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October Meeting
Ms. Cindy McMilan, the Outreach Coordinator from the City
and County of Honolulu, Department of Transportation Services
was the featured speaker at the October 25th luncheon meeting
of the ITE Hawaii Section. Ms. McMilan provided a summary
of the information included in the Major Investment Study
(MIS)/Draft Environmental Impact Study (DEIS) for the Primary
Corridor Project. She also handed out the Oahu Trans 2K Progress
Report #4.
She explained the history of the project, in which for over
two years, community members were brought together to prepare
a transit plan for Oahu. From these meetings, the City is
now analyzing the three alternatives listed in the DIES. The
three alternatives include the following:
NO-BUILD
The No-Build alternative includes roadway projects expected
to be implemented in the next three years and expansion of
the bus service in developing areas like Kapolei.
TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM MANAGEMENT
The Transportation System Management alternative consists
of reconfiguring the bus system into a hub-and-spoke network
with circulator, local, and express routes meeting at transit
centers.
THE BUS RAPID TRANSIT
The Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) comprises of a regional and a
in-town system. The Regional BRT from Kapolei to Kalihi uses
new access ramps connecting expanded zipper and express lanes
on H-1 Freeway. The in-town BRT system uses electric vehicles
along exclusive or semi-exclusive transitway lanes from Kalihi
to Downtown Honolulu, Waikiki and the University of Hawaii.
What’s next? The Final Environmental Impact Statement
will be written, incorporating the comments received by the
public.
If you are interested in more information on this project
you may call (808)527-6978 or visit the project website at
www.oahutrans2k.com.
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September Meeting
Mr. Fred Pascua, from the Harbors Division of the Hawaii
Department of Transportation (HDOT), was the featured speaker
at the September 9th luncheon meeting of the ITE Hawaii Section.
He provided an explanation of the HDOTs mission and 2001 Capital
Improvement Program (CIP) Program.
The HDOT has developed a mission statement that reads:
The Mission of the Harbors Division is to provide and effectively
manage a commercial harbor system that facilitates the efficient
movement of people and goods to, from and between the Hawaiian
Islands, and enhances and/or preserves economic prosperity
and quality of life.
The commercial harbor system consists of 10 harbors on six
islands:
Hilo Harbor, Hawaii
Kawaihae, Hawaii
Kahului Harbor, Maui
Kaunakakai Harbor, Molokai
Kaumalapau Harbor, Lanai
Kalaeloa Barbers Point Harbor, Oahu
Kewalo Basin, Oahu
Nawiliwili Harbor, Kauai
Port Allen Harbor, Kauai
Honolulu Harbor, Oahu
Currently the HDOT is working on several Capital Improvement
Projects, including the following:
Hilo Harbor - Since the cruise ship industry is expanding
in Hawaii additional berths for the commercial liners are
needed, the HDOT will be extending Pier 3. A new barge terminal
including a new pier, storage yard and shed will also be developed.
Kawaihae Harbor - In order to accommodate the woodchip industry,
the HDOT will be conducting a federal feasibility study for
improving navigational conditions which include additional
surge protection and deepening of the basin and entrance channel.
Kahului Harbor - Since the cruise ship Independence will
be relocated to Maui, several improvements need to be made.
This includes a new comfort station and new water and wastewater
systems at Pier 1. Improvements to the interisland terminal
are also planned.
Kaumalapau Harbor - In a joint Federal-State project with
the Corps of Engineers, the HDOT will reconstruct the breakwater.
Nawiliwili Harbor - The HDOT plans to extend Pier 2 and replace
fenders at Pier 3.
Honolulu Harbor - The HDOT is working on several projects
in this harbor.
Keehi Industrial Park Improvements
Navigational Improvements to Honolulu Harbor & Keehi
Lagoon & Kapalama Container Yard
Pier 51B Yard Improvements
Pier 2 Cruise Ship Terminal
Sand Island Container Yard Improvements (Piers 52 and 53)
Improvements to Commercial Fishing Facilities at Piers 16-18
The HDOT is also working on a Sand Island Tunnel Feasibility
Study. The study will look at the technical, economic, and
environmental issues related to replacing the Sand Island
Bridge with a tunnel.
