Maui MPO Transportation Demand

October 2020

hele mai maui Long-Range Transportation Plan 2040

Employee Transportation Strategies The Maui Metropolitan Planning Organization (Maui MPO) is working with Maui County to explore strategies that help to manage employee transportation demand.

Although travel to work has changed due to COVID-19 and the Mayor’s “stay at home and work from home” order, Maui County remains the largest employer on the island, responsible for many trips to and from County office buildings each day.

Coupled with Maui’s major resorts—which are beginning to welcome employees and visitors back following the re-opening of trans-Pacific travel—people commuting to work make up a big percentage of transportation demand on Maui. To meet the goals established in Hele Mai Maui, our long-range transportation plan, we must provide options for people to travel in different ways and reduce the impacts of transportation on our community.

Hele Mai Maui 2040 Goals GOAL 1 Improve safety and promote health

GOAL 2 Enhance cultural and natural resources, climate resilience, and sustainability GOAL 3 Expand mobility choices to reduce traffic congestion GOAL 4 Connect and strengthen communities to improve quality of life GOAL 5 Maintain assets and invest strategically for economic vitality

Why is managing transportation demand important?

Everyone needs a reliable way to get to work. Today, travel options on Maui are somewhat limited, making driving alone the best choice for most people. While convenient, too many people driving alone presents challenges: growing congestion on Maui’s roads, increased greenhouse gas emissions, and higher costs to maintain our transportation system. Bringing reliable options to Maui means more choices for more people.

What is Transportation Demand Management (TDM)?

Transportation demand management is a way to describe strategies that help to reduce the number of people who drive alone to work. TDM strategies provide commuters with options that are accessible, affordable, and efficient. These strategies can include flexible work schedules, shuttle and vanpool programs, incentives and rewards for using nondriving modes, and parking management. By creating programs and policies that meet the needs of Maui’s diverse employees, we can reduce traffic congestion and the need to drive alone by improving the commuter experience.

P

What TDM strategies should Maui consider?

weet eS

me Ho

Make Telework a Viable Option

Hom

There are many strategies that communities and employers can use to manage transportation demand. Through conversations with partners and best practices research, we have identified seven strategies that are the most promising for Maui. Each strategy includes a short description and a recommended first step, and highlights of other communities’ best practices are provided for inspiration.

Teleworking and flexible work schedules have been put to the test during COVID-19. These strategies reduce the number of people that need to commute each day and eliminate some trips.

First Step: Maui County could continue to expand telework opportunities and develop a model program for large employers on Maui.

Expand Shuttle and Vanpool Access Vanpools and dedicated shuttle services help organize commuters traveling from the same area to the same destination. Traveling with coworkers is fun and reduces congestion and travel costs!

First Step: Maui County could explore partnerships to provide vanpool or shuttle options for County employees living in Upcountry and West Maui.

Best Practice: The Microsoft Connector shuttles serve about 20% of Microsoft’s Seattle-area employees. The vehicles have wifi and include bike racks and on-board power outlets. The 20 routes are free for employees.

Make Information Accessible Effective branding of and communication about transportation demand management programs helps employees understand their options. Marketing the program can generate excitement and encourage people to try something new.

Source: Microsoft Connector

Commute by: CLICK HERE

CLICK HERE

CLICK HERE

First Step: Maui County should create, brand, and market a County TDM program, including commute resources for employees.

Subsidize Sustainable Modes Financial incentives—such as commute subsidies or reimbursements—make alternatives to driving more affordable and appealing. Subsidies are a proven method to encourage the use of transit and sustainable transportation modes.

BUS

S PAS

First Step: Maui County and other large employers could work with Maui Bus to pilot a commuter transit fare or pass.

Best Practice: The City of Boulder’s EcoPass program allows employers to purchase annual transit passes for their employees. EcoPass holders are up to nine times more likely to ride transit than people without an EcoPass.

Make Behavior Change Fun

Source: The City of Boulder

PASS BUS

Make it a game! Rewarding employees with prizes, discounts, and other incentives for using alternatives to driving alone helps make it fun to try new ways of traveling.

First Step: Maui County could create a contest with local business rewards for employees who eliminate a certain number of drive-alone trips in a month.

Best Practice: Clif Bar’s “Cool Commute Incentives Program” allows employees to earn points for logging their daily commute. Points are converted to dollars and can be redeemed as cash. Employees also get incentives toward the purchase of bikes and electric vehicles.

Source: Clif Bar

Provide Amenities and Infrastructure Providing safe places to walk and bike and amenities at the office makes active commuting easier. For people biking, secure parking, lockers, showers, and changing rooms are important supports, especially for Maui’s rainy mornings and hot afternoons.

First Step: Maui County could install bicycle amenities at County facilities and seek funding to develop new biking and walking routes, as identified in Hele Mai Maui and other recent plans.

