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November Meeting
The November meeting was held at the Nuuanu YMCA on the 16th
of the month.
President Papacostas announced that our current International
District Director, Jenny Grote, was selected to be a candidate
for the position of International Vice President for the year
2001. The ballots will be distributed in June 2000 and the
results of the election will be announced at the Annual Meeting
in Nashville the following August.
Papacostas congratulated ITE section member Goro Sulijoadikusumo
for having been named University of Hawaii at Manoa Cooperative
Education Program supervisor of the Year.
Sulijoadikusumo reported on the recent activities of the
Hawaii Council of Engineering Societies (HCES) on which he
sits as our representative. He reported that the new Dean
of Engineering, W. F. Chen, has made a presentation to the
council regarding the present and future directions of the
College and his plans to fcilitate greater interaction with
the profession.
HCES is considering the possiblility of publishing its newsletter
Wiliki o Hawaii on the web as a cost-cutting measure. A committee
has been appointed to look into the issue.
Nominations for the annual HCES Lifetime Achievement Award
are being solicited by Steve Haywood. He may be reached at
531-4627 (voice) or 533-3745 (fax).
Vice President Pete Pascua introduced Ms. Francine Wai, Executive
Director, State Commission on Persons with Disabilities who
spoke on Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Requirements
regarding Transportation Facilities.
The Commission was established within the State of Hawaii
Department of Health to advocate and promote full integration
of persons with disabilities into society.
The State of Hawaii, Ms. Wai said, has adopted the rules
and guidelines promulgated through the American with Disabilities
Act (ADA). The Commission must review all design plans for
new buildings and facilities, and for the reconstruction or
alterations to existing buildings and facilities, for compliance
with these guidelines. The Commission has a staff of 11 to
review plans and note where the plans do not comply with a
particular standard. It is then up to the engineer to modify
the design to conform with the guideline.
She considered the Commission to be very effective in identifying
design features that do not comply with the guidelines. Compliance
problems most often occur through change orders or field modifications
on a project.
The public may either file a complaint with the Department
of Justice (DOJ) concerning a perceived barrier to accessibility
in an existing facility, or file for a court action. The DOJ
may rule that the accessibility must be provided. In the court
action, a finding against the defendant would necessitate
the modification of accessibility and the payment of the plaintiff's
attorney fees, but no compensatory damages. Hawaii has one
of the highest rates of lawsuits in the nation concerning
barriers in existing buildings and facilities, according to
Ms. Wai. In existing facilities, the challenge is to the engineer
or architect to find a way to provide accessibility, or to
show why it is not economically feasible to modify the facility.
Ms Wai responded to a number of questions from the luncheon
attendees. Her responses included:
- The Commission considers a facility as accessible if it
meets all published design requirements. It is unlikely
that any facility can attain 100% accessibility to all possible
users.
- Facilities must satisfy the regulations and guidelines
in place at the time of construction, not those at the time
of design. When design plans have been shelved while awaiting
funding, or for other reasons, the plans must be reviewed
again at the time of construction to confirm that the plans
are in conformance with any new requirements.
- The present regulations do not address the distance between
stops along public transit routes.
- For freeway/highway call boxes, the Hawaii guidelines
address only the height of the telephone.
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September Meeting
The meeting was held on September 21, 1999 at the Nuuanu
YMCA in Honolulu.
President Papacostas announced the names of this year's committee
chairs:
Robert Nehmad is our OMPO representative with Robert Miyasaki
acting as the alternate. Nehmad reported that OMPO is developing
the Transportation Improvement Program for FY 2000-2002. The
proposed document is available at the OMPO web site.
Goro Sulijoadikusumo will serve as our representative to
the Hawaii Council of Engineering Societies. The state Department
of of Commerce and Consumer Affairs is in the process of amending
Chapter 16-115 of the Hawaii Administrative Rules related
to "Professional Engineers, Architects, Surveyors, and
Landscape Architects." Copies of the proposed amendments
may be obtained from James Kobashikawa at 586-2702. Public
Hearings on this matter will be held later this year.
Kathy Koga and Susan Uejo are the Student Chapter Contacts.
Susan reported that, following Jong Kim's departure, Panos
Prevedouros will resume the role of student chapter faculty
advisor.
Keith Niiya, Engineers' Week Display chair, is soliciting
ideas for the February 1999 display.
Golf Tournament chair Mike Miyamoto will plan the second
annual tournament for the spring of 2000.
Headed by Wayne Yoshioka, the Legislative Committee has gained
one member: Gordon Lum.
