STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2673

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 3274

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Transportation, to which was referred S.B. No. 3274 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish the Multimodal Transportation Branch of the Department of Transportation to increase funding, pursue grants, and work on projects focusing on safe, low user cost pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawai‘i Public Health Institute, Ulupono Initiative, Hawaii Bicycling League, Hawaii Transportation Association, Bikeshare Hawaii, and three individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Hawaii State Energy Office.

Your Committee finds that the fastest growing contributor to the increasing cost of living in Hawaii is the rising cost of transportation. Hawaii residents already pay among the highest costs to commute per capita anywhere in the country, and despite rising fossil fuel prices, residents struggle to find cheaper, efficient transit options. Hawaii lacks a safe pedestrian and bicycle commuting infrastructure, meaning that many Hawaii households are forced to pay for multiple cars. This measure will increase resources available for pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Removing language that would have established the Multimodal Transportation Branch;

(2) Establishing a requirement that an unspecified percentage of all Department of Transportation expenditures in a fiscal biennium shall be used for safe, protected pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure;

(3) Establishing two positions dedicated to grant writing to maximize funds gained from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act;

(4) Inserting a blank appropriation for two full-time equivalent grant writing positions in the Department of Transportation; and

(5) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

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. 3274, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3274, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Transportation,

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CHRIS LEE, Chair