Manage Parking Managing parking through shared strategies, remote lots, and pricing helps match supply and demand.

Pricing parking can encourage commuters to use different modes to travel to work, which saves them money and frees spaces for those who need them.

P

First Step: Maui County could pilot pricing strategies identified in the Parking Action Plan for Wailuku Town and Lahaina Town.

Completed in 2018, the Parking Action Plan recommends paid on- and offstreet parking and time limits for areas in Wailuku and Lahaina. The plan suggests a “parking benefit district” as a way to reinvest revenues in needed transportation improvements.

Who benefits from TDM programs?

Maui benefits! Our residents will enjoy a transportation system that is safer, more convenient, less congested, and more sustainable. Commuters will have more options to get to and from work in ways that are healthier and less frustrating than sitting in traffic. Reducing stress on the way to and from work makes everyone’s day better.

What happens now?

The TDM strategies presented here may be more or less applicable to different employers on Maui based on their location, size, and employee commute habits. Additionally, some strategies may be more effective as partnerships between employers and service providers. When exploring these strategies, Maui’s employers should consider employee accessibility and usability as well as program administration needs and costs.

Maui MPO will continue to work with Maui County to explore these strategies and identify those with the most potential. By bringing people together and building partnerships, the MPO could help to advance a countywide TDM program and continue to shift drive-alone trips to more sustainable modes, a primary goal of Hele Mai Maui.

Please visit our website for more information about Transportation Demand Management strategies and programs.

https://mauimpo.org/hele-mai-maui-2040 (808) 270-8216 200 S. High Street Wailuku, HI 96793

October 2020

hele mai maui Long-Range Transportation Plan 2040

Managing Visitor Transportation Demand The Maui Metropolitan Planning Organization (Maui MPO) is working with partners to explore strategies that can help to manage visitor transportation demand. Since March, the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly reduced visitor activity, and daily new arrivals on Maui have been in the tens rather than the tens of thousands.

With the reopening of trans-Pacific travel Maui is growing. By 2045, in mid-October, travelers are beginning there will be 33,000 people, to return. With more visitors comes more 20,000 more jobs, and 19,000 pressure on the island’s transportation more daily visitors on Maui. networks, as people rent cars to reach tourist destinations.

Maui has an important opportunity to identify and test new approaches to managing visitor transportation demand while the volume of people on the island is still lower than usual.

To meet the goals established in Hele Mai Maui, our long-range transportation plan, we must provide options for people to travel in different ways when they visit Maui and reduce the impacts on our community.

Why is managing visitor transportation demand important?

Tourism brings many economic benefits to Maui, generating about a third of the island’s jobs prior to COVID-19. However, the growing number of visitors in recent decades has resulted in increased frustration and concern about the additional stress that visitors place on the local transportation network and the island’s resources.

Maui’s residential communities, resort attractions, job centers, and key destinations are concentrated in distinct hubs on the island. Significant traffic congestion and high rates of collisions on Honoapi‘ilani Highway, Pi‘ilani Highway, and Hana Highway—critical connections between hubs of activity—highlight the need for new approaches to managing on-island visitor travel. Visitor transportation management helps balance the benefits of tourism, while reducing the frustrating side effects.

What are visitor transportation demand management strategies?

There are many strategies that can help to manage visitor mobility and transportation demand. These include providing easy-to-find information, offering transportation options tailored to visitors, and providing travel choices beyond rental cars for short trips. These strategies can help to reduce the negative impacts of visitor travel by creating better options for visitors and enhanced quality of life for residents. Effective visitor mobility management makes sustainable, nonauto modes of transportation accessible to visitors and reduces the daily demands on our roads.

How can Maui manage visitor transportation demand?

Maui is not alone in its efforts to manage visitor transportation demand. Many communities share their resources with visitors and have used diverse strategies to manage visitor mobility. Through conversations with partners and best practices research, we have identified seven strategies that are the most promising for Maui. Each strategy includes a short description and a recommended first step, and highlights of other communities’ best practices are provided for inspiration.

Make Information Accessible Creating visible and accessible online information about mobility options can encourage visitors to use more sustainable forms of transportation. Resources would be needed to establish and maintain digital content, including developing strong communication and education strategies.

Travel by: CLICK HERE

CLICK HERE

CLICK HERE

First Step: Maui MPO could work with partners to establish visible and accessible digital content that features transportation resources and tripplanning services.

Best Practice: North Lake Tahoe is known for its beaches and expansive ski resorts that draw thousands of visitors each year. To help people navigate transportation to and within key resort areas, the Convention and Visitors Bureau created Go Tahoe North. The website provides a comprehensive list of mobility options with detailed descriptions about each service, as well as links and contact information for providers.

Source: Go Tahoe North

Expand Airport Shuttle Service Improving shuttle services to resort areas, where visitors have access to other mobility options, could help to reduce the need for people to rent vehicles for their entire stay. Dedicated transit services to key non-resort destinations could also reduce the need for visitors to drive for every trip.