Technical Committee chair Julian Ng is assembling a team
to develop a set of Guidelines for Traffic Impact Studies.
Members are urged to become active in the committee of their
choice.
The featured speaker was Don Hamada, Chief, Traffic Signal
and Technology Division, Honolulu Department of Transportation
Services. He was accompanied by two members of his staff,
Arnold Fukutomi and John Jiardiolin.
Don discussed several exciting Intelligent Transportation
System (ITS) initiatives of his division. These include the
following:
- Expansion of the traffic surveillance camera system to
Pali and Likelike Highways as well as to the Leeward area
beyond Middle Street
Transit Management Applications, including:
- Bus Tracking using Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) technology
- Bus Priority at signalized intersections via green extension
- Next-bus arrival and other rider information dissemination
systems
With regard to AVL, several methods are being considered
for the short- and longer run, including appropriate combinations
of:
- Differential Global Positioning (GPS)
- Dead Reckoning
- Transponder/Detector systems
- Communication with the Traffic Control Center is a major
design element that involves difficulties to be overcome.
It appears that the cellular digital packet data (CDPD)
technique is the most promising as it covers a wide area
and interfaces with the TCP/IP protocol.
Several information display methods are also being investigated
including monitor-based systems used in Portland Oregon and
touch-screen applications as used in Arizona.
DTS has worked on several possible display-content prototypes
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August Meeting
The first meeting of the new fiscal year was held on August
17, 1999 at the Nuuanu YMCA.
Julian Ng, our outgoing OMPO Citizen Advisory Committee representative,
reported the following:
- The last CAC meeting was held on July 21. New CAC chair
Rich Kane led a brainstorming session to identify CAC directions
for the coming year. The FY 2000 Overall Work Program (OWP)
was distributed to member organizations.
- The next meeting is scheduled for Aug. 18, 1999 at the
State Capitol, Room 309, at 4:00 p.m. The State of Hawaii
DOT will present the FY 2000-2002 Transportation Improvement
Program (TIP).
- ITE-Hawaii was one of a handful of CAC members to receive
a certificate of appreciation for its "firm commitment
toward the Transportation Planning Process."
President Papacostas noted that the award was earned principally
because of Julian's active involvement as our representative.
Papacostas reported that five people from Hawaii attended
the ITE meeting in Las Vegas. He described the new certification
process and shared the observation of one of the speakers
at the conference that if employers were to require their
staff to become certified, they have an obligation to support
them in preparing for the examination.
Papacostas announced the following committee appointments
and urged the membership to volunteer for the remaining vacant
positions:
- OMPO CAC: Representative: Robert I. Nehmad; Alternate:
Robert Y. Miyasaki
- HCES: Representative: Goro Sulijoadikusumo Alternate:
vacant
- Student Chapter Contacts: Cathy Koga and Susan Uejo
- Engineers' Week Display: Keith Niiya
- Golf: Mike Miyamoto
- Legislative Affairs (new initiative): Wayne Yoshioka (*)
- Technical Committee (new): Julian Ng (*)
- There is a need to establish local guidelines for Traffic
Impact Studies
(*)appointed subsequent to the August meeting
A Traffic Safety Forum is being planned for November 29-December
3, 1999 at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Several technical
workshops are to be included.
Vice President Pete Pascua introduced the guest speaker,
Mr. Kenneth Stanley, Vice President for Operations and Marketing,
Oahu Transit Services (OTS). Mr. Stanley has over 30 years
of experience in transit operations. Over a period of 21 years,
he rose from the ranks of operator to Director of Operations
of the Portland, Oregon, MAX system. Before coming to Hawaii,
he was employed in Oakland, California and Takoma, Washington.
He is an active member of the American Public Transit Association
(APTA) and the Bus Transit Committee of the Transportation
Research Board (TRB).
Mr. Stanley explained that his Honolulu position provides
the advantage of concentrating on operating the city's award-winning
system. Often snarly policy issues are the responsibility
of the City and County of Honolulu.
TheBus, Honolulu's transit system, provides 4,260 hours of
service during a typical weekday. This translates to 3,791
bus-trips and 63,458 bus-miles of travel with an average of
60 passengers per bus trip for a total of 230,000 passengers
per weekday. The busiest route is No.2 (Middle Street-CBD-Waikiki)
averaging 96 passengers per hour.
Buses are ADA accessible serving nearly 10,000 wheelchair-bound
passengers per day. With the addition of bicycle racks on
the front-end of buses, more than 24,000 bicyclists are also
being served.
