STAND. COM. REP. NO. 248

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 152

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Transportation and International Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 152 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to require the expenditure of at least two per cent of eligible federal moneys in the State Highway Fund to establish bike paths and bike lanes in the State's Master Bicycling Plan.

 

     This measure also requires the Department of Transportation (DOT) to include the bicycling community in a public involvement process to plan bikeways, and requires an allocation of highway maintenance funds to ensure the safety of bikeways.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the City and County of Honolulu Department of Transportation Services, Hawaii Bicycling League, PATH, Sierra Club, Hawaii Chapter, Maui Bicycle Alliance, AARP Hawaii, and fourteen individuals including the oral support of a State Representative.  Testimony in opposition was received from the Department of Transportation.

 

     Your Committee finds that bikeways are urgently needed to encourage commuters, particularly on Oahu, to take advantage of the opportunities Hawaii's ideal weather and gentle terrain provide for comfortable and healthy traveling via bicycle between home and workplace.

 

     The intent of this measure is to increase the number of bike paths and bike lanes by ensuring a minimum allocation of funds for bicycling projects, as well as to increase the safety of bicyclers by including them in the planning stages of bikeways and increasing the maintenance of bikeways.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure to accommodate the desires of the Hawaii Bicycling League, Department of Transportation, and the State Representative by:

 

     (1)  Clarifying that State Highway Fund moneys, whether state funds or federal funds, shall be expended on bikeways on new or existing highways, roads, and streets, whenever practicable, in the process of design and planning;

 

     (2)  Requiring at least two per cent of eligible federal funds, and in addition, other state highway fund moneys as available, to be expended on establishing bike paths and to install signage and safety devices along bicycle lanes and bicycle routes, upon consultation with the bicycling community; and

 

     (3)  Requiring that mass transit systems plans shall include safe, dedicated bikeways, bike lanes, and bike paths and may include a requirement that bicycle racks be installed and utilized on mass transportation vehicles.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Transportation and International Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 152, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 152, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Transportation and International Affairs,

 

 

 

____________________________

J. KALANI ENGLISH, Chair