In order to sustain the needed projects in the CIP Program,
an increase in the tariffs is being considered A 5% tariff
increase would result in a price increase of $0.72 for a sport
utility vehicle, $0.001 for a 10-lb bag of rice, $0.000075
for a 12 oz can of spam. With an increase of this scale, the
general public should not see a big change in prices.
The HDOT is also looking into different methods of innovative
financing such as:
Private Development (Lease Option)
- Development of projects by private entities in exchange
for a lease of 35 years
- No impact to State’s debt service.
Private Development (Lease with a Lease Back Option)
- State will lease facility built by a private entity
Reimbursement Provisions
- Requires Legislative Approval
State General Fund Subsidy
- Use of State General funds as projects have indirect benefits
to the entire State
Additional Business Income Taxes
- (Example: Cruise Ship Terminal could be funded in part by
taxes generated by any additional domestic cruise ship vessel.)
Federal Funding
- Secure Federal funding for applicable projects with matching
State funds (TEA-21, FTA,..)
There is much work being conducted by the Harbors Division
that is not seen by the general public. The projects listed
above make up only a small portion of what they do.
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July Meeting
Ms Patti Boekamp, an International Director of ITE (District
6, western U.S.) and the Chief Deputy Director with the City
of San Diego’s Engineering & Capital Projects Development
Department, was the main speaker at the Annual Meeting of
the Hawaii Section. She gave a comprehensive background of
ITE activities, benefits and membership opportunities. She
reviewed the resources at the ITE website available to the
general public and those available only to ITE members. Ms.
Boekamp discussed the status of the new Traffic Operations
Certification Program, with 414 persons having passed the
examination to become certified in the first year.
Ms Boekamp identified the following emphasis areas for ITE
this year:
Transportation Safety, including safety audits
Transportation Operations, including the development of national
benchmarks of system performance
Smart Growth
Pedestrians and Bicycles
She also indicated that ITE is emphasizing the development
of leadership training resources for its members.
Outgoing president Costas Papacostas commended the following
individuals for their efforts during the past year:
Keith Niiya, Austin Tsutsumi & Associates, for the Engineers
Week display (which won the Grand Prize for second year in
a row)
Wayne Yoshioka, Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade and Douglas, for
chairing the Legislative Committee, which submitted testimony
to the Legislature for the first time
Cathy Koga, Wilson Okamoto & Associates, for chairing
the Student Chapter Committee.
Robert Miyasaki, City and County of Honolulu, for serving
as ITE representative on OMPO's Citizen Advisory Committee
Goro Sulijoadikusumo, Hawaii DOT, for serving as ITE representative
on the Hawaii Coouncil of Engineering Societies
Past president Susan Uejo announced the results of the elections
for the 2000-2001 Executive Board of the Hawaii Section:
President: Pete Pascua, Wilson Okamoto & Associates
Vice President: Terry Brothers, Wilbur Smith Associates
Secretary: Richelle Suzuki, Federal Highways Administration
Treasurer: Fred Smoot, Phoenix Pacific
Treasurer Fred Smoot motioned that the Hawaii Section contribute
$1,500 from its general funds to the ITE Millennium Fund,
which is being used to furnish the new ITE International Headquarters
office facilities in Washington, D.C. The motion was approved
by the members at the meeting.
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September Meeting
There will not be an Hawaii Section meeting in August. The
next meeting will be held on September 19, 2000 at 11:45 AM.
The location and guest speaker will be announced at a later
time.
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June Meeting
The Hawaii Section of ITE took advantage of the midyear meeting
of the Transportation Research Board Highway Capacity Committee
on Maui to invite James Schoen and Khang Nguyen of Catalina
Engineering, Inc. (CEI) to update the members on Highway Capacity
Manual (HCM) 2000. The monthly luncheon meeting was held on
June 28th at the Honolulu Downtown YWCA.