"Next stop announcement" is a new service provided
via a combination of Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers
and dead reckoning. Future plans include an expanded GPS-based
vehicle location system, including full radio communication
with the base yard.
A relatively new service, Route A (also known as City Express),
connects Middle Street with the University of Hawaii at Manoa
(UHM). An extension to Pearl Ridge was planned for August
18, 1999. With only 12 stops between Middle Street and UHM,
Route A simulates a rapid transit operation.
Other changes scheduled for the near future include a hub-and-spoke
configuration. To be successful, this type of operation requires
timed transfers that are complicated by increasing traffic
congestion and, often, by the time required to operate the
wheelchair lift that typically takes between 2.5 and 3 minutes.
Low-floor buses would alleviate this need at the cost of a
25% passenger-carrying capacity per bus.
Compared with bus technology of only a few years ago, today's
"smart buses" are capable of self-diagnosis. With
a full communication network in place, central control would
be able to identify the position and condition of every bus
on the road.
Responding to questions, Mr. Stanley explained that signal
priority and real-time user information are in the works.
He also explained that patronage estimates are derived by
a combination of techniques including random route sampling,
revenue-based estimation, farebox counters and load point
check surveys.
He stated that with the introduction of the City Express
service a mild decrease in patronage (attributable to many
factors, including a decrease in downtown employment) has
been reversed.
Mr. Stanley concluded by expressing his conviction that a
well-run, reliable transit system is an integral part of a
liveable city. This is especially so in cities such as Honolulu
where a good portion of the patronage consists of choice (rather
than captive) riders.
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Annual Meeting
The 1999 annual meeting was held on June 22 at the
University of Hawaii.
The guest speaker was Ms. Jenny Grote, International Director.
She gave a comprehensive background of ITE activities, benefits
and membership opportunities. She also discussed the status
of the Traffic Operations Certification Program. The first
round of tests was completed earlier this year with additional
offerings scheduled for Las Vegas, Denver and Seattle.
Ms Grote emphasized that the International Board is always
open to suggestions from the general membership. Based on
a recent survey, the following priority issues have been identified:
- Transportation Safety, including safety audits, and pedestrian
and bicycle safety
- Harmonization of the transportation system
- Traffic operations, including Intelligent Transportation
Systems (ITS)
- Traffic Operations Engineer refresher course offerings
- On June 21, Ms Grote met with members of the executive
board (see photo). Following the annual meeting she visited
the Hawaii Department of Transportation where she discussed
the Affiliated Government Agency Membership program with
Highways Chief Pericles Manthos, Program Manager of the
Traffic Branch Paul Hamamoto and Traffic Operations Engineer
Bryan Kimura.
Outgoing president Susan Uejo stated that the Section has
signed a partnering agreement with the Hawaii Local Technical
Assistance Program (HLTAP) and she presented the following
award certificates:
- For the Engineers Week Display (which won the Grand Prize
in February):
- Clyde Shimizu, Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade and Douglas
- Mike Miyamoto, Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade and Douglas
- Ty Fukumitsu, City and County of Honolulu
- Fred Smoot, Phoenix Pacific
- For organizing the first annual (and very successful)
ITE golf tournament:
- Mike Miyamoto, Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade and Douglas
Past president Julian Ng announced the results of the elections
for the 1999-2000 Executive Board:
- President: C. S. Papacostas, University of Hawaii
- Vice President: Pete Pascua, Wilson Okamoto & Assoc.
- Secretary: T. Brian Brothers, Wilbur Smith Associates
- Treasurer: Fred Smoot, Phoenix Pacific
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The May luncheon meeting was held on 05/18/1999.
President Susan Uejo announced that ballots for the election
of 1999-2000 officers will be mailed to members by the end
of the week. The annual meeting will be held at the University
of Hawaii on June 22. It will feature Jenny Grote, ITE National
Director. Arrangements will be made for Ms Grote to meet with
representatives of the city's Department of Transportation
Services and the state's Department of Transportation. Susan
encouraged all members to attend the annual meeting.
Susan thanked ITE member Mike Miyashiro for organizing the
first (and hopefully annual) golf tournament. About thirty
people participated. The golf prowlness of the players from
the Hawaii Division of FHWA was noted.
Julian Ng reported that the Citizen Advisory Committee of
the Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization (OMPO) was held
on April 27. Sgt. Robert Lung of the Honolulu Police Department
discussed the on-going implementation of the legislatively
approved program to issue citations for red-running and speeding
via camera recording of violators. Julian indicated that the
05/19/1999 meeting of the CAC will hear state DOT Highways
Chief Pericles Manthos discuss the impact of TEA-21 on Hawaii's
highway and bridge maintenance program.
