A section meeting was held on Wednesday, September 25, 2019 at the Frank Fasi Municipal Building. President Jennylyn Tapat welcomed everyone to the meeting and asked everyone to introduce themselves. Following the introductions, Jennylyn asked the committee chairpersons to provide any new updates from the committees. Student Chapter Liaison Michelle Agustin shared details on two upcoming student outreach events that will be held at the University of Hawaii (UH) at Manoa. First, a Resume Review Workshop will be open to students in the College of Engineering on September 30, 2019. Second, a STEM event, The Mitey Rice Challenge, will be held on November 9, 2019 and is open to both UH and high school students. Michelle was followed by International Director Cathy Leong who provided new updates on the new election rules and procedures for the Western District, which involves two regions: 1) Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, and Northern California and 2) Southern California sections. She reminded everyone that the next joint Western and Mountain District Meeting will be in Honolulu June 28 – July 1, 2020 and that abstracts are currently being accepted.
After the announcements, Kelly Akasaki went on to introduce guest speaker Eric Lee Niemeyer, Traffic Operations Engineer for City of Springfield, Oregon. Eric’s presentation highlighted the benefits of installing flashing yellow arrows (FYA) at signalized intersections. Eric began his presentation by summarizing previous research, which found that drivers understand the FYA better than the circular green. However, at that time it was believed that the flashing yellow arrow and static yellow arrow needed to be in separate sections. Thus, the 2009 Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) prohibited the use of three (3) section FYA. Research completed in June 2014 found that there was no difference in driver comprehension between a four (4) section or three (3) section FYA arrangement. In August 2014, FHWA issued Interim Approval (IA-17) that allows three (3) section FYA. Eric went on to share the feedback he received after deploying flashing yellow arrows at signalized intersections. There was a mix of negative and positive comments from the community, but overall the comments were positive. Eric listed the over 30 intersections in Springfield, OR that he converted to FYA. Lastly, Eric identified a potential FYA site on Oahu.
After Eric’s presentation, Jennylyn announced that the next meeting will be held on October 30, 2019 also at the Frank Fasi Municipal Building, 3rd floor.
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