Hawaii 5-0

Hawaii 8-5

Traffic – Food – Energy

Panos D. Prevedouros, PhD October 2011 – Revised Oct. 2016

Part 1

Hawaii: Big Changes and

Better Options

Hawaii 8-5

85% of the people drive alone

85% of the food is imported

85% of the electricity is not

renewable

85% of the people drive

• Yet the focus is on rail and bicycles… each one about 1%... So we pay billions for rail and lose lanes to bikeways to get from 85% to 83%!

• Result: Too much congestion by 2030 and we’ll have lost a few lanes and several billion $ that could have been used for congestion projects

• Action: End rail at Middle St. intermodal center, and refocus on traffic congestion

• Driverless technologies and “automated Uber” will make public transit obsolete before 2050

85% of the food is imported

• Worse yet, government approved the replacement of Aloun Farms with 12,000 cookie cutter, low density homes

• Result: Bad for agriculture, bad for rail, bad for traffic congestion

• Action: Rescind Ho’opili development. Re-zone Kalihi and require higher density in the remainder of Kapolei, Makakilo and Mililani

85% of the electricity is not renewable

• Solar and wind made inroads but dealing with their intermittency is very expensive (batteries)

• Expanded HPower is often underutilized bring some trash from Maui on empty barges

• Geothermal is Pele’s gift to her people but geothermal development has been vilified due to poor leadership

• Action: We need to follow Iceland’s lead on geothermal power exploration or we’ll suffer with costly and inferior power production alternatives

Part 2

20 Minutes!

ARE THESE POSSIBLE?

Y E S ! With Traffic Congestion Solutions

• Aiea to downtown in 20 minutes!

• Hawaii Kai to Makiki in 20 minutes!

• Kapolei to Iwilei in 20 minutes!

• UH-Manoa to Kailua in 20 minutes!

• Waikele or Waipio to downtown in 20 minutes in a bus!

Real Solutions 2011 …hoping rail will die

IMMEDIATE (1 to 4 years)

1. Pearl Harbor Ferry 2. Underpasses 3. Nimitz Viaduct

(~20% of HOT Lanes) 4. Traffic Signal

Optimization 5. In-town BRT 6. Middle St. merge fix

LONGER TERM (5 to 12 years)

1. 10 mi. HOT Lanes 2. Alexander to Pali

tunnel 3. Complete Plan for

ORL Light Rail 4. Pearl Harbor ferry 5. Cut-and-cover tunnel

thru airport done

Reversible H O T Lanes

Express bus, and vanpool on the REL

REL = Reversible Express Lanes

100 buses, 400 vanpools, 4000 cars = 12,000 people, seated

Rail: 20 x 300 = 6,000 people (crash load, 2/3 standees)

1. Wiki-Wiki replacement; internal and

external to Airport

2. Airport to downtown via Hart Street

or on the sides of Nimitz Viaduct

3. Oahu Railway restoration – Nanakuli

to Airport (40 ft ROW for light rail)

Light Rail Projects

Ten Real Solutions (2014 update)

IMMEDIATE (1 to 4 years)

1. Pearl Harbor ferry 2. Nimitz Viaduct

(~20% of HOT Lanes) 3. Underpasses 4. Traffic signal optimiz. 5. Aloha Stadium express 6. College express

LONGER TERM (5 to 12 years)

1. Added (new) and contraflow lanes

2. Alexander to Pali tunnel 3. Pearl Harbor tunnel 4. Express connector:

Lagoon Drive to Nimitz Viaduct

Sample Solutions …

(1) Middle St. Merge Fix

2001 computer simulation representation of

widened Middle Street merge and EB H-1

Freeway.

It was constructed and opened to traffic in

June 2014.

(2) Pearl Harbor Ferry

Waiting to get on the Pearl Harbor Ferry

5.5 miles, 6 min.

