Bill Text: HI SR138 | 2021 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Requesting The Department Of Transportation To Initiate Three Innovative Pilot Projects Of Meaningful Scale To Modernize Transportation Infrastructure In Underserved Communities.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 9-0)

Status: (Passed) 2021-06-21 - Certified copies of resolutions sent, 06-21-21. [SR138 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2021-SR138-Amended.html

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THE SENATE	S.R. NO.	138
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2021		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION TO INITIATE THREE INNOVATIVE PILOT PROJECTS OF MEANINGFUL SCALE TO MODERNIZE TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE IN UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES.

 

 

     WHEREAS, utilizing public transportation, biking, walking, and living close to work or school instead of owning or leasing a car can significantly reduce the cost of transportation, cost of living, and measurably improve public health; and

 

     WHEREAS, many underserved communities in Hawaii have no safe biking or walking transportation infrastructure, leaving residents forced to pay a higher cost of transportation to own a car, even when they live close to work or school, with fewer options to improve their quality of life; and

 

     WHEREAS, the way people use transportation in the State is already rapidly changing, for example the number of licensed drivers in the State between the ages of fifteen and nineteen has plummeted nearly forty percent in the last twenty-five years, and electric bicycles have made longer distance bicycle commuting more popular; and

 

     WHEREAS, these changes are due, in part, to increased cost of living and transportation expenses such as buying or leasing a car, which also includes auto insurance premiums, fuel costs, and vehicle maintenance, which make owning a car an expensive means of transportation as reflected in a recent report by the American Automobile Association who noted that, on average, these additional expenses cost each car owner $8,849 per year; and

 

     WHEREAS, in the State and around the country, inequitable investments into infrastructure over many decades has exacerbated cost and health disparities among different communities, with low-income areas typically having less access to bike lanes, sidewalks, and safe forms of cheaper transportation, leaving low-income households in auto-centric communities more likely to fall into poverty; and

 

     WHEREAS, one direct outcome of this problem is that drivers are more likely to strike and kill pedestrians in low-income neighborhoods than in high-income neighborhoods due to a lack of safe walking and biking infrastructure; and

 

     WHEREAS, Hawaii should modernize ground transportation infrastructure by incorporating safer, protected, walking and biking infrastructure, moving away from auto-centric policies, and address infrastructure inequalities in underserved communities to help reduce the cost of living, improve the quality of life for local residents, and stimulate the economy; and,

 

     WHEREAS, the Biden Administration and federal Department of Transportation are modernizing priorities and federal infrastructure grant funding programs to more prominently focus on innovative projects that address alternative transportation and target underserved communities; and

 

     WHEREAS, Hawaii should begin planning and design for projects that will place Hawaii in an optimal position to take advantage of coming federal grant funding and infrastructure support to address the needs of underserved communities in Hawaii; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2021, that the Hawaii Department of Transportation is requested to prioritize and execute three pilot projects of meaningful scale demonstrating innovative new ways to improve safety, reduce the cost of transportation for local residents, and improve quality of life in underserved communities, with a particular focus on those that may include public housing or Department of Hawaiian Home Lands beneficiaries; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the county partner agencies are requested to participate with the Department of Transportation to prioritize and execute the pilot projects; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Transportation is requested to prioritize one project that will maximize safe pedestrian and bicycle commuting and reduce transportation costs between an area of current or future high density and the downtown urban core, providing a protected highway for bicycle and pedestrian commuters without intersecting vehicular traffic or other impediments, similar to the safe and direct commutes made possible by the New York City High Line for pedestrians, or the Xiamen Bicycle Skyway for bicycle commuters; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Transportation is requested to prioritize one project that will maximize safe pedestrian and bicycle commuting and reduce transportation costs for students commuting to school, providing protected bicycle and pedestrian routes to schools focusing on an area that serves as many schools as possible, and may partner with a county in doing so; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Transportation is requested to prioritize one project that will maximize safe and protected active health exercise pathways serving a high-density area, and may partner with a county in doing so; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Director of Transportation, and the Mayor of each county.

Report Title: 

Department of Transportation; Bicycles; Pedestrians