Mass transit lane idea resurfaces

KHON 2 TV News
Nov 21, 2007 at 11:35 AM HST

By Gina Mangieri

"HOT" lanes are back on the table. But this time it is the state considering high-occupancy toll lanes, an idea many city leaders rejected for mass transit.

The state is looking into converting our HOV or high occupancy vehicle lanes into a toll system, similar to ideas proposed as alternates to rail. The state says high-occupancy toll lanes Ð HOT lanes in mass transit lingo Ð can coexist with the city's fixed guideway.

"HOT lanes and toll facilities are not a dead issue," said Brennon Morioka of the state Department of Transportation's Highways Division.

While most city leaders are cold to HOT lanes for Honolulu's mass transit project, the state thinks they can work them in on existing highways.

"HOT lanes and rail can work compatibly together," Morioka said.

The Department of Transportation says HOT lane feasibility studies are underway. Honolulu is among just a handful of states where the Federal Highway Administration may help convert HOVs to tolls.

"We have to go through the whole public participation process and evaluation and make sure the public is comfortable with it," Morioka said.

The state says it's not the only answer to congestion -- right now the HOV lane can be as clogged up as the others, and that would have to change before a toll would make sense.

"If you're going to pay for use of a lane, you're obviously going to have to see some benefit to the use of that lane, and time is that benefit," Morioka said.

Lawmakers delved into this and other transportation issues during a hearing about the status of state highway projects, repairs and funding -- sort of a jump start before the next legislative session begins.

"Some of the high priorities are of course how we're going to balance out the revenue streams, the monies coming in," said Sen. Kalani English, chair of the Senate's transportation committee. "The federal monies are dropping. They've changed the formula, they've changed the amount of reimbursements, and they've made it much more difficult for us to access those monies."

The Federal Highway Trust Fund is looking at a big shortfall, just as construction costs skyrocket. The North-South Road in Wwa is the state's biggest highway project since the H-3, and the cost has jumped from $90 million to $160 million. And that's not all.

"A lot of our price tags are just going up and we just need to make those tough decisions to see which projects we can afford and which ones we can't," Morioka said.

The state Department of Transportation estimates about $100 million in authorized projects are shelved awaiting the availability of federal funding.

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