Meeting Summary of the

Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization

CITIZEN ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Wednesday, April 4, 2007, 3:30 p.m.
Mayor’s Conference Room
Honolulu Hale, Room 301
530 South King Street, Honolulu, Hawaii

Members Present:

Committee for Balanced Transportation	Joe Magaldi, Jr., Chair
NB #10 Makiki-Lower Punchbowl-Tantalus	Charles Carole, Vice Chair
American Society of Landscape Architects	Chris Dacus
Charley’s Taxi	Dale Evans
Committee for Balanced Transportation	Frank Genadio
E Noa Corporation	Tom Dinell
Hawaii Highway Users Alliance	Darci Evans
InterAgency COORDINATION Councils	CC Curry
League of Women Voters	Jacqueline Parnell
	Pearl Johnson
NB #23 Ewa	L. Gary Bautista
	Rich Hargrave
NB #34 Makakilo-Kapolei-Honokai Hale	Michael Golojuch
NB #35 Mililani Mauka-Launani Valley	Pamela Young
Pacific Resource Partnership	Richard Kane
Tax Foundation of Hawaii	Randall Hiu
Waikiki Residents Association	Daisy Murai

Members Absent (Reps):

American Planning Association	Gene Yong
American Society of Civil Engineers	Joy Nishida
Castle & Cooke Homes Hawaii	Dean Minakami
Eye of the Pacific	Patricia Blum
Hawaii Bicycling League	Scott Snider
Hawaii Teamsters and Allied Workers, Local 996	Michael Costa
Hawaii Transportation Association	Gareth Sakakida
Honolulu Community Action Program	Vai Leatiota
Institute of Transportation Engineers	Pete Pascua
Land Use Research Foundation	Gladys Quinto
Leeward Oahu Transportation Management Association	Gladys Quinto
NB #01 Hawaii Kai	Don Huff
NB #02 Kuliouou-Kalani Iki	Linda Starr
NB #03 Waialae-Kahala	Lester Fukuda
NB #05 Diamond Head-Kapahulu-Saint Louis Heights	Joe Otto
NB #08 McCully-Moiliili	Ron Lockwood
NB #09 Waikiki	Robert Finley
NB #12 Nuuanu-Punchbowl	Jay Fidell
NB #13 Downtown	Burton White
NB #14 Liliha-Alewa-Puunui-Kamehameha Heights	Donald Nitta
NB #18 Aliamanu-Salt Lake-Foster Village	Larry Baird
NB #21 Pearl City	Cruz J. Vina, Jr.
NB #22 Waipahu	Thomas Maus
NB #24 Waianae Coast	Karen Awana
NB #25 Mililani-Waipio-Melemanu	David Aki
NB #26 Wahiawa	Robert Kent
NB #27 North Shore	Antya Miller
NB #30 Kaneohe	Wendell Lum
North Shore Chamber of Commerce	Gil Riviere
Sierra Club Hawaii Chapter	Randy Ching
Waianae Coast Transportation Concerns Group	Dick Boddy

Guests Present:

Philip Blackman	Akamai Research, LLC
Ann Cecil	Citizen
Bill Pelzer	Citizen
Eddie Espino	Citizen
Julia Allen	Citizen
Mark Terry	Citizen
Pat Wassel	Citizen
Reta Maag	Citizen
Suzanne Teller	Citizen
James York	Dillingham Property Owners
Leona Ching	EAH Housing
Ben Gorospe	Hawaii Department of Transportation
Gregg Matsushima	Hawaii Department of Transportation
Rey Domingo	Hawaii Department of Transportation
Lawson Teshima	Hawaii Highway Users Alliance
Jay McWilliams	HawaiiReporter.com
Bobbie Slater	HonoluluTraffic.com
Cliff Slater	Honolulu Traffic.com
John Brizdle	HonoluluTraffic.com
Peter Kay	HonoluluTraffic.com
Rolf Nordahl	HonoluluTraffic.com
Steve Brown	Hawaii Trail & Mountain Club
Michael Palcic	Mac Mouse Club, Inc.
C. J. Lileikis	Sealmasters of Hawaii
Andrew Mertz	Small Business Hawaii
Michelle Matson	Waikiki Area Residents Association
Laura Millman	WRA

FTA and FHWA Representatives Present:

Elizabeth Fischer	Federal Highway Administration
Leslie Rogers	Federal Transit Administration
Raymond Sukys	Federal Transit Administration
Ted Matley	Federal Transit Administration

OMPO Staff Present:

Gordon Lum, Shevaun Low, and Marian Yasuda

Chair Joe Magaldi called the meeting to order at 3:38 p.m. A quorum was present.