½ to 1 mile tunnel

(3) Pearl Harbor Tunnel Route

Monitor-Merrimac

Memorial Bridge-

Tunnel (I-664),

looking north,

Newport News, VA

Scenario Mode of Transportation Time (minutes)% Improvement from

existing

Car on Ferry,

Lagoon Dr., Nimitz36.6 -44%

Car on H-1, Nimitz 62.9 -3%

Car through tunnel,

Lagoon Dr., Nimitz Viaduct10.6 -84%

Car on H-1, Nimitz 40.3 -38%

Ferry

Tunnel

Existing conditions

(Ewa to downtown)Car on H-1, Nimitz 65.0

none;

this is the base case

Ewa to Aloha Tower, Alakea Street

2014 “PRICE POINT” PORT OF MIAMI TUNNEL

The Port of Miami Tunnel is a major construction project in Miami, FL with a final cost of under $1.1 billion. The project includes a 3/4 mile (1.1 km) long split portal automotive traffic tunnel. The project was temporarily cancelled in late 2008 due to the financial crisis but was resumed in 2009, with construction commencing in May, 2010, and the tunnel opened in May 2014. A private consortium called Miami Access Tunnel LLC, now MAT Concessionaire LLC, is in charge of designing, building, operating and financing the project.

• Length: 0.75 miles (1.21 km) • Number of lanes: 2 in each direction • Highest elevation: Sea level • Lowest elevation: −120 ft. • Width: 43 ft. per tunnel

Abu Dhabi

Seoul

DuPont Circle

Kapiolani – Date – Kamoku

(4) Underpasses

Pali and Vineyard now

Pali and Vineyard underpass

(5) Nimitz Viaduct: 3 lanes, 1 Lane off @ Waikamilo

(6) Traffic Signal Optimization

A 5 second reduction in

the average stopped

time results in:

• 7,000,000 gallons of

fuel reduction per year

• equal to removal of

14,000 cars from traffic

• Much quicker trips

(7) College Express

Minneapolis-Saint Paul, MN: BOSS Miles = ~290

(8) BOSS… Bus On Shoulder System (MN, NJ, NC, Canada)

Honolulu: Aloha Stadium Express BOSS Miles = ~10

Aloha Stadium Loop: 16 miles, 10 stops, 30-36 min.

Aloha Stadium Express From Aloha Stadium parking To Moanalua Fwy Exits at King St, onto a

dedicated lane on King St Turns on Maunakea St Turns on Hotel St Return via Alakea St and

Vineyard Blvd Onto H-1, Moanalua Fwy To Aloha Stadium

(9) Added and Contraflow Lanes

New Paris A86 tunnel under

Versailles (2 meter limit)

Also considered for Los Angeles

(10) Pali to UH Tunnels

Secret Scenario 2: Medium Express Tunnel

Two lanes per direction, ~2 miles

Access at Bingham St., Alexander St., Pali Hwy., Vineyard Blvd., University Ave.

Note: tunnel, transition and surface link

Part 3

What’s the Next Big Change

for Transportation?

Or maybe not…

What’s the business model?

• An early driverless feature will be auto-

parking

• Cars will park 2” apart instead of 2’ apart

• UH parking structure capacity can

increase from 5,000 to 6,000

• $5,000 more weekday revenue for UH!

Why own more than one car?

• Need a ride? Use an app and order a

driverless car or taxi pod

• Cost to user under 50¢ a mile

• Average cost to own a car is well over

70¢ per mile

• A car is large investment that for most

people sits parked 22+ hours a day

Much lower car ownership means…

• Much lower need for parking lots were

cars sit while the owner works, shops,

exercises…

• Frees up parking lanes

• Frees up large parcels for re-development

• More space for people in increasingly

crowded cities

What about traffic congestion?

• If we could have automated cars overnight,

congestion would disappear overnight

• They have no perception and reaction losses

• They drive at uniform speeds

• The drive close to each other

• All 2-lane roads can become 3-lane roads

• 2x Capacity per lane

• 3x Capacity at signalized intersections

https://vimeo.com/37751380

Sold! Not that easy…

Problematic transition period

Technology issues – performance

Technology issues – safety

Perception issues

Union issues

Legal issues

Politics

?

Near term vehicle automations

• Ubiquitous autopilot for low-speed smooth

flow … enhanced adaptive cruise control

• Ubiquitous auto parking function

• Driverless long haul trucking, with drivers

for “first and last mile”

• Driverless BRT for trunk city routes

• Ubiquitous driverless pods on campuses,

airports, national parks, etc.

PAU

Panos D. Prevedouros, PhD pdp@hawaii.edu