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THE SENATE |
S.B. NO. |
1506 |
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THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2023 |
S.D. 2 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
The legislature also finds that other places, including cities of similar size and population to Honolulu, have successfully reduced traffic-related fatalities to zero in some years by making safety the top priority for project spending and by investing in safer infrastructure accordingly.
However, the legislature recognizes that, in Hawaii, decades of automobile-centric planning and development have created formidable barriers to safe walking and bicycling, especially for students and kupuna. These barriers include a lack of complete, protected, and comfortable bike and pedestrian networks; burdensome and complicated funding mechanisms for safe routes projects; complicated coordination between state and county agencies and community-based organizations to identify and prioritize projects; and most of all, a lack of dedicated funding. The legislature further finds that the safe routes to school program itself is no longer working, as federal funding has stalled, state funding has been separated from the program, and engagement with community stakeholders has slowed.
Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to re-prioritize the safety of keiki and kupuna by fixing and simplifying the safe routes to school program, establishing a program that includes safe routes for all people, re-engaging community stakeholders, and appropriating a meaningful $50,000,000 to move priority projects and save lives, by:
(1) Establishing within the department of transportation, a safe routes for people implementation program to develop strategies and facilitate transportation-related projects that will ensure that keiki and kupuna are able to safely walk, bike, or roll to common destinations through the Vision Zero policy adopted by the department of transportation and county transportation departments pursuant to section 286‑7.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes; the ground transportation facilities plans developed and implemented by the department of transportation and counties pursuant to section 264‑142, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and the safe routes to school program under section 291C-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes;
(2) Establishing a safe routes for people implementation committee to advise the State in carrying out the purposes of the safe routes for people implementation program;
(3) Renaming the safe routes to schools special fund to the safe routes for people special fund;
(4) Authorizing the safe routes for people implementation committee to develop an application process for projects under the safe routes to school program and determine awards for selected projects; and
(5) Appropriating $50,000,000 for priority
projects that will improve bicyclist and pedestrian safety and allow keiki and
kupuna to safely walk, bike, or roll to common destinations.
SECTION 2. Chapter 286, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding two new sections to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:
"§286‑A Safe routes for people implementation program; establishment. There is established within the department for administrative purposes only, a safe routes for people implementation program to develop strategies and facilitate transportation-related projects that will ensure that keiki and kupuna are able to safely walk, bike, or roll to common destinations through the Vision Zero policy adopted by the department and county transportation departments pursuant to section 286-7.5, ground transportation facilities plans developed and implemented by the department and counties pursuant to section 264-142, and projects authorized under the safe routes to school program pursuant to section 291C-3.
§286‑B Safe routes for people
implementation committee. (a) There is established
within the department for administrative purposes only, a safe routes for
people implementation committee to advise the State in carrying out the
purposes of the safe routes for people implementation program. Specifically, the safe
routes for people implementation committee shall:
(1) Develop recommendations for any
additional metrics or benchmarks to ensure progress toward improving keiki and
kupuna safety by achieving the department's policy goals and plans adopted and
implemented pursuant to sections 286-7.5 and 264-142;
(2) Develop
recommendations for federal and other grant funding opportunities that may help
achieve the department's policy goals and plans adopted and
implemented pursuant to sections 286-7.5 and 264-142;
(3) Develop
recommendations to facilitate efforts by communities to apply for and receive
projects pursuant to sections 286-7.5, 264-142, and 291C-3, and streamline
project development and implementation between communities and the department;
(4) Review project
proposals and select priority projects pursuant to sections 286-7.5, 264-142,
and 291C-3 to be funded through the safe routes for people implementation
program or otherwise be prioritized and implemented by the department; and
(5) Submit
annual reports on the activities and recommendations of the safe routes for
people implementation program to the governor and legislature no later than
December 31 of each year.