CEI, through NCHRP Project 3-55(6), is producing the new
HCM 2000. The firm is also preparing a software package that
will include the manual, the analytical models, tutorials,
and example problems. The HCM 2000 will be available in the
loose-leaf book form and as a multimedia CD-ROM, with both
the book and CD-ROM versions expected to be available before
yearend.
Jim Schoen provided the members an overview of the organization,
content, and changes in the new HCM. Among these are:
The size of the manual is still increasing, with the 2000
HCM totaling 1,100 pages versus 750 pages for the 1997 HCM.
The new manual will be available in either a metric version
or a U.S. Customary Units version. The two methodologies are
the result of a "hard conversion," so they may provide
slightly different analyses results.
HCM 2000 provides more emphasis on planning methods of analyses
and use of default values.
It has major changes to the analyses methodologies for two-lane
highways, freeway facilities, bicycles, pedestrians, and transit.
It includes minor changes in methodologies concerning signal-controlled
intersections, weaving sections, and ramps/ramp junctions.
The manual includes a new major section with chapters addressing
assessment of multiple facilities, corridor analyses, and
area-wide analyses.
HCM 2000 also includes a major section on simulation models.
Jim and Khang demonstrated the new CEI software package analyses
procedures for signal-controlled intersections and freeway
segments. The software format attempts to reproduce the look
of the manual formats. The software also simplifies presentation
of results by permitting elements of the inputs and outputs
to be saved into a document as part of a report or multimedia
presentation.
In their responses to member questions, they indicated that
the HCM 2000 includes the analyses of roundabouts within the
chapter on unsignalized intersections. It provides an assessment
of capacity, but the development of service levels is awaiting
the completion of a major research effort underway on roundabouts.
That research will not be completed for several years.
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May Meeting
The section met on May 17 at the Nuuanu YMCA.
The Nominations Commitee presented the following slate of
candidates for the year 2000-2001:
President: Pete Pascua
Vice President: Terry Bothers
Secretary: Richelle Suzuki
Treasurer: Fred Smoot
Any members who wish to nominate other candidates should submit
the nomination by petition signed by a minimum of five (5)
ITE members to Susan Uejo, c/o Austin Tsutsumi & Associates,
Inc., 501 Sumner St. Suite 521, Honolulu HI, 96817-5031. The
deadline for receipt of nominations by petition is May 27,
2000.
The featured speaker at the meeting was Alvin Takeshita,
Traffic Safety Engineer, Hawaii Department of Transportation
(HDOT).
Mr. Takeshita gave a comprehensive description of the HDOT
Highway Safety Program including the legislative background
beginning with the Highway Safety Act of 1967, highway safety
standards including traffic records and surveillance of crash
locations, a summary of highway crash statistics and trends,
and legal matters.
He pointed out that new federal rules require states to address
the problem of repeat offenders. Also, Hawaii is one of few
states without a motorcycle helmet law. A loss of a percentage
of federal highway construction monies is applied to these
states.
Currently, crashes involving injury, fatality of property
damage in excess of $3,000 are classified as major accidents
requiring detail reporting. The minimum damage figure was
raised from $1,000 during the early 1990s. This should be
borne in mind when interpreting highway safety statistics.
Litigation costs and court awards that come out of highway
funds reduce the funding levels available for construction.
In Mr. Takeshita's opinion, it is important to include human
factors (e.g., driver behavior, speeding, driving under the
influence of alcohol or drugs) as contributing factors to
crashes and not blame only the highway.
Title 23, United States Code, Section 409 provides that crash
data cannot be subject to discovery or used in court. State
and county laws also restrict the use of the data in court
(287-14, HRS and Sec.15-5.3, R.O. of Honolulu).
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April Meeting
Mr. Paul Won from the City and County of Honolulu Department
of Transportation Services (City DTS) was the featured speaker
at the April 19th luncheon meeting of the Hawaii Section.
He provided an update of the City’s continuing community-based
traffic calming program to improve streets for non-motorized
users. The City has completed a first round of studies and
project implementation, and is now beginning a second series
of studies and project designs.
