October Meeting Summary
Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization’s (OMPO) Citizen Advisory Committee vice Chair Mr. Joe Magaldi and City DTS Engineer Ms. Jolie Yee spoke at ITE Hawaii Section October Meeting on October 24, 2007.
Mr. Joe Magaldi informed us about importance of the Citizen Advisory Committee of OMPO. Citizen input to transportation planning is a necessity. To help achieve this, the Policy Committee approved the formation of the Citizen Advisory Committee in 1977. The CAC is the foundation of OahuMPO’s public involvement process. The CAC is a volunteer group consisting of representatives from community organizations, professional associations, neighborhood boards, and the private sector. It provides an avenue for obtaining public input for Policy Committee deliberations on transportation issues. Besides providing input directly to the Policy Committee, the CAC assists in developing public involvement programs to solicit general public input for the Policy Committee. Comments received from the CAC members and non-members are treated equally. The CAC meets about once a month. These meetings are open to the public and provide an opportunity for interested parties to hear and discuss transportation issues with the appropriate project administrators or decision-makers. The CAC members are organizations and groups interested in transportation planning, representing various segments of the population on Oahu. CAC members are appointed by the Policy Committee
Ms. Jolie Yee educated us about the next generation of buses – hybrid buses. The City is expending hybrid buses fleet. Ms. Yee compared pros and cons between the regular diesel buses and the hybrid buses. While the hybrid buses offer high mileage, low emission, quieter exterior, better handling, they also cost more, and requires different maintenance techniques, and higher clearance in some cases. The City is gradually replacing its current 500 plus diesel bus fleet with hybrid buses.
——————————————————————————–
September Meeting Summary
The September luncheon meeting was held on September 20, 2007 at the Municipal Building. Mr. Leslie Segundo of State Hawaii Office of Environmental Quality Control was the guest speaker. Mr. Segundo introduced that OEQC’s primary function is to help stimulate, expand and coordinate efforts to maintain the optimum quality of the State’s environment. OEQC implements the Environmental Impact Statement law, Chapter 343, Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS). Office planners review and comment on hundreds of environmental disclosure documents each year.
Mr. Segundo demonstrated the State Environmental Review Process flowchart and explained the circumstances that trigger Environmental Access (EA) and Environmental Impact Study (EIS).
Mr. Segundo also indicated that there are differences in definitions, understandings, and requirements between Federal and State Environmental Laws. These differences often cause confusion in the public perspective. A steamline approach is more reasonable and sometimes acceptable to both Federal and State.
——————————————————————————–
August Meeting Summary
The August luncheon meeting was held on August 23, 2007 at the Municipal Building. Deputy Prosecutor Renee Sonobe Hong of the City’s Prosecutor’s Office and Sergeant Bob Lung of Honolulu Police Department were the guest speakers.
Ms. Hong began with an overview of the prosecutor office‘s functions and legal jurisdictions. She cited the prosecutor’s duties pertaining to traffic violation, DUI, and crash fatality cases. She explained the procedural arraignments and proceedings through the court system. She highlighted various types of traffic violations, in particular, DUI cases. She noted the significant role that the district court judge plays in making the final ruling and issuing the appropriate penalty. She elaborated on the consequences of a no-contest plea in the criminal case and its implication in a subsequent civil case. She shared some reasons claimed by defendants in pleading their innocent. A frequent claim made by defendants is that the traffic controls were not clearly visible. In general, she believes that the penalties are adequate to curtail and deter reckless driving. She concluded that only specific, relevant, and factual evidence must be presented to the judge by any defendant for a favorable outcome.
Mr. Lung presented various statistics regarding the quantity of arrests for DUI, speeding violations, and pedestrian-related violations. Also, Mr. Lung reported that State of Hawaii ranks high in the rate of deaths attributed to DUI accidents. Mr. Lung elaborated about the new pedestrian laws recently passed by the legislature. He spoke on the intent, meaning, and conditions regarding the new pedestrian laws. Also, Mr. Lung explained the situations where HPD would issue a ticket for a violation. Mr. Lung identified several examples of how and when the new pedestrian laws would be applicable under typical and questionable circumstances. Mr. Lung also cited what type of driver behaviors would constitute red-light running or stop sign violations. Mr. Lung covered the penalties for various violations, which may include monetary fines, suspension or revocation of the driver license. According to the latest statistics, HPD is stepping up its enforcement efforts. Mr. Lung closed with an update of the latest attempts by the legislature to revive the van-cams and red-light running camera enforcement programs.
——————————————————————————–
July Meeting Summary
The July luncheon meeting was held on July 21, 2007 at the Municipal Building. The featured speakers were Ms. Jaime Ho and Mr. Brandon Hee from the State DOT.
Ms. Ho, a DOT Engineering Manager, outlined various Federal and State programs can apply for rockslide mitigation. She also explained the funding and prioritizing procedure and once a rockslide happened. Mr. Hee, a DOT Geotechnical Engineer, explained the State’s proactive inspections program and illustrates several measures to stabilize a possible rockslide site. He also gave some pictures examples of rockslide mitigations along Kailua Road, Oahu, Kamehameha Highway at Waimea, Oahu, and Hoonuapiilani Highway, Maui.
——————————————————————————–
June Meeting Summary
The June luncheon meeting was held on June 21, 2007 at the Honolulu Municipal Building. The featured speakers were Mr. Dick Riegels from Stanford Carr Development LLC and Ms. Sue Tilden of InfraConsult.
