HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0701.024 2018-2020 ill 151
Leilani Branson-Crell HC Box i Keaau HI b Ph: 808-982-841710'
Y/ 3 3574 9 749 l
January 31, 2020
Honorable Council Chair Aaron Chung Sent Via Email
& Members of the Council of Hawaii County counciltestimony(cbhawaiicountv.ao_v
25 Aupuni Street
Hilo, HI 96720
WRITTEN TESTIMONY IN SUPPORT OF BILL 131 - Heard February 5, 2020
I attended the presentation by SSFM International to the lower Puna community on July 31, 2019,
and was impressed with the concept and options laid forth for a Hub &Spoke mass transit for our
district.
Those in attendance were pleased with the vision and goal of a transit and multimodal plan for our
region. In addition to the strategies, the program touched on the capital and financial plan to turn
this into a reality. Finally, the state region known as the "fastest growing area of Hawaii," is going to
receive a plan to effectively transport its residents throughout the island for work, play and visitors
alike using a hub and spoke bus line.
The concept of Hub & Spoke ridership would serve an area whose many roadways are less than
adequate by federal road standards - with large buses coming to a central site and with smaller vans
and buses serving routes outside of the hub. This efficient routing makes sense for much of the
region which has been ravaged by lava or requires traversing miles of sub-standard private roadways
- such as in Hawaiian Paradise Park.
At that July 2019 meeting, SSFM provided six sites for the hub to be located, and most agreed that
the best one is SITE SIX (6)* because: (1) its proximity to Pahoa village - without encumbering the
town with large buses; (2) its existing and usable shelters already built on site - with additional
buildings that could include a lava museum for the public and tourists; and, (3) it is physically located
at the intersection of Highways 130 and 132 - providing excellent signage, access, and usage.
I beseech the Council to support the appropriation of funding for Bill 131 to the Mass Transit Agency
for a hub-and-spoke bus depot. In addition, I ask that you support Site 6* for this hub location, so
that our district can get on board now, and does not have to wait years, maybe even decades before
another site is accepted. Carpe Diem!
COUNTY CLERK
Respectfully and with Aloha, COUNTY OF HAWAIIRECEIVED
Js/ Leilani Bronson-Crelly Time Dade ���� 0 � ���Q Thom y
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*TMK- (3)1-5-003:037 (�
Comm. No.-I
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