thank you, Members. Moving on to our next measure, HB235. This is relating to traffic safety. Members, let's adopt the HD1 with tech amendment for clarity, consistency and style, effecting the effective date July 1, 3000. I'm going to adopt the amendments recommended by the judiciary and also acknowledge their concerns in the Committee report.

I also include language specifying that upon the adoption, the actual take effect one year after its approval to allow the counties and judicial system enough time to educate the public and adjust their systems accordingly. With that Members questions, comments or concerns seeing none. Vice Chair for the vote.

Voting on HB235. Chair's recommendation is to pass with amendments. Any representatives voting? No. Any with reservations. Chair, your recommendation is adopted.

Thank you, Vice Chair. Moving on to our next measure, HB334 relating to traffic citations, let's adopt the HD1. I'm going to do tech amendments for clarity, consistency and style and we're going to defect the effective date to July 1, 3000.

I will amend the bill to really only retain the language in Section 1, page 3 paragraphs F and G and I'll expand its applicability to all state agency owned cameras and county owned cameras.

There were some issues as the way the bill was written, but I do want to apply the introducer because I think keeping the one part that the intentional damage or obstruction of any of these cameras should be constituted as a Class C felony because in the way that you would have to expose yourself to traffic and the situation to do so is creating a dangerous situation for everyone.

So with that Members questions, comments or concerns? Seeing none. Vice Chair for the vote.

Voting on HB334. Chair's recommendation is to pass with amendments. Are there any representatives voting? No. Any with reservations. Chair, your recommendations adopted.

Thank you Members. Moving on to HB 941 relating to pedestrians, I want to note that there was concerns made brought up by some of the Committee Members and at this time unfortunately I do need to defer the measure and we can revisit it later. With that. Moving on to our next measure, HB 1260 related to transportation.

I like this program more that I kind of got to learn about it, but excuse me HB 1260. Let's adopt HD1. Members, if you will indulge me. Technical amendments for clarity, consistency and style will defect the effective date, July 1, 3000.

The two year pilot program will be applicable to counties with a population of 250,000 or less and this show sunset upon the conclusion of the two year period unless extended or made permanent by the Legislature.

I will also require the Department of Transportation and participating counties to submit annual reports to the Legislature no later than 30 days prior to the convening of each regular session.

These reports shall include at minimum, an assessment of the benefits and drawbacks of the pilot program, data on traffic crashes or absence thereof, pedestrian related data and feedback from participating counties and consultation with participating businesses, law enforcement agencies and other applicable partners. I do want to note that there was language for several reports.

All these reports will be funneled by one agency, which is DOT. They will be the one submitting DOT will be facilitating your report. I don't want 20 different reports coming to the Legislature. One report and everyone will participate.

I'm also going to blank the appropriation amounts indicated indicated in the measure and I will note the original requested amount in the Committee report for further deliberation and consideration by the Finance committees with that Members questions, comments or concerns?

I have a comment.

I really appreciated the concerns of Representative. Morocco, but I also wanted, I like, I recognize that his district's infrastructure constraints are completely different from mine. And I could really see something like this working. I represent the Diamond Head area and Diamond Head Drive is constantly closed off for things like races.

Yes.

But the general public can't enjoy that road in the same way unless they, you know, sign up and pay the registration fee for the race. So I, I could see something like this being really popular in my district, which has the capacity and is already used to those kinds of road closures.

Could walk along Diamond Head and then down Montserrat and go shopping. So I know Oahu would be exempted, but just wanted to add that like it would be, you know, something like this should be attuned to the community's needs, but it could work in a lot of places.

Yeah. And I thank you, Vice Chair, for that sentiment. And we were discussing during our recess that I think some areas have this, I don't want to use the word privilege, but infrastructure privilege that exists that unfortunately, areas like where me and Morocco represent, we just don't have the infrastructure.

But I think it can work in the areas where it exists. And I think in that intent, I want to pilot it in a smaller area for us to see it through that should it become a larger set thing, we have data to prove it works and how it can impact or not impact our local communities.

So with that sentiment from the Vice Chair, Members, any other questions, comments or concerns? Concerns?

Okay, Vice Chair for the vote voting on HB 1260. Chair's recommendation is to pass with amendments. Are there any Members voting no? Okay. With reservations. Okay, Chair, your recommendation is adopted.

Thank you, Members. Last measure, HB 1444. I was trying to work on some things, but after further deliberation discussion with the Committee, we could not come to a consensus. So unfortunately at this time I have to defer this measure and seeing no further business before the Committee.

I will see you folks after bills crossover.