HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	327
THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2019
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

relating to transportation.

 

 

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

 

SECTION 1.  In August 2016, the department of transportation expanded the zipper lane on Oahu's H-1 freeway to accommodate two lanes from 5:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays.  This increased capacity of the zipper lane by twenty per cent, or an additional one thousand seven hundred vehicles per hour.  The use of these lanes requires two or more occupants in the vehicle during the designated hours.

The legislature finds that charging single occupant motorists a nominal fee to use the zipper lane could provide a source of additional revenue for the State while reducing traffic in non-zipper freeway lanes.

Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to require the department of transportation to develop and implement a program that allows single occupant vehicles to use the zipper lane for a fee.

     SECTION 2.  Chapter 291C, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to part XVII to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

     "§291C-A  Single occupant vehicle access fee.  (a)  The department of transportation shall develop and implement a system in accordance with chapter 91 in which drivers may pay a single occupant vehicle access fee of $        to the department in exchange for use of a high occupancy vehicle lane that has been designated as a zipper lane on the island of Oahu regardless of the number of occupants in the motor vehicle.

     (b)  Except as otherwise provided by law, all revenues, including interest, derived and collected by the department of transportation pursuant to this section shall be deposited into the state highway fund.

     (c)  The department of transportation shall provide to the legislature an annual report no later than twenty days prior to the convening of each regular session, which shall include:

     (1)  The department's assessment of the successes, challenges, and areas for improvement in meeting the purposes of this section;

     (2)  The activities of the department related to this section;

     (3)  The total number of single occupant vehicle access fees paid; and

     (4)  An accounting of all revenues generated and deposited into the state highway fund for the preceding year."

     SECTION 3.  Section 291C-221, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending the definition of "high occupancy vehicle lane" to read as follows:

     ""High occupancy vehicle lane" means a designated lane of a laned roadway where the use of the designated lane is restricted to school buses, vehicles carrying at least the minimum number of persons designated by the director of transportation on official signs and other official traffic-control devices, single occupant vehicles pursuant to section 291C-A, and to other vehicles as provided by rules adopted in accordance with chapter 91, or by county ordinance."

     SECTION 4.  In codifying the new sections added by section 2 of this Act, the revisor of statutes shall substitute appropriate section numbers for the letters used in designating the new sections in this Act.

     SECTION 5.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 6.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

 

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

 

Report Title:

DOT; Zipper Lane; Contraflow; Access Fee

 

Description:

Directs the Department of Transportation to develop and implement a single occupant vehicle access fee to use a zipper lane on Oahu.  Requires that revenues generated from the single occupant vehicle access fee be deposited in the state highway fund.

 

 

 

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.