Minutes of the
Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization

TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Tuesday, February 10, 2004, 3:00 p.m.
Department of Transportation Fifth Floor Conference Room
869 Punchbowl Street, Honolulu, Hawaii

Member(s) Absent: Steve Wong (FAA, ex-officio), Gareth Sakakida (HTA, ex-officio)

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

The meeting was called to order at 3:05 p.m. by Chair Paul Steffens. A quorum was present.

I.    MINUTES OF THE NOVEMBER 17, 2003 MEETING

The following changes were offered for amendment to the minutes:

• Dean Nakagawa asked that, on page 4, paragraph 5, be changed to read:

  "Ms. Tsumoto questioned whether said that the zipper lane and H-3 along with any of the projects that were finished since 2000 should be included in the existing conditions network. Dr. Prevedouros noted that the zipper lane was completed in 1997 and H-3 in 1998. Ms.Tsumoto recommend that the existing conditions consisted of the 2000 land use and updated (e.g. 2004) highway and transit networks.

• John Mapes asked that, on page 3, last paragraph, “Ken Ching” be changed to “Khem Sharma”.

• Jonathan Young asked that, on page 3, the first bullet under “Transportation Enhancement (TE) Program” be changed to read:

  “Update the present program to reflect the anticipated new federal legislation Safe Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient Transportation Equity Act of 2003 (SAFETEA).”

• Randolph Hara asked that the motion on page 4 be changed to read:

  “Mr. Poirier moved and Ms. Tsumoto seconded that the issue of using the 2000 land use forecast data and a 2000+ network be placed on the agenda….”

Ray Sakai moved and Glenn Yasui seconded that the minutes of the November 17, 2003 meeting be approved as amended. The minutes were unanimously approved.

Dick Poirier arrived.

The agenda was taken out of order to accommodate Mr. Young and Mr. Poirier.

II.    2003 CERTIFICATION REVIEW REPORT
Handouts:
•    Certification Review Report
•    Certification Review Summary (provided by FHWA)

Mr. Young distributed a handout summarizing the findings of the Certification Review. He provided background information of the Certification Review process and gave a brief summary of the Certification Review Report that had been distributed with the meeting notice. He said that, although there had been no corrective actions given, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) will always make recommendations about how the metropolitan planning process can be improved and proceeded to detail the recommendations.

Comments on the Report:

Project Prioritization Process

• Mr. Yasui said “readiness-to-go” should not be the sole criteria for project selection in the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). The TIP project prioritization process should rely on the planning process: OMPO has coordinated the development of a project selection and evaluation process for selecting projects; and Department of Transportation (DOT) would like to continue to use that criteria for project selection. Using this process, DOT and Department of Transportation Services (DTS) will continue to give OMPO the unprioritized project list; and the Policy Committee will determine the final project list. Mr. Young agreed that “readiness-to-go” should not be the sole criteria. Mr. Young added that the project selection and evaluation matrix was too extensive and should be substantially shortened to make it less technical and easier to understand.
  

• In response to the FHWA recommendation that OMPO develop a medium-range (6-year) plan, Mr. Yasui agreed that having a 6-year plan based on the Capital Improvement Program budget was a good idea. In the plan, the first 3 years would be definite projects, as in the TIP; and the next 3 years would be less definite.
  

• Mr. Lum expressed concern with the Certification Review Report’s recommendation emphasis that OMPO set clear schedules to secure FTA 5303 funds in a timely manner. He cited last year’s submittal which took a year to process even though OMPO was prompt in its submittal and requested timely processing.
  

Financial Constraint

• Gordon Lum said that OMPO questioned the definition of new revenue sources. He said that discussions with FTA administrators have led him to believe that revenue sources need not be firmly established for long-range planning. They could be “potential revenue sources” in order to provide more flexibility to the planning process.

Recognizing that Mr. Lum had additional comments on the Certification Review Report and that other TAC members did not appear to have any comments on the Report, Chair Steffens suggested that, for the sake of brevity, the Executive Director provide his comments in writing directly to FTA and FHWA. There was no further discussion or comments on the Certification Review Report by TAC members.

