Minutes of the
Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization

TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Friday, May 6, 2005 1:00 p.m.
Department of Transportation Fifth Floor Conference Room
869 Punchbowl Street, Honolulu, Hawaii

Member(s) Absent: Steve Wong (ex-officio, FAA), Bruce Turner (ex-officio, FHWA)

Guests Present: Hamid Jahanmir (DBEDT-OP), Raymond Sakai (DPP), David Aki (Neighborhood Board #25 (CAC))

Staff Present: Gordon Lum (Executive Director), Laureen Brennan, Michelle Kurisu, Pamela Toyooka

The Chair and Vice Chair were not present. A quorum was present.

Martin Okabe moved and Brian Suzuki seconded that Ronald Tsuzuki serve as Chair Pro Tem for this meeting. The motion passed unanimously.

The meeting was called to order at 1:05 p.m. by Chair Pro Tem Ronald Tsuzuki.

I.    MINUTES OF THE APRIL 7, 2005 MEETING

Brian Suzuki moved and James Burke seconded that the minutes of the April 7, 2005 meeting be approved as circulated. The minutes were unanimously approved.

II.    FY 2006 OVERALL WORK PROGRAM (OWP)

Laureen Brennan went over the changes that had been made to the FY 2006 OWP since it had been circulated to the members. She also provided a summary of the funding, work elements, and schedule, and noted that no comments had been received during the public review period.

Dick Poirier moved and Kathy Sokugawa seconded that the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) recommend that the Policy Committee endorse the FY 2006 OWP. The motion passed unanimously.

III.    OTHER BUSINESS

Congestion Management System (CMS)

Michelle Kurisu said that the CMS is a requirement of the metropolitan planning process and a priority for OMPO. The Federal Highway and Federal Transit Administrations have stated that, if a CMS is not implemented by April 2006, OMPO may be subject to corrective actions in its 2006 Certification Review. These actions may affect an agency’s ability to include congestion relief projects into the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP).

Because it is important that OMPO proceed to implement a fully operational CMS program, OMPO is moving forward with its CMS. OMPO will be using its travel demand forecasting model to evaluate proposed congestion-related projects submitted by the Department of Transportation (DOT) and Department of Transportation Services (DTS) for inclusion in the upcoming TIP and Oahu Regional Transportation Plan (ORTP).

This process is consistent with the April 2001 OMPO CMS Procedures and Responsibilities Report. Progress on this effort will be presented to TAC at subsequent meetings.

Gordon Lum said that DOT and DTS were envisioned to have a major role in implementing the CMS program. However, to date, little progress has been made while an attempt to collect travel time data is still being pursued. Mr. Lum reiterated the importance of having a fully operational CMS. To achieve this, OMPO has generated a report identifying a CMS process that will utilize the OMPO Travel Demand Forecasting Model to evaluate CMS projects.

Chair Pro Tem Tsuzuki asked if the use of the model was an acceptable procedure. Mr. Lum replied that the process was consistent with the endorsed OMPO CMS Procedures and Responsibilities Report. It would be preferable to have current actual data, but that is not available. Chair Pro Tem Tsuzuki asked if the DOT traffic branch was notified of the CMS effort. Ms. Kurisu stated that the directors of DOT and DTS were sent a letter notifying them of the new CMS model-based procedures.

The CMS process should identify the benefits of proposed projects and the results of the implemented projects. Benefits of projects such as the Lunalilo ramps changes and the Nimitz contraflow lanes should be part of the CMS.

Dr. A. Ricardo Archilla asked if any data from the traffic cameras could be used. Mr. Lum said that the CMS had identified travel time as a desired measure. OMPO would like to use Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) technologies to collect travel time data, but that capability does not exist at the present time. DOT would soon be starting a demonstration project to gather travel time data using license plate readers (LPR). Since collecting travel time data with auto runs is labor intensive, DOT will be looking at the LPR as a more cost-effective alternative. Dr. Archilla suggested that the existing traffic cameras may be able to obtain spot speeds as a substitute for travel time.

Martin Okabe said that Hawaii is about 15 years behind in the use of ITS as a data gathering tool. He felt that there is now more willingness to move in that direction.

Mr. Poirier suggested that OMPO include a work element to gather data for the ORTP’s CMS effort. Mr. Lum stated that there would not be enough time to collect this data before the April 2006 deadline.

TIP

Mr. Lum said that the draft list of projects had been developed and would be distributed soon. The Policy Committee will look at the draft list at their May 26 meeting. OMPO will be sending letters to the directors asking for someone from their staffs to give a briefing on their projects at that meeting. The Policy Committee would vote on the TIP at their July 20th meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 1:35 p.m.