Honolulu Committee on Infrastructure, Transportation, and Technology Meeting - February 4, 2026
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
Committee on Infrastructure, Transportation, and Technology Meeting - February 4, 2026
The committee met on February 4, 2026, at 9:03 AM, chaired by Councilmember Cordero, with Vice Chair Okamoto, Councilmembers DeSantis Tam, Wire, and Tipola (online). The meeting was conducted remotely. The agenda included two bills and an informational briefing on multimodal transit ridership.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Donald Sakamoto, a blind resident and member of the Kaniwai Neighborhood Board, testified on all items, urging that websites and rail construction be accessible to people with disabilities, referencing a DOJ mandate by April 24, 2026.
- Panameyatonga (Operating Engineers Local 3) and Mark Anthony Clemente (Hawaii Regional Council of Carpenters) testified in support of Bill 60 CD2.
Discussion Items
- Bill 12 (2026) – Sewage Drainage and Cesspool GIS: Introduced by Councilmembers Tipola and Waters to require public online access to sewage infrastructure data via GIS. Administration (Director Roger Babcock of ENV and Randall Wakumoto of DFM) noted some data exists but is scattered; they expressed concerns about accuracy, liability, and resources. Councilmember DeSantis Tam questioned the cost. Councilmember Tipola offered to work with departments to align with existing timelines. The bill was reported out for a second reading and public hearing.
- Bill 60 (2025) CD2 – HART Extensions: Deputy Director Mike O'Keefe supported the CD2, which authorizes HART to build extensions beyond the minimum operable segment, adhering to the locally preferred alternative. Councilmember Wire asked about the process for extensions to Central Oahu; O'Keefe described ongoing studies, park-and-ride expansions, and a bus-only ramp. The bill was amended to CD2 and reported out for third reading.
- Informational Briefing – Multimodal Transit Ridership Update: Director of Transit John Uchi and new Deputy Director Hong Li presented. Key statistics: 480 buses on 117 routes, 4,723 service hours daily, 64,000 miles, ~130,000 daily passengers. Skyline rail: 12 trains, 10-min frequency, 16 miles, 13 stations, ~12,000 daily riders. Skyline now ranks first among routes. Combined Skyline and connecting rapid bus lines (A, U, W) carry 20,000 riders/day (15% of system). Ridership grew from 3,000–3,500 to 12,000 after the second segment opened. Councilmember Okimoto asked about modal shift; Uchi noted evidence of new riders (e.g., park-and-ride at UH West Oahu is full). Councilmember DeSantis Tam asked about the W line; it carries 5,500/day (down from 7,000 on former Route 20) but is growing. Plans include overnight airport service via Routes 40, 42, and 51. Councilmember Tipola praised the service. No action taken.
Key Outcomes
- Bill 12 (2026) was reported out for a second reading and public hearing. A committee draft is expected.
- Bill 60 (2025) CD1 was amended to CD2 (OCS 2026-0005) and reported out for third reading.
- The informational briefing was received; no vote taken.
Meeting Transcript
Will the committee um good morning. Will the committee on infrastructure, transportation, and technology please come to order? It is February 4, twenty February 4, 9 uh 2026 at 9.03 AM. Uh, I would like to welcome committee vice chair Okamoto and committee members dosantos Tam and Wire, and we also have Council Member Tipola who's present um online. And pursuant to Section 92-3.7, the Havai Revised Statutes, this meeting will be conducted as a remote meeting by interactive conference technology with the following procedures in effect for the meeting. Members of the public will be allowed to provide oral testimony on all items on the agenda on the agenda through two ways, remotely and in person in the council chamber. Remote and in-person oral testimony will then be allowed when the agenda item is taken up. As both English and Hawaiian are official languages of the state of Hawaii, pursuant to Article 15, section four of the Hawaii State's Constitution, HRS section one-thirteen members of the public may testify in either language. For oral testimonies offered in Olalo Hawaii, additional time that's may be necessary, will be allowed for the testifier to provide an English translation of their test testimony. Before testifying, each person shall state their name. For those who are joining us by telephone only, please press star nine to indicate your desire to speak. I'll identify you by the last three digits of your phone number. Uh when your phone number is called, please press star six to unmute yourself when prompted. When the timer on the screen reaches zero, please conclude your remarks promptly. Once all the remote testifiers have testified, I will proceed to in-person testimony in the council chamber. Persons have not registered will be given opportunity to speak given following the oral testimonies of the registered speakers. For those council members participating from outside of the council chamber, in accordance with HRS section nine, um HR section 12-3.7, the meeting will automatically recess if we lose audiovisual contact with you and cannot reconvene until we re-establish contact. Therefore, uh please announce beforehand if you will be voluntarily signing out of the meeting. Written testimonies, including the testifier's address, email address, and phone number will be available to the public as described on the posted agenda. And as a courtesy, please turn off all cell phones. And also for council member Tipola, may I please ask um I please ask that you identify each person who is with you at your location. Hi, aloha chair and committee members. I'm here alone. Thank you, Councilmember. Okay, next we will move on to agenda item number two one, not two, one. Uh it is Bill 12 2026, which requires certain information relating to sewage drainage and cessballs to be made available on a publicly accessible website utilizing the city's geographic information system or GIS. Um and this was introduced by um our committee member councilmember Tipula as well as um Chair Waters uh who uh welcome to the to the chambers now. Um but I do want to allow for the introducers of the bill to take this up for bill 12. Um so I don't know if either council chairwaters or councilmember to Polo want to discuss Bill 12 2026 first. Okay. I'll defer to Chair Waters. I can defer to Chair Waters. Go ahead. Okay. Thank you. I was about to defer to you, but um basically it would help people uh both in the commercial realm and residential to know what's uh available as far as inf infrastructure is concerned so that they can plan accordingly. Thank you. Thank you. Councilmember Tipola, any further discussion? No, I think Chair Waters and I are just interested in transparency. It's something that we have to answer to during budget season and of course when people get charged. So I do believe that especially with the current conversations we've had about infrastructure, that it is going to be a good measure that helps us to proactively get in front of that and then hopefully you know increase even people's interest in doing housing with us because there's always concern about whether or not there is capacity. So thank you very much, Cher Waters, for allowing me to sponsor this with you. Thank you, Chair. Thank you. Um next, we do have the administration um either uh Randall Bakamoto from Stormwater Quality the Stormwater Quality Administrator from Department of Facility Maintenance, or uh we have the Department of Environmental Services Director, uh Dr. Roger Babcock. Good morning. Good morning, Chair Chair Waters, Chair uh Cordero, Vice Chair Okamoto, Committee members, Roger Gabcock, Director of Department of Environmental Services, and uh we'll let Randall introduce himself too when he when he comes up. Um there's uh I you know I guess we're happy to answer any questions about about this uh about the bill.
openpublica.com