STAND. COM. REP. NO. 90

                                 Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                   , 1999

                                 RE: H.B. No. 520
                                     H.D. 1




Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 1999
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Transportation, to which was referred H.B.
No. 520 entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SCHOOL BUSES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill, as received by your Committee, is
to amend Sections 291C and 291C-221, Hawaii Revised Statutes, by
allowing school buses to use High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes,
including zipper lanes, regardless of their number of passengers.

     Your Committee on Transportation finds that this measure is
helpful to school buses since, oftentimes, empty school buses
must go into Honolulu during rush hour to pick up students.
Because these buses have only the driver on board, they do not
meet the minimum three or more occupancy requirement for the
zipper lane, and at times, these buses are not able to keep up
with their timetables.  School buses already assist in easing
traffic congestion by keeping fewer cars off the road.  This bill
will enable school buses to perform their duties more efficiently
without adding to traffic congestion.

     This bill, as provided by rules in accordance with chapter
91, proposes to allow school buses to use HOV and zipper lanes,
regardless of the number of occupants.

     Although your Committee received testimonies which asked
that this bill be held because its purpose was unclear,
testimonies in support of this bill were heard from the Hawaii
Transportation Association and Gomes School Bus Service, Ltd.
Only the State Department of Transportation opposed this bill,

 
                                 STAND. COM. REP. NO. 90
                                 Page 2

 
stating that it is inconsistent with the intention behind having
HOV lanes and zipper lanes.

     Your Committee has amended this bill by changing "zip" in
line 7 to "High Occupancy Vehicle," and by taking out the
sentence in line 17 referring to bracketed statutory material, as
there is no bracketed portion.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Transportation that is attached to this report, your
Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No.
520, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second
Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 520, H.D. 1, and
be referred to the Committee on Education.

                                   Respectfully submitted on
                                   behalf of the members of the
                                   Committee on Transportation,



                                   ______________________________
                                   KENNETH T. HIRAKI, Chair