Minutes of the

Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization

TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Thursday, December 8, 2005, 1:00 p.m.

Department of Transportation Fifth Floor Conference Room

869 Punchbowl Street , Honolulu, Hawaii

 

Members Present:

Toru Hamayasu, Chair

DTS

 

Kathy Sokugawa

DPP

Glenn Yasui , Vice Chair

DOT

 

Alvina Kubo (alternate)

DTS

Eugene Tian (alternate)

DBEDT

 

Elizabeth Fischer (ex-officio)

FHWA

Dick Poirier

DBEDT-OP

 

Gareth Sakakida (ex-officio)

HTA

Dean Nakagawa

DOT

 

A. Ricardo Archilla (ex-officio)

UH

Randolph Hara

DPP

 

 

 

Members Absent:

Steven Wong (ex-officio)

FAA

 Guests Present:

Ron Tsuzuki

DOT

 

Rich Kane

Pacific Resource Partnership (CAC)

Brian Suzuki

DTS

 

L. Gary Bautista

NB #23

Charles Carole

NB #10 (CAC)

 

Mark Scheibe

Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas

 Staff Present : Gordon Lum (Executive Director), Laureen Brennan, Lori Arakaki, and Pamela Toyooka

 The meeting was called to order at 1:01 p.m. by Chair Toru Hamayasu. A quorum was present.

 Randolph Hara asked that approval of the minutes be deferred until Kathy Sokugawa arrived.

               I.      PRIORITIZED LISTING OF OAHU REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION PLAN (ORTP) PROJECTS USING THE CONGESTION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (CMS)

(Handouts Distributed with Meeting Notice: CMS Point System; CMS Draft 2030 ORTP Project Rankings; CMS ORTP Project Results)

Lori Arakaki explained that the CMS was required by Federal regulation, and that the process used by OMPO had been approved by the TAC at a previous meeting.  The CMS has been incorporated into the 2030 ORTP project selection process.  She then reviewed the distributed materials – explaining the CMS point system, the analysis of the individual projects, and the rankings of the projects that resulted from the analysis.    Because the highway and transit projects were evaluated using different performance measures, comparisons between the number of points a highway project received with the number of points a transit project received should not be made.

Following the presentation, the following comments were made:

·        Vice Chair Glenn Yasui noted that there were no projects on the CMS list for the North Shore and the Windward side. DOT had become aware of increased congestion around Turtle Bay and various surfing sites. They were considering a bypass project in the area. Mr. Lum said that, depending on the magnitude of the project, it might be considered a local project and may not need to be included in the ORTP. Elizabeth Fischer, of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), supported Vice Chair Yasui’s concern; she noted that an emergency route access for such things as terrorism and natural disasters would be consistent with the new federal transportation legislation – Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU). Mr. Lum repeated that bypass or second access routes having a regional impact should be in the ORTP, while those having no regional impact should not be included.

  [Kathy Sokugawa arrived at 1:10 p.m. Dick Poirier arrived at 1:15 p.m.]

·        Ricardo Archilla suggested that, since the projects were ranked individually, that their ranking might change when combined with other projects. Ms. Arakaki agreed – saying that, when the plan was drafted, it would be evaluated again as an entire system.

Mr. Archilla noted that the TAC may wish to consider other performance measures. Mr. Lum pointed out that the performance measures and weights had been selected before the evaluation was done in order not to bias the analysis. Mr. Lum added that TAC could revisit the performance measures.

·        Ms. Sokugawa asked if this analysis was a “snapshot” of 2030. Ms. Arakaki said that, yes, the land use inputs used were for 2030. Although no traffic analysis would be done for intermediate years, Mr. Lum said that the consultant had been asked to develop a time bin for which projects should be implemented during the first ten years.

·        Mr. Hara asked what the remaining steps for TAC participation were. Mr. Lum said that the TAC would meet again on December 15 to review the constrained project list and the financial plan. In January, the Policy Committee would meet to provide input to the draft plan. In February, there would be an island-wide meeting to gather public input on the draft plan. The TAC might have an opportunity to review the plan as amended by the input received.

 Mr. Poirier moved and Ms. Sokugawa seconded that the TAC forward to the Policy Committee the list of prioritized CMS projects as a guide in their evaluation of projects for inclusion into the 2030 ORTP. The motion passed unanimously.

  II.   MINUTES OF THE NOVEMBER 4, 2005 MEETING  

The following amendments to the November 4, 2005 minutes were offered (persons suggesting amendments shown in parentheses):  

“, although that is not what is necessarily being receiving.”

“Mr. Hamayasu noted that 60% seemed too high; it cannot be justified to the federal government. We must look at the past history of developer contributions for the range has been acceptable to the federal government.”

  Mr. Poirier moved and Ms. Sokugawa seconded that the minutes of the November 4, 2005 meeting be approved as amended. The minutes were unanimously approved as amended.

III.   OTHER BUSINESS

 Elizabeth Fischer asked the Chair if she could be allowed some time on a future agenda to discuss the changes to the planning regulations made in the SAFETEA-LU appropriation passed recently. She said she would meet with Mr. Lum to decide whether or not to schedule a workshop.

 The meeting adjourned at 1:59 p.m.