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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN PWMTC 2019/02/04 2018-2020Committee on Public Works and Mass Transit 2nd Session Hawaii County Building 25 Aupuni Street Hilo, Hawaii February 4, 2019 CALL TO The regular meeting of the Committee on Public Works and Mass Transit ORDER: was called to order at 1:42 p.m., in the Council Chambers, Hilo, by Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Chair. ROLL CALL: Present: Ms. Susan L. K. Lee Loy, Chair Mr. Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Vice Chair Ms. Karen Eoff, Member, Member Mr. Aaron S. Y. Chung, Member (came in later) Ms. Maile Medeiros David, Member (came in later) Ms. Ashley L. Kierkiewicz, Member Ms. Valerie T. Poindexter, Member Mr. Herbert M. "Tim" Richards, III, Member (came in later) Ms. Rebecca Villegas, Member STATEMENTS The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, FROM THE Statements from the Public on Agenda Items. PUBLIC ON AGENDA ITEMS: The following individuals registered to speak and came forward when called by the Chair: Craig `Bo" Kahui (representing the Villages of Laiopua and Laiopua 2020) R. Janis Parker: Danny Grant -Johnson: (representing Disability Rights Hawaii) Hannah Hedrick: Res. 37-19 (Comm. 68), in support. Res. 38-19 (Comm. 72), in support. Comm. 75, comment. Comm. 75, comment. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you Hannah. Is there any other testifiers here today? Alright, with that, I'm going to close testimony. If it's okay with my colleagues, I kind of want to restructure our agenda just to keep some items in context. And so, my plan actually is to go with Resolution 37, which is the dedication of roadway first; and then Communication 75, which is our presentation from our PWMTC-2 February 4, 2019 Mass Transit Office. And then following that will be the presentation by PATH (Peoples Advocacy for Trails Hawai`i); followed by the Resolution 38, just to keep those two items in context. Any objections from my colleagues? Change Order As directed by the Chair and with no objection from the Council Members, of Business: the following item was taken out of order: Res. 37-19: ACCEPTS THE DEDICATION OF ROAD LOTS A AND D (MANAWALEA STREET) AND ROAD LOTS B AND C (KA`EKA STREET), IDENTIFIED AS TAX MAP KEY: 7-4-021:044, SITUATED AT KEAHUOLU, DISTRICT OF NORTH KONA, ISLAND AND COUNTY OF HAWAII, STATE OF HAWAII FROM FHT KAMAKANA, LLC, A HAWAII LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY The County seeks dedication of these road lots for public roadway purposes, pursuant to Chapter 23 of the Hawaii County Code. Reference: Comm. 68 Intr. by: Ms. Lee Loy Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to recommend adoption of Res. 37-19 Seconded by Ms. David. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Yamamoto for being here. If you could just give us a brief overview of what Resolution 37-19 presents. (Note: At this time, Public Works Director David Yamamoto and Deputy Director Allan Simeon came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. YAMAMOTO: They're dedicating this road to connect the road extension to the County of Hawaii. At the current time, all of DPW's (Department of Public Works) issues have been resolved, except for the traffic lights. At current, the developer is working with HELCO (Hawai`i Electric Light Company) with the utility easement, and until that gets approved, I understand the lights have not been energized. So, we haven't been able to inspect it. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Yamamoto for being here and Mr. Simeon for being here. With that, I'll open the floor to any questions of our Director or Deputy Director. Ms. Eoff MS. EOFF: Thank you, Madam Chair. The lights that you speak of, is that at Ane Keohokalole or up at the top? MR. YAMAMOTO: At the top. It seems to extend the road from Kainaliu Drive down to the bottom section of that same road that was partially built. Just this section right? Page 2 PWMTC-2 February 4, 2019 MS. EOFF: This road's in my district, but I'm trying to understand. The entire roadway would connect from Ane Keohokalole Highway up to actually the Villages of Laiopua at the top, right? MR. YAMAMOTO: Correct. MS. EOFF: So you could go all the way through. But, this is only one phase that we're accepting dedication of today. Correct? So that would be from Ane Keohokalole about half way up. MR. YAMAMOTO: Yes. MS. EOFF: Okay, but the signal light issue is part of this roadway, this dedication or phase two? MR. YAMAMOTO: Only street lights. MR. SIMEON: I believe this issue is with the street lights. Ms. Eoff: The street lights, not the signal lights, I'm sorry. Oh, okay. MR. SIMEON: Yes, not the signal lights, yeah. MS. EOFF: So, are they going be activated when we actually dedicate at this time, or MR. SIMEON: We're hoping that this issue will be resolved by the developer and HELLO. So, unless those issues are not resolved, then we cannot really accept that portion of the project, and it cannot be dedicated. MS. EOFF: But that's in the Phase 2. But today, we're just asked to accept Phase 1, correct? MR. SIMEON: I believe so. MS. EOFF: And everything's working on Phase 1. All of the necessary lights? Well, as I think our testifier from Kona stated, it will be really