The City seeks to maximize the amount of community input
in the planning and design process both to develop projects
that both address particular concerns of the community and
are likely to receive extensive community support during and
after implementation. The general procedure in each cycle
of the traffic calming planning and design process is as follows:
Each of the nine City Council members selects a community
within his/her district for investigation of potential traffic
calming actions. Since the City and County encompass the entire
island of Oahu, the communities range from high-density residential
apartment areas in the urban core, to suburban areas, to small
outlying communities in rural areas.
The City DTS conducts a workshop/planning charrette in each
of the selected communities to inform the community of the
role of traffic calming and what mechanisms may be incorporated
in a plan. The meeting is advertised and mailers are sent
to community organizations to solicit broad participation.
The attendees use area maps to identify those locations they
consider as the worst problem areas for non-motorized street
users in their community, and to suggest potential actions.
The City DTS staff and consultants conduct the necessary studies
for each area to select and refine the suggested actions,
or to identify other potential actions, and to develop preliminary
plans.
A second workshop is held in each community to present the
proposed traffic calming plans, or alternative plans, and
to solicit community input.
Based upon the community input, the City DTS then selects
a final set of traffic calming actions in each community for
design and implementation.
For the first round of communities, traffic calming actions
were designed for about 50 locations or areas. All have been
funded and about 10% have been completed to date.
The City is now initiating the traffic calming process in
a second round of communities. Based on the first round, the
City is also seeking to establish some uniform guidelines
to assist in the process. The City Board of Water Supply has
been asked to develop approaches and plans to provide low-maintenance
landscaping for incorporation in the different types of traffic
calming devices. City DTS also seeks to develop standard drawings
and details for traffic calming devices for developers who
want to incorporate these into their plans.
Susan Uejo, Chair of the Nominations Committee, announced
that nominations by petition for the Hawaii Section officers
for 2000-2001 must be submitted by June 3rd. Ballots will
be mailed to members by June 18th and the election results
will be announced at the annual meeting on July 18th.
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March Meeting
Posted on 03/29/2000
In place of its usual luncheon meeting, the Hawaii Section
toured the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) facilities
in Honolulu at the Diamond Head Crater on March 21, 2000.
The ITE members were provided an overview of the facility
mission and operations by FAA air controllers Jeffery Sayer
and Loriann Cooper, and then taken on a walk-through of the
control center to observe actual air control operations.
The Honolulu Center monitors and controls aircraft operating
on Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) within a 300-mile radius
of the Hawaiian Islands chain. Most of the operations beyond
the 300-mile radius are handled by Oakland Center in California.
The Oakland Center hands over control of the inbound aircraft
to Honolulu Center at the 300-mile marker point, and Honolulu
Center confirms or modifies each aircraft’s approach
to the local airport. For Honolulu International Airport (HIA),
the Honolulu Center air controllers hand over the aircraft
to the HIA Control Tower at 25 miles from the airport. For
most other airports in the Islands, the Honolulu Center staff
continue control of the aircraft through the landing. The
exceptions are the military airfields, where take-off and
landing is usually controlled from the individual airfield
control towers, as well as the military aircraft operations
within the large military training areas out over the ocean.
The monitors used by the air controllers at Honolulu Center
display the aircraft information obtained from radar at four
sites in the Islands:
The Mt. Kaala site on Oahu provides 360 degree coverage of
most of the 300-mile area
The Paoa site on the Big Island provides overlapping coverage
primarily to the east
The Kokee site on Kauai provides overlapping coverage primarily
to the west
The Maui site provides overlapping coverage primarily to the
north and south.
Each aircraft is depicted on the Center’s monitors with
a tag indicating the aircraft identification, aircraft type,
altitude, speed and direction on a "real time" basis
from the radar feeds. The Center also has the same information
available from satellite tracking of the aircraft through
Global Positioning System (GPS) equipment. At present, the
radar feeds are used for the control operations since the
GPS feed is only refreshed once every few minutes.
