2022 Meeting Highlights

The October Annual Meeting was held on 10/26/22 at the Outrigger Canoe Club. The event was the Section’s first in-person social in several years and included social activities, election result announcements, and a fun prize giveaways. In addition, a new Hawaii Section grant sponsored by Phoenix Pacific, the Fred Smoot Grant was announced. The 2023 officers were announced as:

President – Keoni Wasano
Vice President – Mike Motoki
Secretary-Treasurer – Michelle Lindsey

The Hawaii Section September meeting featured a technical tour of the Kalihi-Palama Bus Facility on Friday, September 16, 2022. The tour was led by representatives from the Department of Transportation Services (DTS) and included a brief introduction to the City’s plans to fully electrify the public bus fleet by 2040, guided tour of the City’s new bus charging facility, the inside of a battery electric bus, and other support facilities such as our Central Operations Center, and Major Bus Repair Facilities.

The Hawaii Section August meeting was held on 08/17/22 and featured presentations from Kelly Akasaki, Traffic Engineer at DTS, and Mike Packard, Senior Traffic Engineer at SSFM, about the Honolulu Complete Streets Design Manual Update. In September 2016, the City and County of Honolulu’s Department of Transportation Services, with the help of SSFM and other transportation sub-consultants, published Honolulu’s first Complete Streets Manual. The Honolulu Complete Streets Design Manual sets forth design standards specific to Honolulu and provides guidance to planners, designers, and engineers to incorporate Complete Streets principles and features into projects in the City right-of-way. The Manual recommends multi-modal design solutions to increase mobility, improve road safety, and create sustainable communities and includes guidelines for uncontrolled crosswalks. The latest update to the manual published on 4/13/22 incorporates the FHWA’s 2018 “Uncontrolled Pedestrian Crossing Guidelines” which includes Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons or RRFB’s. DTS has asked SSFM to update the original 2016 crosswalk guidance at uncontrolled locations to include RRFB and other treatments.

Meeting Date: April 20, 2022

Venue: Virtual Meeting

Attendance: 30 participants

Welcome attendees

Vice President Keoni Wasano welcomed the attendees and started the meeting.

Committee Chair Updates

Legislative Committee – Co-Chair Jefferson Young gave an update on two bills:

1. House bill 2336 – red light imaging detection.  Gone through House and Senate and is headed to the conference committee to reconcile differences
2. House bill 3274 – HDOT to increase funding for ped and bike infrastructure.  Made through Senate and stalled after the first reading of the House.

Technical Committee – Chair Yifeng Mao helped the Western District technical committee review submissions for the Large section Activity Awards and the International Outstanding Section Awards.

National/District updates

Section Administrator Cathy Leong previewed several upcoming events.

• 2nd AnnualTransportation Solutions Event – focus on multi-modal sensors and detection.  ITE Hawaii section is partnering with six vendors to present new technologies and case study applications. The event will be held on May 18 from 3 to 5 pm.  Registration is currently open.  Tickets are free to all ITE members and agency staff.
• Palm Spring Western District Annual Meeting, June 26-29, 2022
  1. The ITE Western District is partnering with CalTrans
  2. Four technical tracks including student and young professional programming
  3. The conference includes networking and social events
  4. Registration is open, but rates will go up on May 1

Western District Secretary-Treasurer

Keoni introduced the two candidates for the Western District Secretary-Treasurer position: Patrick Marnell and Jared Travis.  These candidates described their vision for the District and priorities if elected.  Both candidates encouraged members to vote.  More information about each of the candidates can be found on the ITE Western District website: https://westernite.org/meet-your-2022-candidates-for-secretary-treasurer/

Presentation

Keoni introduced Kathleen Rooney, Ulupono Initiative’s Director of Transportation Policy and Programs.  Kathleen is leading the impact investing firm’s efforts in the advancement of a people-centric, carbon-free, and equity-enhancing transportation systems in Hawai‘i, and was recognized as one of Women’s Transportation Seminar’s 2021 Women on the Move.  Rooney was recently featured in a new book, titled Women Driven Mobility: Rethinking the Way the World Moves, which explores women “leading the way in mobility and automotive innovation.” 

Kathleen gave a presentation on Hawaii’s current ground transportation system and asked members whether it was truly serving the needs of our communities and helping to shape a sustainable, resilient future for the Islands.  Kathleen presented several of Ulupono Initiative’s current and recent projects.  She also described what she believed were key drivers for changing transportation in Hawaii and challenged the audience to re-think and re-evaluate current transportation investment decisions through that new lens.

Kathleen’s presentation is available here.

Closing and Next Meeting

Keoni thanked the speaker and reminded those in attendance about the May Technical Solutions event.  He thanked everyone for attending and closed the meeting.  

Meeting Date: February 23, 2022

Venue: Virtual Meeting 

Welcome

President Jasmine Teramae-Kaehuaea started the meeting and welcomed attendees.