important to get the Phase 2 up to dedicable standards so we can actually make this a connector road and not a dead end. But it is also good that we are getting there, and that the people who live in the affordable housing projects and the whole area can get MR. SIMEON: Yeah, it would be good if that issue's resolved. Learning from previous developments, there are still street lights that are not being turned on because the developer hasn't improved it to dedicable standards that the County can accept. So, we're hoping that it's going to be resolved between the two parties and we can accept the full alignment. Page 3 PWMTC-2 February 4, 2019 MS. EOFF: Thank you. CHR. LEE LOY: Ms. Eoff, do you yield? Thank you. Any other questions? Alright, well seeing none. Motion on the floor is to approve Resolution 37-19. All those in favor? Vote on Res. 37-19: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 37-19 was (Approved) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas, and Chair Lee Loy — 9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR. LEE LOY: Moving on, Mr. Clerk. Communication 75. Comm. 75: REQUESTS A BRIEFING BY THE MASS TRANSIT AGENCY REGARDING PASSENGER SAFETY ON PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION, BIKE RACKS, BUS ROUTES, AND BUS STOPS From Council Member Matt Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, dated January 15, 2019. Motion to Close File: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to close file on Comm. 37. Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz. CHR. LEE LOY: In the audience today, we have Brenda along with SSFM, (SSFM International, Inc.) correct? So, if I could call you folks to the table. (Note: At this time, Mass Transit Administrator Brenda Carreira and Accountant 11 Trixy Miller came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. CARREIRA: Good Afternoon, Brenda Carreira. I also have Trixy Miller, she's our Accountant II, in case there's any issues of budget or that sort of stuff CHR. LEE LOY: As a matter of process, if you wouldn't mind identifying yourself before going in so that our recording can pick up the name. MS. CARREIRA: Brenda Carreira, Mass Transit Administrator. MS. MILLER: Trixy Miller, Accountant II. CHR. LEE LOY: This was actually Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder's Communication, so with that, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, I'll give the floor to you. Page 4 PWMTC-2 February 4, 2019 MR. KANEALII-KLEINFELDER: Thank you, Chair. Thank you for coming today, I appreciate your time. There's a lot of things bouncing around, and I had a few constituents concerns. I'm here to address a few of those and also get you to kind of touch bases with Mass Transit in general and get a feel for where we sit, where we're at, and things you're concerned about; things you want to get addressed. And, how about you kind of give us a quick breakdown, overview, what's going on with you, and where you're at. MS. CARREIRA: Okay, thank you. I was wondering and I would ask permissionI wanted to answer some of the questions that came up with the testifiers if that's okay with you and the rest of the Council. Okay, first of all, I'd like to apologize to Mr. Johnson. It is true that some of our busses, many do not the lifts are not working. We're trying to work on that. I cannot say when they would come into—that they would be operable, but it is true that we're able to help with Paratransit. That is not the best thing to do. We would look for the new busses, which unfortunately, any of the big buses we're talking about two years from now, frankly. But I do apologize that it has come up before and I'm very sorry for that. And somebody mentioned the Hub and Spoke. Now, I have been looking at the Mass Transit plan, which SSFM has done such a beautiful job on that. There is we have a bid right now out for RFP for two vans and four minibuses. When I say minibuses, that's seats of over 25. Twenty-five seats. It might be a little less with ADA lifts, it just depends on what kind of minibus that is. I'm hoping to wrap that up this month and get a proposal. That is something, my vision is to actually start something in Puna or Pahoa about the Hub and Spoke, especially with the four minibuses. I know in the master plan it is a little later, but anything that I can move forward, that's what I hope to do. But again, I was told with the minibuses, nine months to one year. So they could, if everything got wrapped up, be here, the earliest maybe the end of this year or the first quarter of next year. And that is something that I would hope to put into place at that time. Now, as far as what's been going on with Mass Transit. So, I started on November 1. When I started we had 14 buses that were available. Now, we have 33 Hele On routes. We were unable to—we had to rent out to Polynesian Adventures Tours and Robert's Tours, because if not, we'd be cancelling routes. Sometimes it went down to nine. Nine to fourteen. What I'm happy to say is as of January, those numbers came up between like 16—we went as high as 21. We have never been up to 21 since, I don't know if it was 2017 for two years. So, I'm extremely happy with my mechanics and my supervisor that they've just done a great job. Now, depending on breakdowns and stuff like that, it