Meeting Minutes of the
Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization

TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Thursday, May 13, 2004, 10:00 a.m.
Department of Transportation (DOT) Fifth Floor Conference Room
869 Punchbowl Street, Honolulu, Hawaii

Member(s) Absent: Steve Wong (FAA)

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

There being no Chair or Vice Chair present, it was agreed upon among the members present that Julia Tsumoto would serve as Chair pro tem until a new Chair was elected. The meeting was called to order at 10:00 a.m. by Chair pro tem Julia Tsumoto. A quorum was present.

I.    MINUTES OF THE FEBRUARY 10, 2004 MEETING

Martin Okabe moved and Toru Hamayasu seconded that the minutes of the February 10, 2004 meeting be approved as circulated. The minutes were unanimously approved.

II.    ELECTION OF TAC CHAIR

Gordon Lum explained that Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) Chair Paul Steffens had retired from the City Department of Transportation Services (DTS), leaving the position of TAC Chair empty. According to the TAC Rules of Procedure, the members must elect someone to fill this position. The new Chair must be from one of the City agencies. Chair pro tem Tsumoto called for nominations.

Ray Sakai nominated Mr. Hamayasu. The nomination was seconded by Mr. Okabe. There were no other nominations; Mr. Hamayasu was elected by acclimation. Mr. Hamayasu assumed the position of Chair.

III.    REVIEW OF FEDERAL TEAM’S DISCUSSION OF 2003 CERTIFICATION REVIEW REPORT

Mr. Lum said that the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) had discussed the results of the 2003 Certification Review with the Policy Committee at its March 23, 2004 meeting. During that discussion, the federal representatives pointed out that there were no corrective actions. However, they had made five recommendations.

Of the recommendations cited, Mr. Lum focused upon those impacting the Oahu Regional Transportation Plan (ORTP). The Federal representatives emphasized that, if new revenue sources are required for major ORTP projects, then programming of these projects should be deferred until the revenue sources are firmly established. They conceded that funding for projects should be reasonably available if those projects are to be included into the ORTP. However, given the history of rail in Honolulu, FTA and FHWA felt that a local funding commitment must now be firmly established in order to assume it is reasonable. OMPO and DTS submitted comments contesting the need for a firmly established funding mechanism as a prerequisite to including major projects into the ORTP.

Mr. Lum went on to describe the impacts if a rail project was not included in the ORTP. He said that a rail project could still go through alternatives analysis. Before entering preliminary engineering, however, the project would have to be in the ORTP and have a favorable FTA rating. The FTA rating considers local financing. FTA is recommending that federal funds not be used for these studies. A rail project can still be included in the “Illustrative” category.

Regarding funding, Mr. Lum said that the Transportation Efficiency Act for the 21st Century (TEA21) only allows up to 80% in federal funds for a rail project. However, FTA has a directive from their Congressional committees not to fund more than 60%. The Administration’s reauthorization proposal recommends that only 50% of a rail project be funded. The FTA Program Office is looking to limit New Starts funds to no more than $500 million per project.

Another recommendation concerned the Congestion Management System (CMS) program not being fully developed.

FTA and FHWA also felt that OMPO was doing a fine job with their public involvement program.

IV.A.    ORTP UPDATE: Criteria for 2030 Baseline Projects

Mr. Lum introduced Dick Kaku of Kaku Associates, consultant for the development of the 2030 ORTP. Mr. Kaku presented an overview of the ORTP process and schedule that was included in the scope of services. He explained that the baseline projects are assumed to be in place as part of the 2030 baseline transportation system. They will be included in the network for all of the future analyses, and in the final ORTP. As such, they will not be subject to the project selection process. Funds to construct the baseline projects will be subtracted from the total revenues available for all ORTP transportation projects to ensure a financially constrained plan.

Mr. Kaku provided background information regarding the two previous iterations of the ORTP:

• In the 2020 ORTP, the following baseline criteria were used: Projects are funded, programmed, or have a high degree of commitment on the part of the City and/or State. Projects were also eligible if they were included in the City’s General Plan. As a result, over 40 projects were included in the list of baseline projects. Many of these projects have not yet been implemented – some of which are no longer even being considered for implementation.

• In the 2025 ORTP, the baseline criteria were more restrictive, in that projects were considered as baseline if they were identified in the FYs 2000-2002 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). This resulted in a total of 9 projects, of which 6 were roadway projects. Of these projects, progress has been made on all of the roadway projects.

Mr. Kaku suggested the following baseline criteria for the 2030 ORTP:

• Projects are programmed for construction within the first two years of the FYs 2004-2006 TIP, as amended; and

• Projects are performance-enhancing.

Discussion Highlights:

• Dick Poirier asked what the public involvement program included. Mr. Kaku said that his team was working with a task force of the CAC to develop the public involvement program. It is expected to be completed in a few months.

• Dr. Panos Prevedouros asked if the projects included in the ORTP would be given a degree of probability for their implementation. Mr. Lum responded that the 2030 ORTP provides direction for Oahu with respect to what transportation on Oahu will look like in the future. There is no 100 percent guarantee that any of the projects in the plan will be constructed. The ORTP is updated every five years, whereby, changes to this vision are reflected in the plan updates.

• Mr. Okabe asked if the baseline projects would have to go through a Title VI/Environmental Justice (T6/EJ) analysis. Mr. Lum said that, similar to all of OMPO’s programs, the 2030 ORTP will be analyzed for T6/EJ compliance with respect to public outreach and evaluated based on a number of other performance measures (e.g., equity, accessibility, mobility, etc.).