First Step: Shuttle service providers and Maui Bus could explore opportunities to use idle commuter and shuttle fleets to provide trips to and from the airport between morning and afternoon commute periods.

Bring Bike Share to Maui Bike share systems support local trips and provide a new travel option for visitors and residents alike. Bike share is an emission- and congestion-free alternative to explore local destinations and works especially well in areas with many nearby places to ride.

TAP HERE

First Step: Maui MPO could issue a “Request for Information� for private providers to express interest in establishing a bike share system on Maui.

Best Practice: Biki is a public, private, and nonprofit partnership in Honolulu. The program includes 1,300 bikes at over 130 self-service stations. In its first year (2017), Biki was the 8th most heavily used bike share system in the nation.

Biki offers membership passes for residents as well as pre-paid visitor passes that can be used over multiple trips for added flexibility.

Source: Hawaii Magazine

Create Options for Short Vehicle Trips Although most people don’t need a rental car for their entire stay on Maui, some trips require a vehicle.

Satellite rental car facilities or car share services near hotels and resorts can provide options and flexible pricing for short trips, ensuring that people can access a vehicle when they really need one.

First Step: Maui MPO could work with partners to improve marketing of satellite rental car facilities and explore an all-electric community car share program.

Provide “By Request” Local Transportation Services Transportation service providers can offer trips through a phone call or app, including local shuttles or electric vehicle services. On-demand services can link trips or operate within a specific area, similar to a circulator bus.

First Step: Maui MPO and Maui Bus could explore partnerships with private companies to test the feasibility of a local shuttle connecting popular destinations.

Best Practice: Trip to Strip in Las Vegas was a pilot program that served as an extension of bus service on the Las Vegas Strip. Vehicles had complimentary wifi, USB ports for charging, and space for luggage. Rides started at $6 and varied based on the number of people in the party and the distance traveled. During the 6-month pilot, the service transported more than 600,000 people!

Manage Parking

Source: Trip to Strip Las Vegas

PARKING

Managing parking through pricing helps match supply and demand and generate revenues to fund transportation improvements. Pricing parking can encourage visitors to travel by more sustainable modes, freeing spaces for those who need them.

PAY HERE

First Step: Maui County could pilot pricing strategies identified in the Parking Action Plan for Wailuku Town and Lahaina Town.

Completed in 2018, the Parking Action Plan recommends paid on- and offstreet parking and time limits for areas in Wailuku and Lahaina. The plan suggests a “parking benefit district” as a way to reinvest revenues in needed transportation improvements.

Subsidize Sustainable Modes Incentives—such as prizes, gift cards for local businesses, or mobility wallets—can make alternatives to driving more appealing to visitors. Subsidies can be presented as a game or contest and are a proven method to encourage the use of transit and sustainable modes.

First Step: Maui MPO could work with partners to establish an incentive program to encourage visitors to make some trips by sustainable modes.

Who manages visitor transportation demand?

Many organizations play a role in managing visitor transportation demand, including the key partners described here. Maui Visitors Bureau maintains content on its website to inform visitors about transportation options. Hawai‘i Tourism Authority is preparing a Destination Management Action Plan “to rebuild, redefine, and reset tourism’s direction.” Maui County’s Tourism Advisory Committee makes recommendations to the Mayor about visitor management.

State and County legislators are leading efforts to manage visitor numbers on Hana Highway through a reservation system. The State of Hawai‘i Department of Transportation manages airport shuttle service providers for the Kahului airport. Rental car companies, resorts, and activities vendors are also key partners. And as Maui’s transportation planning agency, Maui MPO provides technical assistance and planning to help these and other partners implement solutions.

Who benefits from these efforts?

Maui benefits! Visitors to Maui will have a better understanding of their travel options and will be able to move around the island without relying on a car for every trip. Our residents will enjoy less congestion due to visitor traffic and more transportation options, including bike share and car share services available to everyone.

Helping visitors travel more efficiently and sustainably makes transportation on Maui better for all of us.

What happens now?

The visitor transportation demand management strategies presented here all require funding, and most will work best as partnerships. To help implement visitor management strategies, Maui MPO and Maui County should explore new funding streams, including federal resources. Maui MPO can identify potential partnerships with private service providers, resorts and hotels, and the island’s visitor associations to maximize the benefit of these strategies.

Maui MPO will continue to explore these strategies and identify those with the most potential.

By bringing people together and building partnerships, the MPO could help to advance a countywide visitor transportation demand management program and help to encourage visitors to use more sustainable travel modes, a primary goal of Hele Mai Maui.

Please visit our website for more information about visitor transportation demand management strategies.

https://mauimpo.org/hele-mai-maui-2040 (808) 270-8216 200 S. High Street Wailuku, HI 96793