Minutes of the

Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization

TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Monday, February 25, 2002, 1:30 p.m.

Keelikolani Building, Conference Room 310

830 Punchbowl Street, Honolulu, Hawaii

Members Present:

Guests Present:

Ron Tsuzuki DOT-HWY

Glen Fromm Parsons Brinckerhoff

Member(s) Absent: Karl Kim (UHM)

Staff Present: Gordon Lum, Shevaun Low, Laureen Brennan, Michelle Kurisu, and Pamela Toyooka

In the absence of Chair Toru Hamayasu, Vice Chair Glenn Yasui assumed the position of Chair and called the meeting to order at 1:32 p.m. A quorum was present.

I. MINUTES OF THE DECEMBER 18, 2001 MEETING

Julia Tsumoto commented on the wording of Item III - Discussion of the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), of the minutes. It was her impression that TAC had agreed to table this matter. Gordon Lum responded that no TAC action had been requested for this item. The purpose of the discussion was to seek TAC members' opinions on this topic. He added that OMPO is interested in pursuing the development of a three-year TIP in conjunction with a six-year program so that Policy Committee members, the public, and the agencies would know what projects were being considered within the six-year time horizon. OMPO would produce a three-year TIP as required by the Federal regulations. The remaining three years would be used for planning purposes. It would not be a commitment of either projects or funding. Ms. Tsumoto added that the Department of Transportation (DOT) Director was opposed to a six-year program at the STAC level. OMPO indicated it would review the tape of the December 18 meeting.

Chair Yasui asked if the discussion on the TIP could be deferred to "Other Business". Ms. Tsumoto agreed.

Mr. Lum said that there were corrections to the identification of agencies for two of the attendees at the last meeting. Ken Tatsuguchi and Bryan Tyau are from DOT-STP.

Paul Steffens moved and Glenn Ifuku seconded that the minutes of the December 18, 2001 meeting be approved with Mr. Lum's corrections. The minutes were unanimously approved as amended.

II. STATUS REPORT ON INTELLIGENT TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS (ITS)

Handout(s):

1) Slide presentation of the Oahu ITS Regional Architecture PowerPoint presentation

2) Future TAC Involvement: ITS Regional Architecture

Shevaun Low began by saying that the purpose of the status report was:

• to update TAC on the ITS project;

• to provide an overview of the project process;
• to review the results of the stakeholder interviews and the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on traffic signal operations;
• to introduce the Operational Concept and the MOU regarding incident management; and
• to identify the benefits of the ITS program

TAC's role in the ITS project is to review the documentation and make recommendations to the Policy Committee as needed. In addition, TAC will be asked to mediate any technical issues that cannot be resolved by the ITS ad hoc Technical Task Force.

The ITS vision statement for Oahu was approved by the Policy Committee in November 2001. It is "to create, through advanced technology and information sharing, a regional intermodal system that saves time, money, and lives, thus improving the overall quality of life throughout Oahu."

Ms. Low introduced Glen Fromm of Parsons Brinckerhoff to continue the status report of the ITS project.

Mr. Fromm said that the purpose of the project is to develop an ITS architecture that responds to Oahu's needs; focuses on integrating various agency systems and operations for added value; and is based on stakeholder input.

He gave a brief history of the ITS project. Mr. Fromm identified the key milestones as:

• Stakeholder Interviews

• Memorandum of Understanding #1

• Operational Concept

• Updated Regional Architecture Database

• Regional Integration Strategy Plan

• Additional Memorandum of Understanding #2

• Policy Committee Final Briefing

To date, two rounds of stakeholder meetings have been held and the first MOU is awaiting the DOT and Department of Transportation Services (DTS) Directors' signatures.

The language of the first MOU that addresses traffic signal operations has been developed. The MOU is between DOT and DTS and defines high-level protocol and objectives for joint signal operations of DOT signals. It establishes a hierarchy for throughput on the roadway network and provides guidelines for the development of a timing plan, adjustment, and complaint resolution.

The next steps of this project are to develop an operational concept and to update the regional architecture.

The final steps of this project include development of a regional integration strategy plan and an MOU on incident management between the stakeholders.

Questions and Comments:

Dick Poirier asked if the traffic enforcement cameras were included in the regional architecture. Mr. Fromm responded that the cameras would be shown as an existing project in the regional architecture. The architecture will need to incorporate the data that is available from the cameras and how the data will be shared.

Ms. Tsumoto asked when the ITS contract would be completed. Mr. Fromm responded that the contract was scheduled for completion in December 2002.

Ms. Tsumoto asked if the 511 telephone information (utilized within the broadcast traveler information market package) is an application or an objective of this project. Mr. Fromm responded this has not yet been determined.

Ms. Tsumoto asked if the result of the ITS project would be a list of projects for the agencies to implement. Mr. Fromm responded that a list of projects would be developed for the agencies to implement. More importantly, the regional architecture will develop a framework that is intended to guide ITS deployment on Oahu. The regional architecture will have to be continuously evaluated and updated as the region grows and more funding becomes available.

Kathy Sokugawa asked the following: "Is the purpose primarily to serve the transportation system? Will other potential stakeholders have access to the data? How will others enter into the process?" Mr. Fromm responded that the challenge of the stakeholder interviews is making sure that the right people are involved. Access to data by the public is of great concern to various agencies because of liability and other legal issues.

Ms. Sokugawa asked how the issue of privacy is being addressed. Mr. Fromm responded that this process would not define every data flow. However, to protect the privacy of individuals, the agencies are likely to filter their data before it is released.

Mr. Ifuku asked who would maintain the regional architecture. Mr. Fromm responded that he is hoping that the ITS Task Force will maintain the architecture and the individual agencies will maintain their individual parts of the architecture.

Mr. Fromm said that one of the policy recommendations that may be recommended as part of the ITS regional architecture project is that, every time something changes, the architecture is updated by the agency(ies) invoking the change.

Mr. Lum said that there is a federal requirement for OMPO to develop a regional ITS architecture. The purpose of this is to ensure that the various ITS activities and programs on Oahu are planned and coordinated. Besides being a federal requirement, it is also a good planning practice.

Mr. Lum continued that the ITS program is still looking for a person to act as its "champion". This person should be someone with a high profile, such as a legislator or council member. Someone needs to step forward and push the concept and get people interested in it.

Chair Yasui asked about the status of the scanning tour that had been planned. Ms. Low responded that, in January, Richelle Suzuki of Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) had submitted a request for funding for two scanning tours; one will be for freight cargo handling and the other for incident management. At the time, Ms. Suzuki anticipated that it would be about two months before she received approval (or disapproval).

Chair Yasui said that, in order to participate in the scanning tours, elected officials need as much advance notice as possible. The tours should be scheduled for after the legislative session.

The Chair also asked Jonathan Young if FHWA would give a status report on ITS at the next meeting. Mr. Young agreed.

Chair Yasui thanked Mr. Fromm for his presentation.

III. OTHER BUSINESS

Ms. Tsumoto said that, when the procedures for the proposed six-year TIP were completed, she would like the TAC to be able to make a recommendation on it to the Policy Committee. Ms. Tsumoto said that the DOT Director spoke to her that morning and was not in favor of a six-year STIP.

Chair Yasui said that the DOT Highways Division was moving towards the development of a six-year STIP and would be proposing this to the DOT Director shortly.

There being no other business, the meeting adjourned at 2:29 p.m.