Mr. Riegels spoke about several Stanford Carr Developments on Oahu, Maui, and Big Island including the recently completed the Hawaii Kai Peninsula development. Mr. Riegels offered a developer’s view, decision-making, and lessons-learned about traffic issues. Ms. Tilden explained the ABCs of Transit Oriented Development (TOD). Ms Tilden introduced the key characteristics of TOD, the definition of “Complete Street” and smart growth and their relationships with TOD. She also discussed the TOD in the context of climate changes and most impedance to implementing TOD.
——————————————————————————–
May Meeting Summary
The May luncheon meeting was held on May 24, 2006 at the Honolulu Municipal Building. The guess speakers were Laverne Higa, Director of Facilities & Maintenance, City and County Honolulu, and Robert Nehmad, Sales Associate of 3M Hawaii.
Ms. Higa spoke about the city’s efforts in preserving the riding conditions and other pertinent features on their roadways. She also provided details of their accomplishments and challenges that resulted after the heavy rain experienced in early 2006. Mr. Nehmad presented 3M’s exceptional traffic sign and pavement marking materials and how they are well suited for Hawaii’s roadways and it’s varying environmental conditions.
April Meeting Summary
Darin Mar, City and County Honolulu Department of Transportation Services, and Melissa McFerrin, Hawaii Superferry CR Manager, spoke at Hawaii ITE April Meeting on April 26, 2007. Mr. Mar introduced Oahu intra ferry running from Barber Point, Kapolei to Aloha Tower, Down Town Honolulu. The intra ferry is aimed at serving the commuting patrons between Kapolei and Downtown Honolulu. The Bus will be orientated to feed the ferry during morning and afternoon peak hours. The intra-ferry will be launched in July 2007.
Ms. McFerrin discussed Hawaii Superferry which will serve between Oahu and Maui, Oahu and Kauai. Hawaii Superferry will be able to accommodate not only walk-on passengers, but also passengers with vehicle and commercial transportation. Beginning in July, Hawaii Superferry will offer daily service between Oahu and Maui and service between Oahu and Kauai six days a week (Mon-Fri and Sun). When the second ferry arrives in 2009, the service between Oahu and the Island of Hawaii, and a second daily Oahu-Maui roundtrip will be offered. Travel from Oahu and Kauai and Oahu and Maui will take approximately 3 hours, and approximately 4 1/2 hours to the Island of Hawai‘i.
——————————————————————————–
Fuel Cell Vehicle Facility Tour
The Hawaii Center for Advanced Transportation Technologies (HCATT) hosted a tour of the fuel cell vehicle facility at Hickam Air Force Base on March 9, 2007. The tour was attended by ITE student members from the University of Hawaii, their faculty advisor, Ricardo Archilla, and several other Hawaii Section members. The tour was led by Mr. Tom Quinn, HCATT Director. Attendees were transported to Hickam Air Force Base by bus where Mr. Quinn provided a short presentation about HCATT and their on-going work with fuel cell vehicles at Hickam. After the presentation, attendees were taken on a tour of the hydrogen production and refueling station, and allowed to take a close look at the three fuel cell vehicles currently at Hickam (bus, step van, and tow tractor). The tour concluded with a hydrogen refueling demonstration of the bus. For more information about HCATT and the work being done at Hickam, HCATT has provided a copy of theirPowerpoint Presentation online. Also, visit the Events Gallery to see photos from the tour!
——————————————————————————–
March Meeting Summary
The University of Hawaii (UH) ITE Student Chapter hosted the March Hawaii ITE Chapter Meeting on 3/23/2007. Cathy Leong presented $750 check to the UH Student Chapter. The money came from the total $1,500 that the District Board returned the 2006 annual meeting surplus to the Honolulu LAC.
The student members discussed two technical research and analysis projects. The first project was Local Calibration of Saturation Flow Defined by HCM. The data showed that statistical difference for Saturation Flow Rate and Start Up Lost Time collected among touristy and non-touristy intersections in Honolulu. The project was funded by District 6 Data Collection Fund. The second project was VISSIM Simulation of a Toll Plaza in Greece. Different tolling scenario were simulated and tested. The project demonstrated VISSIM’s capabilities on modeling tolling booth service time, freeway weaving and merging, and queuing. The members were also impressed by VISSIM’s powerful visualization.
——————————————————————————–
Annual Meeting Summary
The Hawaii Section Annual Meeting was held on February 22, 2007 at the Municipal Building. President Greg Hiyakumoto presented Certificates of Appreciation to the outgoing officers and committee chairs. Tellers Cathy Leong, Lee Yokomizo, and Stacy Armstrong announced that based upon a tally of the votes received for the 2007 elections, the following were elected as the incoming officers:
Paul Won, President
Don Hamada, Vice President
Honglong Li, Secretary
Steve Yoshida, Treasurer
The featured speakers were Scott Ishikawa, Public Affairs Officer of the Department of Transportation, and David Fujiwara, Senior Structural Engineer with KSF, Inc. Both Mr. Ishikawa and Mr. Fujiwara discussed what was involved in replacing the Aiea Heights Pedestrian Overpass Bridge after it was damaged by a military vehicle carrying an over height load on September 6, 2006. Mr. Ishikawa outlined the steps involved in the dissemination of information to the public, while Mr. Fujiwara discussed the engineering that took to inspect and remove the damaged overpass and to design and construct the new replacement.
Special guest, Darlene Whitlock, District 6 President, thanked Cathy Leong for co-chairing the very successful 2006 ITE District 6 meeting in Hawaii, which returned surplus funds back to District 6 after the meeting. In appreciation, Ms. Whitlock presented the Hawaii section with a $1,500 check. Ms. Whitlock also presented Pete Pascua and Casey Yanagihara with appreciation certificates and declared February 22, 2007 Pete Pascua and Casey Yanagihara day.
;