could be between 17 and 21. Like today, I think we're at 17. We might be up to 18 or 19 by the end of the day. Page 5 PWMTC-2 February 4, 2019 So, we are actually able sometimes to have spare buses so that we can go out and rescue. Right now in fact we did that today. So, that's a real positive thing. I expect it to increase in numbers, however, probably maybe to 24 or 25. The other vehicles that we have, we're looking ata lot of them are the Honolulu buses; unbelievable mileage but their maintenance is great and we had to buy engines, because they're over 500,000 miles. So, they're still not working. We have one that we gave to the University of Hawaii, so we're doing that, but new buses—the hydrogen bus is in Oahu. It has the Hele On name. It's through the University of Hawaii. We're still working on infrastructure. It is a minibus, so and what is great about that is even with fueling, it's only 15 minutes to refuel that bus. It's something that I can envision whether it's going to be for the Waimea shuttle—if we are able to fuel here, we would be in Hilo, but right now, the fueling station is in West Hawaii at NAPA, okay. What else? What I also wanted to say, and I'm so thankful to Trixy that she was able to do this for me. I tried to get a breakdown of how much money we had spent, and it has come up how much money have we paid out to Polynesian Adventure Tours and Robert's Tours. And so, I have a breakdown from July to December, but I asked Trixy today to look at January so we could see the difference. And what I'd like to say is, from Polynesian Adventure Tours, like in December last year, we're looking at $486,000 that we paid that month. In January, that number went down to $319,000. We saved—it's a difference of $167,000. And I attribute that for the buses coming back online. With Robert's, December was $132,000 around there and in January it's $112,000. So we went down $20,000. And again, that attributed to the fact that we had buses. And the drivers could use our County -owned buses. So, that's a positive thing. Now, I know I've only been working for three months, but one of the big things that I wanted to do was to get more buses on the road. But not just get them out, but getting them out safely, so that we have less breakdowns. We do have breakdowns but it's less. We're not towing as much and I know there was a question that was asked of me before outside, from Kona to Hilo, the towing cost is $1,190.00 just from Kona to Hilo. We haven't done as many as we used to. I don't know what it was before, so, I'm very happy about that. It has been, as far as bike racks, what I wanted to explain is, in the County -owned vehicles, we have bike racks. In the private buses, in the current Hele On contract, that was not a requirement that was made of them, okay, but Polynesian Adventure Tours voluntarily now with their eight minibuses, we're in the process of purchasing the hardware. We gave them the bike racks, but now we have to attach them to the vehicles. So, we are going to be paying for that so that they can go onto the vehicles. One of the reasons, I think, with private vendors, and only because of my 13 years of experience with them. For the big buses, it's really difficult to put tight bike racks. They are traditionally tour buses. Tour buses and clients who pay for buses do not want bike racks, frankly. They are not able—if Page 6 PWMTC-2 February 4, 2019 they were to put bike racks right now, they would be unable to use the buses for other reasons. Now, the buses are not just used for Hele On. They use them for nighttime dine-arounds; all kinds of things that Polynesian Adventure Tours and Robert's does. So what I'm able to do is tell them, if you have big buses, they do have luggage space. For me, if they're able to strap down and secure the bike racks, we have no problems with putting that in. Now, in the new contract, I added in the bike racks. And those are going to be required. And we'll just see how it goes as far as they're still going back and forth. We haven't gotten the proposals yet. But, I knew that might be an issue, but we have to have the bike racks. People are asking for them. All of them, the new contract, you must have operable ADA lifts. That is part of the contract, so I added that in. So, I'm hoping that will alleviate some of the problems. Now, with the new budget, having the GE taxes, thank you very much for everybody fighting for that. That is what's going to keep us afloat, and it's helping us so much. Regarding the buses, new buses, because since 2014, there were no grants or any kind of contracts for buses. We are behind by 16 motor coaches that we could have gotten probably during the last four years. So, I have like 18 to 20 working now. It might get up to 25. The master plan says 55 buses. That's 30 more buses. The first ones coming again, as I said, is going to be two years for now. For this current year, I'm hoping to finish it this month, would be to ask for five big buses. In the next budget, again with the grant, another five. So, hopefully we'd be able to order ten more buses this year, but we're looking for them not coming until 2021. If we can get them earlier that would be great. So, that's something that we're looking for, but thank you very much. So the GE tax is a big help for us. It's already helped us, but I'm still through the master plan, trying to follow it as much as possible. It's been a very challenging three months, but also very exciting, and I thank everybody for all their willingness to help. All the Departments' staffs have worked very hard, and again for this mechanics' staff, it's amazing what they have been able to do. And you know, having an accountant and with the budget, everybody's been such a big help. And I'd like to say I've been trying to build relationships and a lot of communication. Thank you. