REPORT TITLE:
Carpooling, Free Parking


DESCRIPTION:
Allows carpools of three or more into the downtown Honolulu area
to receive free parking at an employer's lot, to be subsidized by
the State.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                            729         
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
________________________________________________________________
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO CARPOOLS.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  Rush hour traffic in downtown Honolulu is a
 
 2 perennial problem, with no signs of improvement.  The only sure
 
 3 method is to try to get more cars off the road.  Carpooling and
 
 4 vanpooling are an efficient way to get more people into the
 
 5 downtown area in fewer cars.  Some incentive programs exist for
 
 6 encouraging carpooling, but they have not reached as many people
 
 7 as is necessary to make a significant impact on rush hour
 
 8 traffic.
 
 9      The purpose of this Act is to increase carpooling by
 
10 offering free parking in the downtown Honolulu area for people
 
11 who regularly commute with three or more persons.  Rather than
 
12 implement a layer of state bureaucracy to monitor and verify
 
13 compliance, this Act subsidizes parking in any attended parking
 
14 lot in the downtown Honolulu area.  The attendant in each lot
 
15 shall daily monitor each carpool car for compliance.  The State
 
16 shall cover the parking costs for each day that the requisite
 
17 number of carpoolers arrive at the lot in the vehicle.  By
 
18 privatizing the reward of carpooling as well as the compliance,
 
19 the State will achieve maximum effect at minimum cost.
 

 
Page 2                                         729         
                                     H.B. NO.           
                                                        
                                                        


 1      SECTION 2.  The Hawaii Revised Statutes is amended by adding
 
 2 a new chapter to Title 9 to be appropriately designated and to
 
 3 read as follows:
 
 4                            "CHAPTER 
 
 5                            CARPOOLING
 
 6         -1  Definitions.  As used in this chapter:
 
 7      "Attended parking structure" means a parking lot in the
 
 8 downtown Honolulu area with an attendant or security guard
 
 9 available between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.
 
10      "Carpool" means any regularly scheduled group of three
 
11 persons or more who commute to the downtown Honolulu area.
 
12      "Department" means the department of accounting and general
 
13 services.
 
14      "Downtown Honolulu" means the area bounded by Liliha Street,
 
15 the H-1 Freeway, Piikoi Street, and the waterfront.
 
16      "Primary driver" means the person submitting the carpooling
 
17 application as such and who will receive the parking
 
18 reimbursement.
 
19         -2 Application for free carpool parking.  The
 
20 department shall prepare, have available, and distribute
 
21 applications for free carpool parking.  The application shall
 
22 state the name of each carpool participant, an address and phone
 
23 number in the downtown Honolulu area of the business, school,
 

 
Page 3                                         729         
                                     H.B. NO.           
                                                        
                                                        


 1 care facility, or other facility for each carpool participant,
 
 2 and the contact information, including day and evening phone and
 
 3 address, for the primary driver of the carpool vehicle.  Within
 
 4 five business days of receipt of a completed application, the
 
 5 department shall promptly contact each person, or, if a minor,
 
 6 that person's parent or guardian, to verify that that person will
 
 7 be participating in the carpool arrangement.  When that
 
 8 information has been verified, or five business days after the
 
 9 application has been submitted, whichever is sooner, the
 
10 department shall issue an official log to the primary driver and
 
11 shall continue to do so on a monthly basis.
 
12         -3  Free parking at attended parking structure.(a)
 
13 Any car used in a carpool shall be eligible to be reimbursed by
 
14 the State for parking at any attended parking structure in the
 
15 downtown Honolulu area.  The primary driver shall be responsible
 
16 for obtaining a parking stall in an attended parking structure.
 
17 The primary driver shall submit the official log to the attendant
 
18 or security guard at the attended parking structure each workday
 
19 morning.  The attendant or security guard shall sign the log
 
20 after verifying that there are at least three persons in the car
 
21 at the time the car arrives in the lot.
 
22      (b)  The log shall be deemed complete if it contains
 
23 verification for all work days in a month, excluding state
 

 
Page 4                                         729         
                                     H.B. NO.           
                                                        
                                                        


 1 holidays, federal holidays, or school holidays for a school which
 
 2 one of the carpool participants attends, or days for which a
 
 3 missing carpool participant can submit a signed physician's note
 
 4 stating that the participant was too ill to participate.  The
 
 5 primary driver shall be promptly reimbursed by the department
 
 6 upon submission of a completed log within five days after the end
 
 7 of the month.
 
 8         -4 Change in application.  At any time, the primary
 
 9 driver may amend the application to designate new carpooling
 
10 members, remove or substitute current ones, or designate a new
 
11 primary driver.
 
12         -5 Enforcement.  Any person who improperly verifies a
 
13 carpooling log shall commit a petty misdemeanor and be subject to
 
14 a fine of $100.  Each day of improper verification shall
 
15 constitute a separate offense.  Any primary driver who submits a
 
16 log with improper verification shall be guilty of a petty
 
17 misdemeanor, subject to a fine of $100, and shall have the
 
18 person's application voided and the free carpooling privilege
 
19 removed.  Each day of violation constitutes a separate offense."
 
20      SECTION 3.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
 
21 
 
22                              INTRODUCED BY:______________________