Highways

Looking for Technology Test Drive Volunteers

By: Scot Urada

We are excited to share the successful full-scale launch of the Manual Demonstration of the Hawaii Road Usage Charge Demonstration (HiRUC) project.

As of November 2019, we have started mailing Driving Reports that show customized information about how much a vehicle owner paid in gas taxes over the past year vs. how much they might pay in a RUC based on the vehicle they own, using odometer readings taken during the annual Safety Check.

These Driving Reports are just for informational purposes and they are not bills.

If you received these Driving Reports in the mail, we encourage you to fi ll out the survey so that we can hear how you feel about a Road Usage Charge.

We are also gearing up to start the second part of this project, the Technology Test Drive starting in March 2020!

In this phase, we are looking for 2,000 volunteers on diff erent

islands. Volunteers will get to choose one of three mileage reporting options to test and submit mileage readings on a more frequent basis using more automated technologies.

This is your chance in getting fi rst-hand experience in how a road usage charge could work using diff erent methods, and for you to share your experience with us.

If you are interested, or if any of your family or friends would like to give this a try, we invite everyone to take a look at this webpage and sign up at https://hiruc.org/volunteer/.

Or alternatively, you can give the project team a call at (808) 300-3527.

NEW HIRES continued from page 8

Steve Compton’s fi rst day was Wednesday, Feb. 19th as a Harbor Enforcement Offi cer II (Harbor Police, Enforcement Unit). Steven comes to us experienced in the public safety and probation enforcement fi eld and is a graduate of the Honolulu Police Training Academy (Ke Kula Maka’i). I believe he will be an excellent addition to our unit and the Harbors Division.

Highways

The ‘Ohana that eats Together Stays Together: Celebrati ng Birthdays in HWY-AP! By: Maaza Christos

I am blessed to have an amazingly wonderful workplace ‘ohana that celebrate each other’s successes and encourage one another when hardships come along.

It was my birthday this month and I told my colleagues that my birthday is on February 29, on a leap year, so I would be much younger than I am (every four years, I age up).

This is purely fi ctitious, since I was born in Ethiopia and the Ethiopian calendar has leap year in September.

Coincidentally, it’s Sept 11.

To be fair, I chose February 28 instead of 29 and so many other complications come to the surface, since Ethiopia is 13 hours ahead of Hawaii and it is still 2012 there, not 2020.

All these make for an interesting story.

But I recently read that a 60-year old Dutch man insisted that he has a right to change his birthdate by 40 years as he was experiencing aging.

. And I heard the Dutch court refused his request.

So, the prospect for getting my age to be “quadri-sectioned” even if I could prove that I was born on February 29, is very slim. In fact, practically zero.

But in college, I learned that even zero over zero has a rule. (I am not kidding! Look it up in calculus limit theory!)

Plus, there’s some hope for me that I become the youngest instead of the oldest in my section.

Well, I don’t have to worry too much about that since I am blessed to have an ‘ohana that reminds me I’m a valuable team member regardless of my age.

They say, “the proof of the pudding is in the eating.”

Check the picture of all the delicious goodies brought for my birthday!

Highways

Lane Closure Processing Applicati on is Now Public! By: Maaza Mekuria

HDOT is moving into a new phase of the Lane Closure application by going state-wide with a public-facing map.

This new format allows HDOT’s operations to be more fl exible, robust, resilient and presentable.

HDOT chose to develop an in-house application that integrated route network geometry and lane closure information including location, type of activity and duration to be presented through an online web and mobile enabled interface.

The vision was born out of Gina Belleau’s motto of entering data once and using it multiple times.

HDOT has been moving to data centric processes as it works to solve the problems that it encounters every single day of keeping the facilities, that move people, goods and services, in a safe, effi cient and predictable way.

Beginning in February 1, 2020, all lane closures on the Island of Oahu are entered and processed through the ArcGIS online tool (named Survey123).

All the entries are mapped on an online dashboard, for approval by supervisors while an automated procedure checks for confl icts so that no two crews would show up at the same location at the same time.

Such spatial analytics makes the scheduling process more accessible to supervisors.

Last February, Kauai and Maui districts were trained by HDOT’s own trainers, Christopher de la Torre and Zero Wu and have already begun entering their closures into the online system as well.

The Big Island is scheduled for March.

The app stores the entries by fi eld and offi ce personnel and produces maps that are shared internally for operational decisions and with the public on mobile-friendly interface.

Check out the wonderful map created by Chris at http://arcg.is/1POSj1.

Many interactive apps have been developed by the HDOT HWY-AP team that it is hard to list them all.

Any questions about the app, email Chris de la Torre at Christopher.H.Delatorre@hawaii.gov or Zero Wu at Zero.Wu@hawaii.gov.

Highways

Teaching Our Keiki Storm Water Awareness

By: Ty Fukuroku

On Friday, Feb. 7, the HDOT Maui Environmental Section visited Paia Elementary School to experience a hands-on education event about stormwater and the potential impacts related to our highways.

Split into four separate sessions, the event educated a total of 10 teachers and 173 students from grades 3 through 5. Students were fi rst shown a presentation on the potential pollutants that exist and how they impact stormwater.

They were then able to interact with a “stormwater model” that simulates the way in which untreated stormwater is taken off our roads and highways and into our oceans and streams.

Together, this event educated students on the impacts that stormwater carrying pollutants may have on these invaluable resources.

Following the presentation, each student received a “Protect Our Water” pencil, tattoo, and luggage tag.

Our very own Daniel Garcia and Ernest Tabangcura as well as environmental consultants, David Henderson and Krisit Hall, led the school event.

Hawaii’s First Traffi c Light

By: Rachel Roper

When: Installed in 1936

Where: At the intersection of Nuuanu Avenue and Beretania Street in Oahu

Source: Honolulu Magazine, Photo Essay: Everyday Life in 20th Century Honolulu, November 2011