SB2834

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that transparency and accountability are critical to ensuring public agencies are effective, efficient, and successfully provide services in the public interest. The legislature further finds that departments of transportation throughout the country typically spend more than any other state agency on public infrastructure. As a result, most departments of transportation throughout the country have mechanisms such as oversight commissions and requirements for robust reporting to ensure public transparency and accountability for the billions of dollars they spend. This enables elected leaders and the public to evaluate and track transportation projects and ensure they successfully achieve state goals as quickly and efficiently as possible.

The legislature further finds that no commission currently exists in Hawaii to provide meaningful transparency and accountability regarding transportation efforts. There is also no public means of evaluating proposed or ongoing projects to determine if or how much they will help change outcomes. There are few readily available metrics to track whether overall progress is being made toward many state transportation goals. In some cases, planned projects are projected to reverse progress toward some state goals.

Hawaii has among the worst traffic fatality rates in the country, including the worst senior citizen pedestrian fatality rate. Hawaii also has among the worst traffic congestion in the country, and among the highest cost of transportation, which greatly increases the cost of living for residents. Unfortunately, Hawaii has held these distinctions for some time with little change.

The purpose of this Act is to help improve transportation outcomes by enabling basic transparency and accountability for transportation efforts by:

(1) Establishing a transportation improvement and modernization commission to help ensure that the department of transportation achieves state goals and outcomes; and

(2) Improving reporting to provide better transparency for elected leaders and the public.

SECTION 2. Chapter 264, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§264- Transportation improvement and modernization commission. (a) There is established a transportation improvement and modernization commission in the department of transportation for administrative purposes.

(b) The commission shall:

(1) Provide oversight and direction to help ensure the department of transportation achieves progress toward state goals in ground transportation and mobility;

(2) Establish metrics and benchmarks for achieving progress toward state goals, and make recommendations to the department of transportation and the legislature;

(3) Establish criteria to score project proposals to help identify how to meet state goals, and make recommendations for how each project proposal can be improved to better meet state goals when appropriate, before project plans and designs are finalized;

(4) Update scores of proposed projects when their final elements and design have been determined if those proposals were changed throughout the process; and

(5) Submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of each regular session.

(c) The department of transportation shall provide information on proposed and ongoing ground transportation and mobility projects to the commission for the commission to fulfill its statutory obligations and to evaluate, score, and track projects through completion. The department of transportation shall make the same information publicly available online when the commission deems appropriate, including regular updates on proposed project summaries and scores, as well as overall progress toward state goals.

(d) For the first year following the establishment of the commission and every even-numbered year, the commission shall be chaired by the chair of the committee with jurisdiction over transportation in the senate. For the second year following the establishment of the commission and every odd-numbered year, the commission shall be chaired by the chair of the committee with jurisdiction over transportation in the house of representatives.

(e) In addition to the rotating chairs, the members of the commission shall include:

(1) The director of the office of planning and sustainable development or their designee;

(2) The director of health or their designee;

(3) A representative from the Hawaii climate change mitigation and adaptation commission;

(4) The chief energy officer of the Hawaii state energy office or their designee;

(5) The department of transportation safe routes to schools program coordinator or their designee; and

(6) The president of the University of Hawaii system or their designee.

(f) The chair of the commission shall invite a member from each of the following organizations to join the commission for a three-year term:

(1) An organization with a focus on senior citizens;

(2) An organization with a focus on bicycling;

(3) An organization with a focus on urban planning;

(4) An organization with a focus on transportation, planning, and improvement;

(5) An organization with a focus on low income and underserved communities; and

(6) An organization representing labor and construction trades."

SECTION 3. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2022.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	2834
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022
STATE OF HAWAII