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Thank you very much. I appreciate you coming today. I'm very, very glad to hear you've been able to turnaround that department from where it was a few months ago and do so much. One thing that stood out to me is that I talked to different people, was the towing of buses when they breakdown and our cost. And I'm interested in pursuing that a little bit more as far as helping to get a tow truck or something that would help the County get its fleet back when there is a breakdown. I do appreciate all the information you gave us. I feel like you touched on everything I needed to know. I'd like to open the floor to any other members who has something they'd like to talk to you as well. Page 7 PWMTC-2 February 4, 2019 CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. Mr. Richards. MR. RICHARDS: Thank you, Chair. And thank you, Director, for coming in. Good talking story with you a couple weeks ago. It's starting to get things going. You made a comment that you are taking the master plan that was delivered by SSFM. Your opinion now, you've worked with it a bit. You like to plan, this is something you're embracing going forward. MS. CARREIRA: Yes, sir. MR. RICHARDS: Okay. I like direct answers, I like that. Next question, you made a comment about wanting to order ten buses. Roughly speaking, that's a $5 million investment, between $5 and $6 million, and you want to do that sooner rather than later. It's that what I'm hearing? MS. CARREIRA: Yes, there is a federal grant that I can request those buses under that grant. MR. RICHARDS: I like the sound of that even better. Okay, and you and I had the conversation about possibly forward contracting to identify and pick a number, whatever you felt that you could deliver consistently every day, so we could have a forward contract for hired buses. Where are you with that thought process? MS. CARREIRA: Okay, so, in the current contract, or I think in the previous contracts, what it's always been is the contract goes out and whoever gets it, they have to provide the drivers using County -owned vehicles. When we don't have vehicles then we call them and say, "Hey, can you help us out," which we've been doing, except for there is a separate contract with Robert's for three vehicles. Now in the new contract, looking at—because with Kona, it is so difficult sometimes to get out there and people are waiting, you know, two to three hours and delaying and we don't have a facility out there. What we fashioned in the new contract is to have the private -owned buses be in the Kona, North Kohala and Ka`u areas. We would take care of all the Hilo, Pahoa; I think there's Honoka`a; I think Volcano on this side. So, the private would go private -owned vehicles on that side for most of them, except South Kohala resorts, yes. MR. RICHARDS: Okay, that makes sense, because if you have a breakdown here, you're close to home versus being on the outside. MS. CARREIRA: Yes, so that's what we've put into this contract which they are contemplating. Because I knew we don't have 33 buses or 50 buses, and we've been renting them anyway, you know. And I just want to make it easier, because serving the public to be reliable and on time. Easier for a private contractor in Kona to get a rescue bus there than mind sending two mechanics that might take them three hours to get out there, and the people are just waiting too long. Page 8 PWMTC-2 February 4, 2019 MR. RICHARDS: Okay, are you optimistic as far as delivering that contract? understand you are talking story about it right now. MS. CARREIRA: Well, it's already out there. We sent it out in December, and so now it's just questions and answers in whether they're going to do a proposal. And, we're hoping the new contract would start in April. Usually it starts like last year July, but it was extended. So, on April 1st, that's what I would I would expect. You know, put a bid on it and it goes in—that's the way it's going to be. MR. RICHARDS: Okay, as always, I'm asking and your anticipation would be able to save some money on this going forward, okay. MS. CARREIRA: Yes. MR. RICHARDS: And I'm curious to hear the details a little bit later. Final thing, we had, as I'm sure Council Members know, Hele On is also acting as a school bus for some of the schools, west side, and we had a problem. Can you articulate on that or MS. CARREIRA: I, you know, I know that we are doing that with the private schools and we're doing that at some of the public schools. Frankly, I think because there are already school buses out there, I think that's an issue as to why Hele On is still doing that versus taking care of people going to work, and I don't know what the social needs are. But, we continue to do it, that is still something I believe the Mayor