2014-12-11 Cost of Government Commission Minutes

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Ms. Kelly gave an example of hubs for the island; she suggested three hubs on the west side and three on the east side and buses would be routing between each individual hub rather than all buses going around the island. The bus service could be increased per the hour or half hour verses every four hours; an example was from Kamuela to Kohala/Kohala to Kamuela and Kohala to Kona Airport or to the resorts and to the future West Hawai‘i university center. Hubs could be created in areas very well supported by vendors that would be able to provide water, coffee or things of that nature. It could also develop a network of a transit system that is a County facility on County land supported by vendors that would generate enough revenue to maintain the building. Mr. Matsuda agreed and asked what is the ridership from East Hawai‘i to West Hawai‘i because it is going to affect those individuals. Ms. Kelly suggested a route could go across the saddle that would be express as well as a route that goes around the island. She thinks it is something to explore because the County’s current system is inefficient and wears very fast on the buses. Mr. Matsuda agreed with the idea but thinks the language needs to be amended to areas that need service. Ms. Kelly agreed and also suggested to include which department will be responsible for the hubs. Mr. Mitchell commented that on November 18 in the West Hawai‘i Today there was an article called, “Traffic Jams Ahead” which listed specific stats done by the Federal Aid of Highways 2035 Transportation Plan, a 393-page document with great information. The population is estimated to double in 20 years; from 180,000 to approximately 280,000 and increase in visitors from 1.2 million to 2 million. The Puna area is expected to double, going from 40,000 vehicles a day from Kea‘au to Pāhoa to 80,000 vehicles a day. The South Kona area is expected to go to 27,000 vehicles a day and the Kona airport to 21,000 vehicles a day. John Olson, a writer from the Hawai‘i Tribune Herald, said the hubs are the direction to go. Ken Obenski from the Traffic Safety Commission is also in agreement with hubs. Ms. Maddox spoke to Tiffany Kai at Mass Transit and the hub concept came up during Tom Brown’s administration; it is something Ms. Kai is interested in. Ms. Maddox said going back to the language for the recommendation, Mass Transit would be the department responsible for the hubs and to include language such as, explores means of improving the efficiency of the system as a whole cutting down on repair and maintenance cost. She asked if there should be anything else included in the language. Ms. Kelly suggested including the hubs to be serviced by vendors and to make the hubs facilities self-sustainable by the vendors. Ms. Maddox clarified, “including revenue generating vendors.” Ms. Garson said it sounds good, but now the example does not fit the recommendation; she suggested talking about the revenue generating centers as an example, a vision. Ms. Kelly thoroughly described an example about hubs and thinks connecting near and far areas supported with hubs would generate income, cut mileage of buses serving shorter distances and more regular schedules to get people to work on time. Ms. Garson clarified if using examples to support recommendations; this example does not fit the recommendation. Ms. Maddox stated this was a very specific addition of routes for very specific purposes and agreed with Ms. Garson. Ms. Kelly stated this is specific and concrete and something that is going to happen in 2015 based on the approximately 700 students going to attend the West Hawai‘i university center. She asked if her example could be added as an example to the recommendation because the intent of it is to benefit everyone; the hubs would be self-sustainable instead of using the County’s resources to make this happen. Mr. Perry likes a broader recommendation. 6