The communication between the Honolulu and Oakland Centers
is primarily via computer, while communication with the aircraft
is largely by voice. Prior to flights, pilots file a flight
plan that is transmitted to the Centers. As the aircraft is
closed for departure, the Center will contact the pilot to
approve the flight plan, possibly modified with a delay from
the pilot’s planned departure time in order to provide
proper horizontal spacing from other aircraft on that particular
airway at the pilot’s planned altitude and speed. The
Center will also offer the pilot alternative altitudes and/or
speeds that would allow departure at or closer to the requested
time. The pilot notifies the Center and Control Tower of his/her
choice and then departs at the assigned time.
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February Meeting
Posted on February 24, 2000
The February meeting was held on Tuesday, February 22 at
the Nuuanu YMCA in Honolulu.
The members in attendance represented the public and private
sectors and the University of Hawaii.
Goro Sulijoadikusumo reported that February 22-27 is Engineers'
Week that culminates in the Annual Awards Banquet. He also
reported that the Hawaii Council of Engineering Societies
has obtained a proclamation from the Mayor of Honolulu.
C. S. Papacostas said that the ITE section has again cooperated
with the City and County of Honolulu to prepare a display
for Engineers' Week. This year's theme is pedestrian safety.
The display area is located at the Pearlridge Shopping Center
(Uptown). He expressed his appreciation to Keith Niiya who
chaired the committee and Ty Fukumitsu of the Honolulu Traffic
Control Center who again produced an excellent public education
product.
Susan Uejo indicated that the Technical Committee (headed
by Julian Ng) is organizing a meeting with State and County
transportation engineers to launch this year's ITE-Hawaii
initiative of developing Traffic Impact Study guidelines.
Wayne Yoshioka reported that his committee on Legislative
Affairs has prepared testimony in support of a bill that would
require the courts to accept computer-processed accident reconstructions
from photographs as admissible evidence. The testimony was
approved by the Board and submitted to the legislature. Other
transportation bills were discussed by the group.
Casey Abe announced a move by the Hawaii DOT to take advantage
of the Agency Affiliate Membership program and led a discussion
on ways in which the section can provide technical assistance
to the agency.
A workshop on ITS software ascquisition is scheduled for
April 17-18. Announcements of this joint ITE - Hawaii Local
Technical Assistance Program (HLTAP) will be mailed soon.
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Posted on February 19, 2000
Jenny L. Grote, Candidate for ITE Vice President, has issued
her vision statement regarding the futute if ITE. Please click
here.
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January Meeting
The meeting was held on January 19, 2000 in Honolulu at the
Japanese Cultural Center, Meeting Rm. 203
Bill Hecker of Hecker Design, Ltd., Birmingham, Alabama was
the featured speaker on the City & County of Honolulu
ADA Self Evaluation and Transition Plan
Vice President Pete Pascua introduced Mr. Hecker and described
his involvement with the Self Evaluation and Transition Plan
documents for the Counties of Hawaii and Maui and the City
and County of Honolulu.
The Self Evaluation report and Transition Plan were developed
to fulfill the City and County of Honolulu’s (City)
requirements under the implementing regulations for Title
II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) found
at 28 CFR 35.105(a), and the Consent Decree and Order filed
in McConnell et. Al. V. City and County of Honolulu in USDC
Civil No. 96-01111 DAE – May 5, 1997.
The Self Evaluation process described by the report is limited
to those service, policy and practice issues relating to the
City’s streets and sidewalks (i.e., fully improved pedestrian
circulation routes within the jurisdiction of the City, including
access to bus stops). Architectural modification (i.e., physical
change) recommendations relating to streets and sidewalks
are addressed in the City's Transition Plan related to Curb
Ramps. The Self Evaluation report was intended to address
all of the City’s programs, services and activities
relating to streets and sidewalks, and to identify those policies
and practices that may not allow people with disabilities
to fully participate in their use.