wants us to do to help our students. So, that has not been taken away. We're still doing it. MR. RICHARDS: Obviously, there was a delay and people were concerned about the health and welfare of the kids. Your expectation that your reliability will be going up as we move forward? MS. CARREIRA: Yes, as I get more buses. What has been happening with the delays is sometimes I have to wait till one route ends, then take that same bus and start another one. But if the other bus has a delay, it's going to delay this part. So, what I'm trying to do is to be able dedicate a certain bus, if you will, to there and get some spare buses. And that's why trying to get more buses, you know, that's what I'm hoping to have. And we've been able to do that, but when we go less than 16 and stuff I don't have spares. And then I just call Robert's or Polynesian to see if they can help us. MR. RICHARDS: Okay, I look forward to the new contract that you're talking about, and I'll echo what Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder said that I like what I'm hearing about the direction of Mass Transit. I yield. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Mr. Richards. Ms. Kierkiewicz. Page 9 PWMTC-2 February 4, 2019 MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Thank you, Chair Lee Loy. Hi Ms. Carreira, great to see you again. I just wanted to thank you and your agency for all of their great work over the last few months. You have, I think, made a lot of positive progress, and I think this Council is very pleased with the direction you are taking the agency into. I had a question about the four minibuses that are currently out for RFP. You mentioned that we could potentially start deploying these minibuses in Pahoa as part of the Hub and Spoke motto, and I just wondered if you had prioritized where those potential hubs would be located. MS. CARREIRA: I haven't really looked at it, but I was looking through the Mass Transit plan, then I'm going to check in with SSFM to make sure we're deployed in the correct way. But, you know, frankly in Pahoa people have gone through a lot, and so I thought introducing something new in that district is appropriate, and I think we can do it using the flex -routes and stuff like that. I'll have more help from SSFM, and then we can determine where exactly it's going to go. At least, for the four minis, but that is my vision, to start there. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, that sounds great. I know that the people of Puna certainly rely on public transportation. And you said in about nine months to a year? MS. CARREIRA: Nine months to a year. That's what the manufacturer was telling me. So on the good side, the positive side would be the end of this year. If not, the first quarter of next year. The minibuses take less time; the big buses are just, yeah MS. KIERKIEWICZ: The big buses take a bit longer because they need to be built to spec, correct? It's not something that you can just buy off of the shelf. MS. CARREIRA: No. And what we're also trying to do is to see if we can—if I can work with the other counties. Sometimes it might be faster if we buy in bulk. But you know, a lot of it has to do with contracts. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: A lot of that coordination. MS. CARREIRA: All that, yes. MS. KIERKIEWICZ: Okay, thank you. Well, please keep me posted, and I just want to say for the record that you were incredibly responsive when I sent you a couple of emails. There were constituents concerned about not being able to get their bikes onto buses, and you assured me that RFP's were being updated to require that of the contracted vendor. So, thank you so much. Madam Chair, I yield the floor. MS. CARREIRA: You're welcome. Page 10 PWMTC-2 February 4, 2019 CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, any others? I really didn't have any questions other than, this has been the most refreshing update we have gotten from Mass Transit in the last 28, 29 months. And, it really speaks volumes of the leadership that we have there now. So, Ms. Carreira, thank you so much, and I do want to also thank SSFM for providing such a wonderful masterplan that created the framework to get, you know, everybody in their lanes. But more importantly, you highlighting the successes in just the last three months, I'm sure all of my colleagues are feeling it right now. And from what I gather or what I can see, we're already seeing about $187,000 in cost saving just by what you've done to implement some of the changes there. The contracts, very, very smart, and how you're retooling what we have within the contracts to provide more services. Just reliable, on time. And, the final point, I think the capacity with buying power. I think that's another smart direction where if we reach out to other Counties who are in the process of purchasing vehicles or buses, the capacity in number could potentially drive down the cost of one particular bus. But, I recognize there's a lot that has to happen through our procurement when we try and purchase with other Counties. With that, you know, thank you so much. For right now, we have a motion to close file on Communication 75. All those in favor? Vote on Comm. 75: The motion to close file on Comm. 75 was carried by the Filed