(b) The safe routes for people implementation
committee shall consist of the following members:
(1) The chairs of the house of
representatives standing committee and the senate standing committee having
primary jurisdiction over transportation, who shall serve as co-chairs;
(2) The deputy director of the
department's highways division;
(3) The department's safe routes to
school program coordinator;
(4) One member representing the physical
activity and nutrition section of the department of health's chronic disease
prevention and health promotion division;
(5) One member representing the
department of education;
(6) The chair of the Hawaii climate
change mitigation and adaptation commission;
(7) One member representing the Hawaii
state energy office;
(8) One member representing the Hawaii
state council on developmental disabilities;
(9) One member representing each county
department of transportation;
(10) One member representing an
organization having a focus on bicycling, who shall be invited to participate;
(11) One member representing an
organization having a focus on senior citizens, who shall be invited to
participate;
(12) One member representing an organization
that understands the ways in which families with young children traverse the
State, who shall be invited to participate;
(13) One member representing an
organization having a focus on public health and mobility, who shall be invited
to participate;
(14) One member representing an
organization having a focus on transportation equity and mobility, who shall be
invited to participate; and
(15) One member representing the Hawaii
Association for Independent Schools, who shall be invited to participate.
In
addition to the members listed in this subsection, the co-chairs of the
committee may request the participation or input of members of the public;
experts in a related field; county, state, or federal officials; or others as
necessary.
(c) The members of the safe routes for people
implementation committee shall be nominated and, by and with the advice and
consent of the senate, appointed by the governor to serve for a term of three
years each. Except as provided in this
section, the appointment, tenure, and removal of the members and the filling of
vacancies on the committee shall be as provided in section 26-34.
(d) Members of the safe routes for people
implementation committee shall serve without compensation but shall be
reimbursed for expenses, including travel expenses, necessary for the
performance of their duties.
(e) No member of the safe routes for people
implementation committee shall be subject to chapter 84, solely because of the
member's service on the committee.
(f) As used in this section, "department" means the department of transportation."
SECTION
3. Section 291-16,
Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as
follows:
"(b) The person shall pay the surcharge to the
clerk of the court. The surcharge shall
be deposited with the director of finance who shall credit the surcharge to the
safe routes [to school program] for people special fund
established under section 291C‑4."
SECTION 4. Section 291C-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§291C-3
State [and county] safe routes to school [programs;] program;
coordinators; grants; reports.
(a) There is established, within
the department of transportation, a safe routes to school program that [shall],
among other things, shall enhance traffic safety around Hawaii's
schools, enable and encourage children to walk and bicycle to school, and make
bicycling and walking to school a safer and more appealing transportation
alternative.
(b) There is created, within the department of transportation, the position of safe routes to school program coordinator. The safe routes to school program coordinator shall provide a central point of contact for the federal safe routes to school program.
(c) [A
county designated office, through the county safe routes to school program
coordinator, and in consultation with the department of education, department
of health, and Hawaii Association of Independent Schools, shall provide safe
routes to school funds]
The safe routes for people implementation committee shall develop
recommendations for school-based and community-based workshops and review
project proposals and select priority infrastructure and non-infrastructure
projects that will reduce vehicular traffic and congestion, encourage walking
and bicycling, and promote health and safety around Hawaii's schools.
(d) The [legislature shall appropriate] department
of transportation, in conjunction with the safe routes for people
implementation committee, shall expend funds from the safe routes [to school
program] for people special fund [to the counties] to be used
for the implementation of [county] safe routes to school program
projects[. No later than twenty days
prior to the convening of each regular session, each county shall submit to the
legislature an annual report on the status and progress of its county safe
routes to school program, including an accounting of all grants provided
through the program and a timeline for future grant awards.] and
projects pursuant to section 286-B(a)(3) and (4).
(e)
Implementation of the [county] safe routes to school program
shall take into consideration the need to:
[(1) Fill a permanent, full-time position
of safe routes to school coordinator within the county designated office;
(2)] (1) Maximize the participation of school
officials and stakeholder groups in the community;
[(3)] (2) Work in conjunction with county designated
safe routes to school stakeholders and train volunteer facilitators for
school-based workshops and community‑based projects, including flexible
training schedules;
[(4)] (3)
Train potential grant requestors and stakeholder groups in
federal and state requirements necessary for procurement, contracts, design,
and construction; and
[(5)] (4)
Allocate not less than ten per cent and not more than thirty per
cent of safe routes [to school] for people funds for
non-infrastructure-related activities or activities to encourage walking and
bicycling to school, public awareness campaigns, student sessions on bicycle
and pedestrian safety, or other non‑infrastructure activities as
prescribed under section 1404 of the 2005
Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users, Public Law No. 109-59.