Mr. Lum said that FTA and FHWA representatives would give the results of the Certification Review to the Policy Committee at a session that will occur while the federal representatives are in town for the Intermodal Planning Group meeting. The next Policy Committee meeting, where a quorum is expected, is scheduled for March 23, 2004.

III.    RAIL TRANSIT

Mr. Lum said that, in October 2003, the Governor’s Transportation Committee recommended the pursuit of a light rail system on Oahu. Since that time, the City Council passed a resolution supporting the development of a work plan to define a grade-separated fixed rail system; the House Transportation Committee held an informational hearing on the historic background of fixed rail; the Senate Committee on Transportation, Military Affairs, and Government Operations held a public hearing on a bill for mass transit funding; and some of Hawaii’s congressional delegation voiced their opinions on these matters. The OMPO Policy Committee is considering taking a position on this matter. There are a number of options open to the Policy Committee.

Mr. Poirier suggested that TAC hold a special meeting or brainstorming session to develop a series of elements and questions that needed to be considered, and possibly included, in a work plan, other than financing. Dr. Prevedouros asked if there were time constraints to hold such a session; to which Mr. Lum responded that possible action by the Policy Committee may be included on their March 23, 2004 agenda. Chair Steffens said he would consider the request for a special meeting.

Mr. Hara asked what would be the basis for the Policy Committee taking a position. Mr. Lum said that, the Policy Committee had, in fact, taken a position when they approved the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) as a project in the last Oahu Regional Transportation Plan (ORTP), and approved a mass transit system placeholder in the previous ORTP. Any position taken by the Policy Committee would probably not involve an amendment to the ORTP.

No recommendation was made by the TAC.

Mr. Poirier and Mr. Young left the meeting.


IV.    OVERALL WORK PROGRAM (OWP) AMENDMENT REQUESTS

Benson Chow said that DOT would like to amend two of their work elements (W.E.): W.E. 201.01-01 Investigation of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Technology in collecting Congestion Management System (CMS) Data and W.E. 201.30-03 Demonstration of ITS Technology for Use in Collecting CMS Data.

The proposed amendment for W.E. 201.01-01 will delete a consultant contract and tasks associated with that contract. The consultant work has been replaced with study results already conducted by other states. For W.E. 201.30-03, a consultant contract will be added to assist DOT in implementing a demonstration of the ITS technology identified in W.E. 201.01-01.

Mr. Chow said that a number of technologies had been investigated. A number of states are using license plate readers (LPR) as a way of collecting information. The demonstration project will use LPR.

Dr. Prevedouros questioned the use of LPR. He said that, according to a 1998 study, most of the states that were using them used them in connection with some sort of enforcement program. They were expensive and had experienced difficulties.

Mr. Chow said that a 2001 study reported on a demonstration project in Florida; and Oregon had also done a demonstration project in 2002. Kentucky was to begin a demonstration project this year.

Toru Hamayasu said that he felt the demonstration project should go forward to help decide the technology that should be used to gather the CMS data. The LPR were less labor intensive than most of the other ways that had been suggested to collect data. He asked where the money for the demonstration project would come from. Laureen Brennan explained that the amendment to W.E. 201.01-01 would free up money that could be used in W.E. 201.03-03. No additional money was being requested.

Mr. Sakai asked if the issue of privacy had been considered. Mr. Chow said that every effort would be made to insure the privacy of motorists during the demonstration program.

Mr. Hamayasu moved and Mr. Yasui seconded that the TAC recommend that the Policy Committee approve the amendments to the OWP. The motion passed unanimously.

V.     OTHER BUSINESS

Mr. Lum said that, at the last meeting, TAC requested that the issue of using the 2000 land use data and 2000+ highway network be placed on the agenda. Mr. Lum stated that this issue was resolved in an agency meeting on the regional transportation plan.

The meeting was adjourned at 4:15 p.m.