following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Poindexter, Richards, Villegas, and Chair Lee Loy — 9. Noes: None. Absent: None. Excused: None. CHR. LEE LOY: Moving on, Mr. Clerk, if you could read in Communication 71. Return to Order The Chair directed the Committee to return to the order of business. of Business: COMMUNI- The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, CATIONS: Communications. (Note: Comm. 75 was taken up previously, out of order.) Page 11 PWMTC-2 February 4, 2019 Comm. 71: REQUESTS A PRESENTATION BY TINA CLOTHIER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF PEOPLES ADVOCACY FOR TRAILS HAWAII, REGARDING VISION ZERO GOALS, STRATEGIES, AND POLICIES TO PREVENT TRAFFIC -RELATED FATALITIES AND INJURIES From Council Member Susan L. K. Lee Loy, dated January 14, 2019. Motion to Close File: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to close file on Comm. 71. Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz. CHR. LEE LOY: Tina, thank you. I just want to point out to the rest of my colleagues, within our folders we have Communication 71.1, and that's a hard copy of the presentation that Ms. Clothier will be presenting to us. So, if you folks need to follow along, there is the hard copy. (Note: At this time, Executive Director of People's Advocacy for Trails Tina Clothier came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MS. CLOTHIER: Mahalo, Chair Lee Loy, I also want to say hello to Vice Chair Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder and the esteemed members of the Transportation Committee. (Note: At this time, Ms. Clothier came forward and provided a PowerPoint presentation to the members of the Committee. For viewing of subject presentation, see the DVD copy of the meeting proceedings on file in the Clerk's Office. A copy of the PowerPoint presentation is made a part of the record, see Comm. 71.1.) CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Ms. Clothier. As she mentioned, any questions from my colleagues? Mr. Chung. MR. CHUNG: I just wanted to relate to you one of my pet peeves, okay. I mean it relates to safety. Because I'm a driver, I'm also a pedestrian. I don't see anything in here that relates to this. You know, I think one of the most dangerous situations is when pedestrians choose to walk on a green light when they're not supposed to walk. Because, you know, the drivers have a lot of things they have to be concerned about, right? And to add a person coming from their blind side, like on a bicycle for example. On the sidewalk crossing the green light when there's a no -walk signal, you know, one of those. Or, guys just kind of walking from the blind side, usually. You know, if they're walking face on, you can see them, you can live with it, but coming from the blind side when you have a right—green light and you can turn right, that's really dangerous. And it's a lot to think of, you know, when you're a driver. So, if you could just kind of consider that. MS. CLOTHIER: Absolutely. Thank you, and that will—education for pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists will be paramount in our action plan. Page 12 PWMTC-2 February 4, 2019 MR. CHUNG: Yeah, I mean I just think it's a matter of either habits or poor lifestyle habits or whatever. Because I see a lot of people waiting at the intersection, you know, for the signal to turn—you know, that white signal for them to walls. And then, other people just totally disregard it, yeah. So I think it's either enforcement, education, or whatever. And that's all I have to say, but thank you. You guys have a great mission. MS. CLOTHIER: Thank you. Thank you so much, and I agree. You know, one of the things that people don't know is it's against the law to enter a crosswalk when the timer has started. That's something that we need people to know, so thank you very much. CHR. LEE LOY: Oh, thank you, Mr. Chung. Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder. MR. KANEALI`I-KLEINFELDER: Yes, I had a question about funding. Is there a grant and funds coming in for this program to the County? And kind of where we're at financially with this. MS. CLOTHIER: Right, so when we first proposed Vision Zero through the Mayor's Active Living Advisory Council, we approached Kaiser Permanente Community Benefits and they granted $20,000 seed money. Obviously, that's the very initial fund, but this will help us pull together the task force; start to develop our plan. And then, as the task force comes out with plans then we will apply for other grants. And there's many transportation safety grants out in the United States; and just put several grant requests in the pipeline with the hopes that as we know what the funds will be used for, we could really zero in on specific asks. And then, hopefully be successful with our grant proposals. CHR. LEE LOY: Anything else, Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder? Thank you. Well, if I don't have any other questions. One, thank you Tina for being here. I did want to go back to one slide, and it was the Bicyclist Hospital -Treated Nonfatal Injuries. And we see a rise in that particular slide. And I was just wondering, is that related to the bike -share programs, because now, we have people who may not truly understand, you know the roadway systems here. And how do we better educate if