[(f) Each grant proposal in the county safe routes
to school program shall:
(1) Identify
the modes of travel used by students to get to school;
(2) Determine
the number of students using each mode of travel;
(3) Survey
the parents of each student to gather information regarding the factors
involved in the choice of transportation mode
for the student and, where the student travels by automobile or bus, conditions that would need to
change for the parent to permit the student to walk or ride a bicycle to
school, and obstacles to walking and biking; and
(4) Identify
traffic infrastructure elements in the immediate vicinity of each school,
including multi-lane roadways, speed limits, and traffic calming features that,
either by their presence or absence, contribute to the use of automobiles as a
student's mode of travel to school.
(g)] (f) The [director of transportation,] safe
routes for people implementation committee, in consultation with
organizations that have received non-infrastructure and pending infrastructure
grants, shall develop a streamlined process for the safe routes to school
program that meets federal and state requirements, simplifies the grant
proposal application process, and expedites release of funding after
completion of school‑based and community-based projects for
infrastructure and non-infrastructure.
[(h) The director of transportation shall submit to the legislature an annual
report of the status and progress of the safe
routes to school program, including an accounting of all grants provided
through the program and a timeline for future grant awards, no later than twenty days prior to the
convening of each regular session.
(i)] (g) Nothing in this
section shall be construed as requiring actions or omissions that would render the State ineligible to receive funds for the safe routes to school program under the
2005 Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient
Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for
Users, Public Law No. 109-59."
SECTION 5. Section 291C-4, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"§291C-4 Safe routes
[to school program] for people special fund;
establishment. (a) There is established in the state treasury
the safe routes [to school program] for people special fund, into
which shall be deposited:
(1) Legislative appropriations and federal or
private grants, gifts, and donations awarded or made to the safe routes for
people implementation program for deposit into the fund;
(2) Interest earned or accrued on moneys
deposited in the fund;
[(1)] (3) Assessments collected for speeding in
a school zone, pursuant to section 291C-104; and
[(2)] (4) Safe routes to school program
surcharges collected in accordance with sections 291-16 and 291C‑5.
(b) The moneys in the special fund shall be
administered and expended by the department of transportation, in conjunction with
the safe routes for people implementation committee, to:
(1) Fund projects selected and approved
by the safe routes for people implementation committee pursuant to section
286-B;
(2) Be distributed to the counties for
the implementation of projects selected and approved by the safe routes for
people implementation committee; provided that the department of transportation
may require matching funds from a respective county based on the nature and
funding requirements of the proposed project; and
(3) Fund projects selected and approved
by the safe routes for people implementation committee under the safe routes to
school program pursuant to section 291C-3.
(c) The department of transportation shall submit an annual report to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of each regular session that outlines the receipts of, and expenditures from, the special fund. This report shall include the status and progress of projects, an accounting of all grants provided for projects, and a timeline for future grant awards."
SECTION
6. Section 291C-5,
Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as
follows:
"(b) The person shall pay the surcharge to the
clerk of the court. The surcharge shall
be deposited with the director of finance who shall transmit the surcharge to
the safe routes [to school program] for people special
fund established under section 291C-4."
SECTION 7. Section 291C-104, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (c) to read as follows:
"(c) Any person who violates this section shall be
fined $250, may be charged with a surcharge of
up to $100 to be deposited into the trauma system special fund, and,
where the violation involves speeding in a school zone, shall be charged with a
surcharge of $25 to be deposited into the safe routes [to school program]
for people special fund."
SECTION 8. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $50,000,000 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2023-2024 and the same sum or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2024-2025 to fund priority projects identified by the safe routes for people implementation committee to improve bicyclist and pedestrian safety and allow keiki and kupuna to safely walk, bike, or roll to common destinations.
The sums appropriated shall be expended by the department of transportation for the purposes of this Act.
SECTION 9. In codifying the new sections added by section 2 of this Act, the revisor of statutes shall substitute appropriate section numbers for the letters used in designating the new sections in this Act.
SECTION 10. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 11. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2050.
Report Title:
Department of Transportation; Traffic Safety; Keiki and Kupuna; Safe Routes to School Program; Safe Routes for People Implementation Program; Safe Routes for People Implementation Committee; Safe Routes for People Special Fund; Appropriation
Description:
Establishes
a safe routes for people implementation program and safe routes for people implementation
committee to develop strategies and facilitate transportation-related projects
that ensure the safety of keiki and kupuna using ground transportation
facilities. Authorizes the safe routes
for people implementation committee to develop the application process under
the safe routes to school program.
Renames the safe routes to school program special fund to the safe routes
for people special fund and amends its purpose.
Appropriates funds. Effective
7/1/2050. (SD2)
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.