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Last July, Gov. Josh Green touted changes he signed into law to give a decades-old volunteer council stronger oversight of the state’s efforts to improve both highway safety and the ability for people to get around across Hawaii.

Less than a year later, that so-called Highway Safety and Modernization Council has yet to hold its first meeting.

The holdup has irked some local road safety advocates who say they’re frustrated that so much time has passed without state leaders appointing members to the council, especially the two members who are supposed to replace the state’s transportation director as the group’s chair. Those two seats must be filled by the Legislature’s top two leaders.

But key lawmakers and other state leaders, including Green, now question whether the can even function under the changes that were written into law. That’s contributed to the yearlong delay, they say, and it remains unclear when those issues might be resolved.

It’s also unclear to what extent those issues were raised when legislators vetted the bill last year before passing it.

Nonetheless, advocates say the shift from what was previously called the to the new modernization council could bring more accountability and transparency to the Department of Transportation, which according to its own director spends more money than any other state agency in Hawaii.

The group’s recommendations could lead to better road projects that promote greater safety along the state’s sprawling network of roads and highways, supporters say. The number of traffic fatalities across Hawaii has fluctuated in the past decade, with as few as 85 road deaths in 2015 and as many as 117 in 2018, .

There were 116 such deaths reported in 2022, and 95 reported last year.

Planning For The Future

The retooled committee could also weigh how to expand access to other modes of travel in Hawaii besides cars, such as eBikes, said , director of transportation and policy programs for the Ulupono Initiative.

It could also address the 800 miles of needed sidewalks on Oahu, which would cost more than $1 billion to build, she added.

“There’s a lot going on” at DOT, Rooney said last week. “I think there’s a space for larger community conversations on these things, and there’s not a lot of spaces for that now. This could be one of them.”

Specifically, Rooney and other advocates pointed to the change that removes the DOT director from the council entirely after that official had previously served as chair. Now, between a member appointed by the House speaker and another by the Senate president.

Senate President Ron Kouchi still has not made his appointment, and House Speaker Scott Saiki just made his last week. Green hasn’t made any of his own 12 appointments to the commission, as required under the act he signed.

The Governor’s Office is waiting for the legislative leaders to finish their appointments first, plus it wants to see potential “legal and practical issues” with the new Highway Safety and Modernization Council resolved first, according to Green spokeswoman Erika Engle.

Further complicating matters is that Saiki’s appointment was a fellow member of the Legislature, Sen. Chris Lee, who introduced the bill to reform the council.

Lee, who chairs the Senate transportation committee, said he was not expecting Saiki to appoint him.

“It’s a little unusual,” Lee said Monday from Europe, where he and several legislators have been consulting with transportation officials on their best practices. “I haven’t had a chance to speak with the speaker, and I haven’t spoken with DOT about this in quite some time, so I’ll have to follow up and get everybody on the same page.”

However, Saiki said he was forced to tap a state legislator because the new law says he has to

Lee disagreed, saying that “member” referred to a member of the council, not the Legislature.

Kouchi did not respond to requests for comment. It’s not clear when he plans to make his appointment, if at all.

A Committee That Needs A Home?

Part of the problem is confusion over whether the council is still connected to the Department of Transportation for the administrative support its members need to hold their meetings.

Typically, Hawaii lawmakers wait for such support agencies to reach out and signal when they’re ready for them to make their appointments, both Saiki and Lee said. Now, there’s disagreement over whether the group is still supported by DOT. Thus, no one from the agency reached out to Saiki.

Saiki and DOT Director Ed Sniffen said the retooled council is not linked to any agency, leaving it in a state of limbo.

Lee disagreed. “It’s in DOT’s chapter,” he said Monday. “None of that changed. The only thing that changed were some of the members on it and how that’s structured.”

Nonetheless, Saiki said he decided to appoint Lee after meeting with a local group recently that expressed concerns about the holdup. Saiki declined to name the group, but Hawaii Bicycling League Advocacy Director Eduardo Hernandez said he recently discussed the issue with Saiki.

“Nobody mentioned that was a problem” with the council’s administrative support until HBL started asking about the group’s status, Hernandez said last week.

“Nobody had an answer for me until I finally met with the speaker,” he said.

The DOT supported the changes to the council, although Sniffen said last week that the community already has ways to provide input on his agency’s plans and projects.

Sniffen cited the federally required metropolitan planning organizations that meet on Oahu and Maui, as well as chances to testify in the state’s budget and legislative processes.

“We’re fine with supporting the committee,” Sniffen said, but added that there’s language in the law that needs to be fixed first.

Lee said a “pause” in the new Highway Safety and Modernization Council is OK as other recent efforts by the Legislature to reform DOT gain momentum.

This includes requiring the agency to create more pathways for bicyclists and pedestrians along Hawaii’s transportation network so that it’s not so car-centric, Lee said. The measure further requires DOT to report back annually on this effort.

There’s nothing “adversarial” in the council’s holdup, Lee said.

“Once we get all the data and strategies together, we need to get all the stakeholders together,” he said, and figure out the best path forward for Hawaii’s road grid.