we're going to be moving into this kind of bike -share program? Share with me your thoughts on that. MS. CLOTHIER: That's a very fair question and the reality is at this moment, there have been no bike -share serious injuries or fatalities. The reality of the type of bikes that are in bike -shares, that you're sitting upright and you have greater visibility—you're not down on your bars; you're sitting upright. You have greater visibility and you're more visible to motorists. You know, you're probably going slower too than the speed of traffic, and ideally in a bike lane or on a shoulder. This is anecdotal, but it seems to me when I ride the bike -share bikes versus when I've ridden my road bike, that motorists are friendlier to me on my bike -share bike. And I've heard that from Biki users in Honolulu. So, that Page 13 PWMTC-2 February 4, 2019 said, that we cannot rest on our laurels, we have to constantly be educating. And, it's not only bike -share. It's also—I've seen a rise in bicycle commuters over the years, whether it's people who cannot afford motor vehicle transportation or just chose to ride their bikes or perhaps they've lost their license. And so, this is a PATH (Peoples Advocacy for Trails Hawaii) project now, but have—we do quite a bit of outreach on the Kona side and we want to also do so on the Hilo side and down south and up north to bicycle commuters when we can find them. You know, in such a way that we can impart that education. For example, we worked with HOPE services just last week to hand out free bicycle helmets to bicycle commuters and also do a bike safety check and do bike safety instruction. And we plan to continue that once a month. And again, hopefully have the same program on the east side. Just an example of how we're reaching out to bicyclists. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you. Thank you so much for your presentation. I do want to call forward Planning Director Michael Yee, who we've had—yeah, Tina if you could stay there too. You know, we as planners constantly have all kinds of conversations. And you know, Director Yee has been very instrumental at standing this one up along with what we hope to be a lot of uplift through our Planning documents with our Complete Streets' program with the Vision Zero. And then, crossing our fingers with some funding. So with that, Director Yee, please go ahead and take a few minutes to share your thoughts on this and some of the comments you've heard. (Note: At this time, Planning Director Michael Yee came forward to address the members of the Committee.) MR. YEE: Okay, thank you. Michael Yee, Planning Director. First, I need to note, and you know this already, but I'm going to state the obvious for the record, that with projects like this you always need champions. And sitting to my right here, Tina is the champion on this project, and if it wasn't for her we wouldn't be sitting at this table, so, shout out to her. But, this project's also been in the making for many years, even before me joining the Planning Department here. Years ago, the state along with Blue Zones and others were sponsoring both Council folks, and certain County folks to learn about mobility issues. So, for several years, people were being flown to other places to learn about multi -modal; to learn about safety; to learn about Vision Zero. As I've said in the past, I've never had an original idea in my life that was good. I've stolen every good idea, and Vision Zero was definitely part of that when I traveled on my mobility trip to Seattle and to Portland and heard about Vision Zero, and came home and got excited to implementso, it doesn't come out of the blue. I would also add that at this time, the State Legislature has three bills in front of them right now. The pair of companion bills that would make Vision Zero to adopt both at the State level and the County level, and one bill that would only Page 14 PWMTC-2 February 4, 2019 force the State to adopt. I would generally—and more supportive of the bill that only has the State to adopt it, and that's just because we learn here about home rule and never did like the State telling us what we have to do and the goals that we have to set. So, but I would be happy to have either of them pass if necessary to provide support. Again, the first companion bills have potential appropriations; but again, I'm always skeptical about how much appropriations would flow down to the County level again. So, not willing to have them dangle that carrot out to me and jump at it. So, you know, I think at a certain level, we're going look at the State having to mandate Vision Zero, you know, so it's coming. Again, places like Maui and Hawaii Island are ahead of the curve in trying to do it and I appreciate that. You know, with anything new, there's always skepticism over anything new. You know, just doing some quick fact checking. I just kind of double-checked some of my facts that still believe there's been a major reduction in New York City. There's been major reduction in Sweden. Your resolution does not speak to Norway; and yes, Norway has not seen in the certain period of time, did not see a great reduction. But that's one of many, you know, cities around the world that has adopted it. There have been many other examples where it has been successful. One of my notes was the grant funds, which Tina just addressed. And lastly, something I've been learning here in my first two years, the saying keeps repeating in my head that I think I can apply to many different things, which kind of goes to Chair Chung's comment. Because you can, doesn't mean you should. Something I keep learning over and over on this island. Again, that seems to with older generations, they seem to have really understood that, and it's something I'm trying. I was speaking to a Charter School in Keaukaha this morning, trying to impart them with that idea, just because you can, doesn't mean you should. And again, so I think everybody has to practice those safety measures for themselves and people around them. Thank you. