About 15 miles of HOT lanes will take 10 years to implement. The same length for rail should take at least an extra two years.

In the interim, the coordinated implementation of affordable projects have the potential to reduce commuting times by 25 percent to 50 percent within a few years. Here are a few:

• Bottleneck removal greatly improves traffic flow. The Middle Street freeway merge is a major bottleneck for the morning commute. Adding a lane on the H-1 Freeway from Middle Street to Vineyard Boulevard and a three-mile, two-lane elevated highway over Nimitz Highway would offer considerable relief.

• The rush-hour closure of a couple of freeway on-ramps would remove commuters who slow traffic by entering the freeway only to exit a couple of exits later. Also, a handful of on-ramp meters (green and red traffic lights controlling access to the freeway) will smoothen the flow on the freeway.

• A major upgrade of the city's traffic signal system could be made so that traffic can flow efficiently on city streets once it arrives there. A system like the well-known Sydney Coordinated Adaptive Traffic System (SCATS) could be considered for downtown Honolulu. The use of SCATS on 300 intersections in Troy, Mich., reduced morning commute delay by 20 percent in 2000. Tampa has such an efficient traffic signal system that one can drive past 10 large city blocks in its downtown without stopping at a red light. Have you been able to drive more than five blocks along King Street? Why do we have to stop every other light along Vineyard Boulevard? Why does it take 5 minutes instead of 50 seconds to leave Kailua in the morning?

• Major benefits would be realized if traffic accidents were cleared faster. Police officers and emergency crews need to be provided with laws, procedures and training to accomplish this. The Honolulu Police Department needs lots of training and coordination because Honolulu's 4.5-hour-long closures need to drop to 45 minutes.

• Telecommuting is slowly but steadily gaining acceptance in the nation. For example in 27 out of 50 metropolitan areas with rail systems, the number of telecommuters exceeds the number of rail riders.

• The Honolulu City Council did well in supporting flextime work schedules and later starts for University of Hawaii at Manoa, but well-intentioned resolutions rarely lead to any actions with measurable improvements.

For many more solutions, watch Dr. Prevedouros' video presentation to the Citizen's Advisory Committee of the Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization ... http://www.brightcove.tv/title.jsp?title=1184861511

Reach Dr. Prevedouros at mailto:pdp@hawaii.edu

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