ITE member and OMPO Executive Director Gordon Lum thanked
ITE for the input it provided toward the definition of the
scope of work for the upcoming major update of the Oahu Regional
Transportation Plan. Responses to a request for qualifications
are being received.
The main speaker at the meeting was Gary Choy, Head Engineer
of the Materials Testing and Research Branch of the state
DOT which is physically located on Likelike Highway on the
Honolulu side of the tunnel.
Mr. Choy explained that the Branch consists of three sections:
- Compliance Testing
- Soils & Pavement Design and
- Materials Quality Assurance.
The Branch
- conducts materials, foundations, soils and environmental
(mainly noise) studies
- conducts and manages applied research maintains contacts
with national laboratory accreditation organizations such
as AASHTO and
is responsible for quality assurance/quality control, a
responsibility recently transferred to the states from FHWA.
- The Hawaii DOT Materials Testing laboratory is currently
accredited for soils, aggregates, concrete and asphalt.
Recently supported applied research projects include:
- Development of the Herbicide Manual
- Long term soil creep
- Soil stabilization by the use of soil admixtures
- Ramp closures
- Corrosion inhibitors or reinforcement bars in marine environments.
The results of an upcoming study on the use of carbon fiber
fabric to retrofit/reinforce prestressed beams are expected
to bring handsome benefits in terms of cost savings.
Research is also conducted in-house. Examples include:
- Dry-land and shaded-condition planting techniques
- Demonstration of cost-saving light guidance tubes
- Testing of "superpave" mixes using performance
grade (PG) binder designs
- Use of rapid-cure high-strength portland cement concrete
pavements and
- Implementation of incentive/disincentive contract clauses
relating to pavement smoothness as part of a national initiative.
Other Branch activities include:
- Conversion to the recently-released FHWA Traffic Noise
Model (TNM)
- Implementation of a GIS-based Pavement Management System
- Adoption of life cycle cost analysis in pavement design
and
- Support of technology transfer via the Hawaii Local Technical
Assistance Program (HLTAP)
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The April luncheon meeting was held on 04/20/1999.
OMPO representative Julian Ng announced that the Citizen
Advisory Committee was scheduled to meet on April 21. The
Transportation Improvement Program and a presentation by Police
Sgt. Robert Lung on Red Light Running were on the CAC agenda.
The main luncheon speakers were Bryan Kimura, Project Manager
for Hawaii DOT's Freeway Management System (FMS), and Blaine
Kawamura, Manager of the H-3 Freeway Control Center.
Oahu's FMS has been dubbed Akamai Highway System (AHI). It
covers the H-1, H-2 and Moanalua Freeways with connections
to the H-3 Freeway and the City's Traffic Control Center.
The main goals of the system is to improve efficiency and
safety, to increase mobility, to provide incident identification,
verification, clearance and motorist assistance and to provide
pre-trip and en-route information to motorists via cable,
advisory radio, dynamic message signs, information kiosks
and the internet.
Austin Tsutsumi and Associates is the lead contractor for
the project that is approaching the completion of the planning
phase. A Preliminary Engineering Report and Implementation
Plan are expected this summer to be followed by the Design
and Implementation phases.
Among the issues being addressed are
- Interagency Coordination
- ITS Architecture Integration and
- Institutional Cooperation.
- The project has a public outreach component and receives
inputs from a committing representing all stakeholders,
including other city and state transportation agencies,
emergency services, police, civil defense, environmental
groups and the general public.
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The March luncheon meeting was held on 03/16/1999
at the Nuuanu YMCA.
President Susan Uejo announced that the ITE/city Department
of Transportation Services Engineers' Week display of how
a traffic signal works won this year's Grand Prize. Susan
thanked all those involved in designing and constructing the
display. Vice President C. S. Papacostas mentioned that the
display was so well and accurately done that he took his Traffic
Simulation class to the display area at Kahala Mall to illustrate
the operation of actuated signal control. The lecture attracted
members of the shopping public who had questions of their
own answered as well.
Julian Ng, our OMPO representative reported that the Citizen
Advisory Committee was scheduled to receive a progress report
on the city's Primary Corridor Study.
Mike Miyamoto, chair of the Golf Tournament committee, reported
that a tentative date of April 29, 1999 has been set with
the Hawaii Kai Golf Course. He will proceed with the registration
of at least 36 people from the private and public sectors.