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you, Director. I just really do enjoy our time together. I think we have a great think-tank of people and these projects are things that we can champion. With that, and please stay because the next resolution is up. We have on the floor a motion to close file on Communication 71. All those in favor? Vote on Comm. 71: The motion to close file on Comm. 71 was carried by the Filed following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Poindexter, Villegas, and Chair Lee Loy – 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Richards –1. Excused: None. Page 15 PWMTC-2 February 4, 2019 CHR. LEE LOY: And moving to the final item on the agenda, Resolution 38-19. Mr. Clerk. ORDER OF The Chair directed the Committee to proceed to the next order of business, RESOLUTIONS: Order of Resolutions. (Note: Resolution 37-19 was taken up previously, out of order.) Res. 38-19: ADOPTS THE GOALS, STRATEGIES, AND POLICIES OF VISION ZERO TO PREVENT TRAFFIC -RELATED FATALITIES AND INJURIES Vision Zero is a comprehensive strategy to eliminate traffic deaths and severe injuries while promoting safe, healthy, and equitable mobility. Reference: Comm. 72 Intr. by: Ms. Lee Loy Motion to Approve: Mr. Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder moved to recommend adoption of Res. 37-19. Seconded by Ms. Kierkiewicz. CHR. LEE LOY: So with that, Mr. Yee if you would like to take us home, because we've heard a presentation, and you know, we did have the proclamation from the Mayor. So, if you could just encapsulate all of this? This really was something we mapped out to create that first synergies behind this project. MR. YEE: So again, a resolution certainly isn't necessary all the time in these situations where Vision Zero has been implemented. It depends on the jurisdiction that it is occurring, and is it a City Council heavy jurisdiction and a City Manager? In this case, we wanted buy in from everyone and so that includes the Mayor was the first step and then coming to Council. And clearly in the future as projects impact other areas; Public Safety, Public Works. You know, making sure you folks were very aware of this and were behind it was important certainly to the Administration. So, we are certainly supportive of the resolution and hope for your support. Thank you. CHR. LEE LOY: Thank you. Any comments, questions from my colleagues? Ms. Eoff. MS. EOFF: Thank you, Madam Chair. And thank you Ms. Lee Loy and everybody here for bringing us to this point. And, as you stated, a collaborative effort supporting a great initiative. It's important to us as a County. So, anything we can do, feel free to ask. And thanks again, Tina for your perseverance to make our community safe. MR. YEE: I wanted to add that, you know, I've already been asked about having meetings on both sides. And certainly with the resources of the County, we can, you know use teleconferencing and stuff like that to be able to accomplish it, and Page 16 PWMTC-2 February 4,2019 Tina certainly lives in West Hawai`i, so I don't see all our meetings being over here in Hilo by any means. So, I think we will get cross collaboration. MS. EOFF: That'll be great. Thank you, I yield. CHR. LEE LOY: Any others. Well, with that again, thank you Tina; Director Yee. You touched about it earlier, which was the various bills of the Legislature, and I think, adoption or approval of this, and a favorable recommendation to the Council will actually be another tool for you to use as you guys go ahead and provide testimony to those various bills at the Legislature that, you know, the Hawai`i County is on board and looking forward to implementing some of the changes that Vision Zero has. So with that, all those in favor of a favorable recommendation to the Council of Resolution 38-19, please say"aye." Vote on Res. 38-19: The motion to recommend adoption of Res. 38-19 was (Approved) carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Poindexter, Villegas, and Chair Lee Loy— 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Richards— 1. Excused: None. CHR. LEE LOY: I'll entertain a motion to adjourn. ADJOURN- There being no further business, at 3:00 p.m., Ms. David moved to adjourn the MENT: meeting. Seconded by Ms. Eoff and carried by the following voice vote: Ayes: Committee Members Chung, David, Eoff, Kaneali`i-Kleinfelder, Kierkiewicz, Poindexter, Villegas, and Chair Lee Loy— 8. Noes: None. Absent: Committee Member Richards— 1. Excused: None. A..roved: tr 044110 2-try L. K. Lee Loy, (Date) 11'4rks and Mass Transit Committ;- SL/dt Page 17