Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2002

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Transportation, to which was referred S.B. No. 3049, S.D. 2, entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to authorize the issuance of special facility revenue bonds to construct facilities for a ferry service between Iroquois Point and Ford Island to Aloha Tower and the Hilton Hawaiian Village Pier on Oahu.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) and Ford Island Development Group, LLC, testified in support of this measure. The Department of Budget and Finance commented on this bill.

Traffic congestion is a daily problem for all Oahu residents, especially those living on the Leeward Coast and in West Oahu. A number of alternatives to alleviate this congestion have been suggested in the past, and a ferry system appears to be the most viable option. Several trial runs of a ferry system had a positive response. Moreover, it appears that with increased housing developments in the Iroquois Point area in 2003, a ferry system would prove to be the most viable mode of transportation to downtown Honolulu. Your Committee feels that a ferry system would be an attractive alternative to using the H-1 freeway and would have a profound effect on the lives of the citizens of Leeward Oahu.

However, your Committee understands that facilities at Ford Island and the Hilton Hawaiian Village Pier are not under the jurisdiction of DOT and thus, special facility revenue bonds cannot be used to take advantage of those existing facilities. Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Transportation that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 3049, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3049, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.