The main speaker was Mr. Bennett Mark, Infrastucture Development
Manager for the Barbers Point Naval Air Station Redevelopment
Commission.
Bennett stated that what started as a Base Closure and Realignment
Commission in 1993 was transferred to the State of Hawaii
in 1997. The adopted Redevelopment Plan includes some federally
retained lands. For example, the U.S. Navy will retain its
housing areas and land fill, whereas other areas will be transfered
to non-military federal agencies. Of the available 3300 acres,
2000 will be converted to civilian use. Major uses include:
- The "downtown" area will be placed under the
control of the Hawaiian Home Lands Agency.
- The airport (750 acres) will be available for:
- the U.S. Coast Guard for search and rescue operations
- emergency runway for the Honolulu International Airport
(HIA)
- general aviation activities to be transfered from HIA
- a flight school operated jointly by the Honolulu Community
College and the University of North Dakota
- Approximately 170 acres will be under the control of the
City Department of Parks and Reacreation
- Another 31 acres will be used by the city for a 10 mgd
desalinization plant
- A permanent Raceway Park is under consideration
- A city-controlled International Sports Complex is contemplated
for the long term.
The commission will develop the basic infrastructure for
the area including roads, water (potable and non-potable)
and sewage facilities. The firm of R. M. Towill is the prime
consultant to the Commission.
Legislation will be proposed to next year's legislature to
clarify the roles of the commission and the "client"
agencies, the applicable standards for roadways, the establishment
of a special rural drainage district and related matters.
In response to questions from the audience, Bennett indicated
that the "default" zoning of the civilian areas
will be P2 - Preservation the U.S. Navy is responsible for
environmental cleanup prior to turnover on- and off-site traffic
and transportation impacts will be addressed in an upcoming
traffic impact study
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February, 1999
Engineers' Week Display
Please visit our display at Kahala Mall. It will be up until
Sunday, February 28.
Luncheon Meeting
The February luncheon meeting was held on 02/16/1999 at the
Nuuanu YMCA.
With member Neal Kasamoto as facilitator, the group brainstormed
with Gordon Lum, ITE member and OMPO Executive Director, on
various issues relaring to the upcoming update of OMPO's Oahu
Regional Transportation Plan.
Among the items covered were the methods of identifying regional
projects to be analyzed/included in the Plan, the definition
of committed projects, the various types of projects (e.g.,
capacity-enhancing, mobility-related, maintenance, safety),
and methods of establishing priorities within the required
financially constrained environment.
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January, 1999
The January luncheon meeting was held on 01/19/1999 at the
Nuuanu YMCA.
Julian Ng reported via memorandum that, as our representative,
he is one of four persons on the OMPO Transportation Evaluation
Panel. The panel will present its recommendations to the full
Citizen Advisory Committee.
Clyde Shimizu reported that construction of our display for
the upcoming Engineers' Week is on schedule. A committee of
six people has met with Ty Fukumitsu of the city's Traffic
Control Center to obtain the major components of the display
which will allow for hands-on demonstrations of "How
a Traffic Signal Works." These include
- a display board showing a "miniature" intersection
wired with loop detectors
- a controller unit
- two full-size signal heads
- miniature vehicles
Visitors will be invited to "drive" the vehicles
over the loop detectors and observe the system's response.
Explanations of the signal control operation will be provided.
The main speaker was Gordon Lum, Executive Director of the
Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization and ITE member. He
led a lively discussion relating to the upcoming update of
the Oahu Regional Transportation Plan. He explained that,
to conform with federal regulations, the plan must be updated
by November 2000 and have a 20-year horizon during the five-year
period until the next update. Thus the plan's horizon year
is 2025.
Gordon identified several issues that need to be resolved
prior to embarking on the update and sought suggestions from
those present. Among the outstanding issues discussed were
the following:
- What is the best way to account for the city's major Trans2K
effort which includes an extensive public outreach phase,
a Major Investment Study (MIS) incorporating alternatives
analysis and the environmental process
- What are the appropriate land use scenaria to be investigated
as part of the regional plan update
- How to best identify transportation projects to be investigated
for possible inclusion in the plan, considering that safety,
economic revitalization and other motivations exist in addition
to traditional measures of transportation system performance
- Which measures of performance to use and how to best prioritize
projects with respect to these measures and in view of financial
constraints
It was generally agreed that a special brainstorming session
be scheduled to continue the interchange on the above (and
other) issues.
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