• Chair Hamayasu asked why “performance-enhancing” was included in the criteria. Mr. Kaku replied that it was mostly a practical decision to allow for a technical analysis in which the OMPO model could be utilized. The model is not able to model projects such as sound walls and guardrails.

Mr. Lum asked the members to send comments on the criteria for baseline projects to OMPO by May 21. He noted that comments that are received between now and then will be considered. In response to a question by Mr. Poirier, Mr. Lum stated that: 1) additional TAC action will not be requested on the baseline criteria, and 2) the baseline criteria discussed today will be used for selection of baseline projects unless additional comments provide a basis for reconsideration of the criteria.

IV.B.    ORTP UPDATE: 2030 Socio-Economic Forecast

Mr. Lum introduced John Mapes from the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism (DBEDT). Mr. Lum noted that, as identified in the 2001 OMPO Comprehensive Agreement, the State has jurisdictional responsibility for OMPO’s population forecasting needs and the City has jurisdictional responsibility for allocating these and other socio-economic forecasts to the various areas on Oahu. Historically, county-wide projections have been provided by DBEDT and traffic analysis zones (TAZs)-specific projections have been provided by the Department of Planning and Permitting (DPP). To date, as part of the 2030 ORTP update effort, DBEDT has generated the county-wide forecast for review and comment by TAC.

Mr. Mapes presented an overview of the methodology and results of DBEDT’s recent population and employment projections. He said that this was the sixth in a series of long-range projections. The results were not yet final but would be posted on their website when they received the Director’s approval. He noted that it is unlikely that the forecast presented to TAC would change as a result of further DBEDT review.

Discussion Highlights:

• Dr. Prevedouros said that he believed that the projections were overestimated because of four factors:

1. Generation X mimics the young people in Japan, who are having fewer children; therefore, the birth rate is over-rated.
   
   
2. Although the average lifespan is getting longer, the effects of obesity on the population are not accounted for; therefore, the death rate is under-rated.
   
   
3. Because of 9/11, visas to the U.S. are not being granted; therefore, net migration will actually be lower.
   
   
4. The future retirement of Senator Daniel Inouye is not accounted for; this will have a major impact on the military and the amount of money coming in for “pork-barrel” projects.

In response to Dr. Prevedouros’ observations, Mr. Mapes said that he did not disagree with them. However, DBEDT used Census Bureau trends as a basis for the forecast and suggested that Dr. Prevedouros confer with him after the meeting to discuss this further.

• Steve Young asked if there was a formal review period. Mr. Mapes said no, but that DBEDT was contacting the counties for comments.

V.    FYS 2004-2006 TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM (TIP) AMENDMENT #5
      Handouts: IOS and the Kuhio Avenue Improvements (DTS)

Mr. Lum said that DTS had requested that the FYs 2004-2006 TIP be amended to include the purchase of equipment, design, construction, and inspection of the Initial Operating Segment (IOS) of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). The total cost is estimated to be $27,240,000 in FY 2004.

Chair Hamayasu went over the various parts of the proposed amendment, saying that 60% of the projects are already under construction using $31 million in local funds. These projects included:

• Kuhio Avenue sidewalk widening and beautification
• BRT stops
• Design and construction management

The federalized portion of the IOS includes:

• Widening Ala Moana Boulevard
• Widening Kalia Road
• Constructing 9 platforms
• Station canopies
• Installing signal prioritization
• Purchasing 10 hybrid diesel buses
• Design and construction management

Discussion Highlights:

• Dr. Prevedouros said that the present diesel buses cost about $331,000 each. The new hybrid buses will cost about $750,000. Dr. Prevedouros asked if this isn’t funding the research and development of the technology. Chair Hamayasu and James Burke responded that the new buses would have lower maintenance costs because of the new design and would be cheaper in the long run.

• Mr. Sakai asked if the buses were moving away from gasoline and would there be an ample supply of fuel in the future. Mr. Burke assured him that the fuel would be available.

Mr. Burke moved and Mr. Sakai seconded that TAC recommend that the Policy Committee approve FYs 2004-2006 TIP Amendment #5. The motion passed without objection.

VI.    FY 2005 OVERALL WORK PROGRAM (OWP)

Laureen Brennan provided the members with an overview of the FY 2005 OWP. She said that, of the 38 work elements, 14 were programmed for FY 2005. These 14 work elements included three work elements submitted by the City. The total federal money for these new work elements would be $1,122,945, with $343,236 in local matching funds.

The City work elements had been approved for inclusion in the OWP by the City Council on May 12, 2004.

Discussion Highlights:

• During discussion, Mr. Lum said that, at the last Policy Committee meeting, Charles Carole of the Makiki Neighborhood Board had asked that the Lower Makiki/Ala Moana Traffic Study be deferred until the May meeting. This work element will be discussed separately at the next Policy Committee meeting and will precede the OWP on the agenda. The decision of the Policy Committee will impact the inclusion of the work element in the OWP.

• Dr. Prevedouros said that, while the study was important, there was not enough money programmed for this effort in the work element.

Mr. S. Young moved and Mr. Burke seconded that the TAC recommend that the FY 2005 OWP be approved by the Policy Committee. The motion passed unanimously.
   
VII.    OTHER BUSINESS

Mr. Lum said that OMPO had sent a letter to the directors of the TAC agencies asking for a representative to participate in the ORTP effort. A response has only been received from DOT.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 11:35 a.m.