The Hawaii Highway Users Alliance (HHUA) is a state conference of the American Highway Users Alliance (AHUA, commonly known as “the highway users.”) HHUA’s mission is to promote highway safety, congestion relief, quality growth and freedom of mobility, to ensure a strong and efficient transportation infrastructure and distribution system for Hawaii.

HHUA strongly supports HB 2951 to officially implement a Transportation Asset Management process for Hawaii’s transportation infrastructure.

The predicted bankruptcy of the federal highway trust fund in May this year begs for answers: what happens to our transportation projects, how many, which projects will be stalled, what priorities will be followed, how much worse will potholes get, how much worse will traffic congestion get next year and after, what’s the funding shortfall? Even if funding remained at current levels, the backlog of transportation projects is growing, not keeping up with basic needs to preserve the infrastructure.

Hawaii must have a performance-based program to measure, monitor and report the conditions and performance of Hawaii’s roads, highways and bridges. A systematic program to “apply the right fix, at the right time, at the right place” is vital to catch-up with repairs and to properly maintain the public’s investment in the physical infrastructure. The public expects an open and transparent system to assess the needs, costs, priorities and funding shortfalls to improve the conditions and performance of the statewide transportation infrastructure

Driving conditions are dangerous and unsafe due to chronic traffic congestion and potholes on a daily occurrence. According to U.S. Census figures for 2006, Hawaii’s commuters had the 12th longest mean travel time in the country with a 25.5-minute drive time. The national mean travel time was 25 minutes in 2006.

According to the TRIP Report, Paying the Price for Inadequate Roads in Hawaii, the costs in reduced safety, lost time and increased vehicle wear amounts to $997 per driver in Hawaii. The April 2005 report summarized its findings as follows:

• The lack of desirable safety features, inadequate capacity to meet travel demands, poor pavement conditions costs motorists $677 million annually in the cost of traffic accidents, additional vehicle operating costs and congestion-related delays.
• Two-thirds of major roads in Hawaii are in substandard condition: 13 percent of Hawaii’s roads are rated in poor condition. 53 percent are in fair condition. The ideal goal for road maintenance is to have 75 percent of major roads in good condition, but only 15 percent of Hawaii’s roads are in good condition.
• 46 percent of Hawaii’s bridges are in substandard condition, 14 percent are structurally deficient, and 32 percent are functionally obsolete.
• Improving safety features on Hawaii’s roads and highway can reduce fatal traffic accidents. Highway improvements such as adding turn lanes, removing obstacles, adding medians, widening lanes, widening and paving shoulders, improving intersection layouts, providing better road markings, shielding or removing obstacles and installing or upgrading traffic signals could reduce the severity of serious traffic crashes.
• Traffic congestion has increased with increased population and vehicle travel miles have outpaced highway and road capacity.

The efficiency of Hawaii’s highways to move products and services are key to our economic stability and future competitiveness in a global economy. Business and commerce rely on the access and efficiency of our highway system to move customers, markets, materials and workers.

It is a fundamental responsibility of government to preserve and protect the assets and resources of the public infrastructure. HB 2951 will start the process to promote accountability and transparency to properly manage and monitor the performance measures and qualitative goals and standards for Hawaii’s transportation infrastructure, and the operations and management of the facilities.

The concept was mandated by ISTEA 1991 (while some programs have since become “optional”) many states have performance-based management programs. Hawaii DOT must provide the public and this Legislature, with the standards, systematic measurements and regular reports on our transportation infrastructure.

Panos D. Prevedouros, Ph.D. is a Professor of Civil Engineering at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and the president, Hawaii Highway Users Alliance.

HawaiiReporter.com reports the real news, and prints all editorials submitted, even if they do not represent the viewpoint of the editors, as long as they are written clearly. Send editorials to mailto:Malia@HawaiiReporter.com

Hawaii State Capitol News...