Committee Chair updates

• UH Student Chapter Welcome Back Showcase & Virtual Resume Workshop – Student Chapter Professional Liaison Michelle Agustin gave a summary of the student events.
• Legislative Committee Report – Co-Chair Wayne Yoshioka gave an update on some of the bills that he’s tracking and encouraged members to let him know which bills are important to them.
  • SB2299- Relating to Traffic – changes the traffic code to allow a bicyclist to proceed through an intersection from a right-turn only lane if they cannot safely merge into the through traffic lane. This bill was passed by TRS, passed the 2nd reading, and has been referred to JDC.
  • SB3274- Relating to Transportation – This bill appropriates expenditures for ped and bike infrastructure projects and includes funding for 2 FTE grant writer positions in HDOT to access IIJA funds.  Passed by TRS, passed 2nd reading, referred to WAM, passed by WAM.
  • SB2832- Relating to Transportation – This bill would establish a collective bargaining unit for graduate assistants employed by UH.  Passed 1st reading, referred to LCA/HRE, WAM – no action.
  • SB2517- Relating to Bicycle Commuting – This bill would establish a goal for HDOT to have an unspecified percentage of commuting trips be by bicycle or e-bike by 2030.  Passed 1st reading, referred to TRS, TRS deferred the measure.
  • SB3255- Relating to Highways –This bill relates to Waianae Coast Traffic Improvements. Passed by TRS, passed 2nd reading, referred to WAM
• HCES Engineers week event at Windward Mall – Co-Chair Joel Thomas gave an update regarding the event.

National/District updates

Vice President Keoni Wasano and Section Administrator Cathy Leong gave a preview of upcoming national and district events including the following.

• MiteY Mentorship Event – March 9th
• ITE Western District Virtual Spring Webinar on Emotional Intelligence and Leadership – March 10th
• ITE’s Virtual Spring Conference: Innovations that Work – March 15-16
• Technical Solutions Event – May

Presentation

Keoni introduced co-presenters Lauren Armstrong – Executive Director, Maui MPO – and Pam Eaton – Planning Program Administrator, County of Maui. 

Lauren and Pam presented the current status of the Ka’ahumanu Avenue Community Corridor Master Plan, which looks at opportunities for transit-oriented development within a half-mile buffer of Kaahumanu Avenue — an important corridor on Maui with numerous destinations and employment centers.  The vision for the project is to create a “community corridor” that makes it easy for people to take the bus, walk, bike, and roll. The Master Plan included a land-use assessment, demographic and travel analysis, mobility system assessment, water and utility systems, market analysis, and affordable housing assessment. Their presentation is available here.

Closing

Jasmine thanked the speakers and informed everyone that the March meeting would be postponed.  Instead, she encouraged members to attend the District ITE events in March.  Jasmine thanked everyone for attending and closed the meeting.  

Meeting Date: January 26, 2022

Venue: Virtual Meeting (District Zoom Account)

Attendance: ITE members: 30, Non-members: 2

New Officer Introductions

President Jasmine Teramae-Kaehuaea introduced new ITE Hawaii Section Officers: Vice President/Section Rep Keoni Wasano, Secretary-Treasurer Mike Motoki, and Director Kelly Akasaki.  

Committee Chair Introductions

Jasmine then introduced the Section Committee Chairs. Legislative Co-chairs Wayne Yoshioka and Jefferson Young introduced themselves and asked members to email them priority issues/bills that they should be closely tracking.  Joel Thomas and Warren Yamamoto introduced themselves as the Section’s HCES co-representatives.  Robert Nehmad, the OahuMPO representative, encouraged members to submit comments on CAC proposals.

Student Chapter Updates

Student Chapter Professional Liaison Michelle Agustin gave an update highlighting the 2022 Student Data Collection Award for STEM Outreach.  The Student Chapter proposed developing a hands-on STEM outreach activity supporting Vision Zero, which emphasizes how roadway design influences user safety.  Our Student Chapter was one of four submissions to be awarded $1000.  

Michelle informed the section of the upcoming UH Club Fair on February 4, 2022, and asked if any professionals would like to help man the ITE booth. Michelle also mentioned that the Student Chapter will be hosting an ITE Resume Review on Wednesday, February 16, 2022, from 5:00 pm-6:30 pm.  Details were emailed to members. Let Michelle, Jonah Lorica, or Abdul Alghamdi know if you’re interested in participating as a reviewer.

National/District Updates

International Director Cathy Leong gave an update on the Mid-Year Board Meeting which was held on January 21st and included the nomination of candidates for the 2023 District Officers.  

Cathy encouraged members to attend the 2022 ITE Western District Annual Meeting, which is scheduled for June 26-29, 2022 in Palm Springs at the Renaissance Palm Springs Hotel & Palm Springs Convention Center.  The District is partnering with CalTrans for several of the technical sessions.  Go to the website for more information.  Finally, Cathy noted that ballots for International Elections will be sent on February 9th with polls closing on March 11th.

Presentation

Vice President Keoni introduced Chris Clark, Chief Planner with the City & County of Honolulu Department of Transportation Services.  Chris presented the City’s Right-of-Way Widths for Planned Street Improvements Plan.  The purpose of this effort is to create a publicly and easily accessible plan to communicate the City’s priorities for allocating City-owned ROW to various transportation modes.  Chris described the approach to the project, which compared future transportation needs, and prioritized modes while being constrained to existing ROW.  He demonstrated the Interactive Modal Map, and reviewed the project landing page (storymap).  Additional resources are linked below:

• Right of Way for Planned Street Improvements Report (November 2021)
• Project Story Map: project overview and proposed Street Type assignments
• Introduction to Right of Way and Street Types (short video)
• Project Overview and Conclusions (short video)

Next Meeting

Jasmine previewed the next meeting and events.  On February 23rd, Lauren Armstrong, Maui MPO, and Pam Eaton, County of Maui Planning will present an overview of the Ka’ahumanu Avenue Community Corridor Master Plan.  The March meeting will be replaced with a Technical Tour of the Oahu Transit Services electric bus charging facilities.  Finally, May 18th is Industry Day.