The Transition Plan is a schedule for the planned installation
of new curb ramps and the modification of existing curb ramps
to ensure that "program accessibility" is provided
for disabled users of the sidewalks within the City and County
of Honolulu public rights-of-way. The Transition Plan is required
as part of the settlement agreement made with plaintiffs who
alleged that the City’s efforts to ensure "program
accessibility" were insufficient under the ADA. An earlier
ADA Transition Plan was prepared in 1993, but it was a request-based
process for determining the number and location of curb ramps
to be installed. While the ADA requires the City to address
requests, the regulations also require a more "proactive"
or strategic approach to curb ramp installation. With regard
to the existing curb ramps along sidewalks, many do not comply
with the ADA Accessibility Guidelines – a newer design
standard than those used during the 1970’s – 1980’s.
Of these non-compliant curb ramps, many will need to be modified
or replaced. Sidewalk approaches to bus stops were also noted
in the complaint against the City and the Department of Transportation
Services may currently be developing an ADA Transition Plan
for bus stops.
The City Council by Resolution adopted the ADA Curb Ramp
Transition Plan and its associated document, the ADA Self
Evaluation for Streets & Sidewalks prior to February 5,
1999 to comply with the court’s order. Implementation
of the Self Evaluation recommendations began immediately thereafter,
and the settlement agreement allows for a 6-year implementation
period (ending February 5, 2005) for curb ramp work.
A total of 6,780 intersections were surveyed for ADA compliance,
and those requiring new curb ramps or modification of existing
ramps were ranked based upon a range of factors relating to
their use by individuals with disabilities. According to this
priority ranking and cost estimate for individual improvements,
2,889 intersections should be modified over the fiscal years
2000-2005 at a total projected cost of $50,586,000.00. Four
design consultants were selected by the City to initiate the
design and construction of curb ramps for fiscal year 2000
curb ramp work.
The concept of program accessibility originated with the
requirements of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
and, along with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, is at the core
of the non-discrimination provisions of ADA.
Program accessibility is also the primary consideration for
curb ramp modifications addressed in the Transition Plan.
The intent of program accessibility is stated in the following
excerpt from the implementing regulations of the ADA:
"Except as otherwise provided in 35.150, no qualified
individual with a disability shall, because of public entity’s
facilities are inaccessible to or unusable by individuals
with disabilities, be excluded from participation in, or be
denied the benefits of the services, programs or activities
of a public entity, or be subjected to discrimination by any
public entity." 28 CFR 35.149 Program Accessibility
Curb ramps and sidewalks fall under the very broad definition
of "facilities" mentioned in the regulations and,
therefore, are covered as part of the program accessibility
requirement of ADA. The reference to Section 35.150 ties this
requirement to additional compliance concepts that are critical
to the planning and implementation of curb ramp modification.
The concept of "viewed in its entirety" provides
the context for evaluating the need for modifications of the
purposes of program accessibility. Section 35.150 of the ADA
regulations requires that the City’s services, programs,
and activities be accessible to individuals with disabilities
"when viewed in its entirety". With respect to the
City’s streets and sidewalks, the program is the network
of "improved pedestrian circulation routes". Item
1 of the following regulation excerpt indicates that not every
street corner with a sidewalk requires a curb ramp as long
as program accessibility is provided "when viewed in
its entirety" or when the entire network of sidewalks
is considered.
"A public entity shall operate each service, program
or activity so that the service, program or activity, when
viewed in its entirety, is readily accessible to and usable
by individuals with disabilities. This paragraph does not:
Necessarily require a public entity to make each of its existing
facilities accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities;
Require a public entity to take an action that would threaten
or destroy the historic significance of a historic property;
or,
Require a public entity to take any action that it can demonstrate
would result in a fundamental alteration in the nature of
a service, program, or activity or in undue financial and
administrative burdens…If an action would result in
an alteration or such burdens, a public entity shall take
any other action that would not result in such an alteration
or such burdens but would nevertheless ensure that individuals
with disabilities receive the benefits or services provided
by the public entity."
Section 35.150 Existing Facilities
The limitations pertaining to historic facilities, fundamental
alterations and undue financial and administrative burdens
offer some flexibility in determining which intersections
need to be modified. In addition, a "technical infeasibility"
limitation that relates to how a new accessibility feature
can be installed into an existing sidewalk with specific site
characteristics that prevent full compliance with the ADA
Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG) may be invoked.
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