1. CERTIFICATION REVIEW OF THE OAHUMPO TRANSPORTATION PLANNING PROCESS: SOLICITATION OF PUBLIC COMMENTS

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) hosted this public meeting to receive public comments on the transportation process that is coordinated by the OahuMPO.

Elizabeth Fischer welcomed the attendees and provided a brief synopsis of the intent of this meeting. The purpose of this meeting is to have the public comment on how the OahuMPO is addressing the transportation planning process. Ms. Fischer communicated the ground rules for this meeting: testimony would be limited to one minute, speakers will provide an introduction before providing testimony, one voice at a time, and cell phones turned off or switched to vibrate mode.

Ms. Fischer introduced herself and her colleagues from FTA: Ted Matley, Leslie Rogers, and Raymond Sukys. The CAC members were asked by Ms. Fischer to introduce themselves.

Ms. Fischer opened the floor to comments and testimony first from members of the CAC, then from members of the public. A summary of the comments received follows. Note that recurring comments with similar intent have been grouped together.

A. Comments Received on the Transportation Planning Process as Coordinated by the OahuMPO

General Comments

• Satisfied with the outstanding efforts by the OahuMPO.
• The planning process provides opportunities for public input into the planning process to both the CAC and the general public.
• The OahuMPO is dedicated to public involvement process for transportation planning.
• The planning process excludes the elderly and disabled.
• The planning process does not address the movement of goods and services.
• The ability to participate in the planning process is difficult due to lack of information for the public.
• The planning process uses too many unexplained acronyms.
• The planning process is not fair.
• The planning process is biased toward rail.
• The relationship between the OahuMPO and the City is intertwined; therefore, criticism of the City is applicable to the OahuMPO.

Policy Committee

• Individual Policy Committee members have inherent conflicts of interest in the decisions of policy (such as the Minimum Operable Segment), because, while serving as elected officials, some are paid employees of developers that will profit from policy decisions.
• The Policy Committee’s relationship to the CAC is not clear.
• Accolades to the FTA for encouraging the Policy Committee to consider only those funding sources that are reasonably-expected.

Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC)

• The CAC has had no input on the rail project.
• The public is unable to question the OahuMPO and receive explanations and information in a public forum.
• The topics presented at CAC meetings are good, but have no continuity.
• CAC members intimidate others who hold opposing viewpoints.
• The general public can have a voice in the process through participation on the CAC and through the neighborhood boards.

OahuMPO Staff

• OahuMPO staff has set and broken rules while facilitating meetings.

B. Comments Received on the Oahu Regional Transportation Plan (ORTP) 2030

• Information is lacking and/or biased in the ORTP 2030.
• At 19 pages, the ORTP 2030 is too short and does not have enough substantiating information.
• The ORTP 2030 has been altered; and the revisions were not provided to the public.
• The public has been misled by the information in the ORTP 2030 regarding the alleviation of traffic congestion in 2030 compared to today.
• The ORTP 2030 does not include a definition of the problem faced by Oahu.
• Written comments were provided on the draft ORTP 2030 in March 2006; and no response to date has been received.

C. Comments Received on other Transportation Issues and Projects

• Does not support the City and County of Honolulu Department of Transportation Services Transit fixed-guideway project.
• Supports the presentation of alternative traffic solutions to rail.
• Supports the study of HOT Lanes.
• Supports study of TheBus performance and disclosure of information.
• Supports the consideration of Smart Cars.
• Supports investigation of congestion pricing.
• Supports the synchronization of traffic lights.

Ms. Fischer summed up the certification review of the OahuMPO and the next steps in this process. As a result of this review, a written report will be provided to the OahuMPO in the near future.

There being no other business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:32 p.m.