STAND. COM. REP. NO. 277

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 517

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts, to which was referred S.B. No. 517 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO MOTORCYCLES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Authorize operators of motorcycles to utilize lane shoulders that are at least three-feet-wide with the concurrent use of emergency flashers; and

(2) Require the Department of Transportation to create and implement traffic control devices to designate lane shoulders for motorcycle use during peak traffic hours.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from Street Bikers United and one individual. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of Transportation, Department of Transportation Services of the City and County of Honolulu, and Hawaii Bicycling League. Your Committee received comments on this measure from one individual.

Your Committee finds that the shoulder lane is utilized to accommodate a variety of roadway users, including stopped vehicles and emergencies; and on arterial roadways, bicyclists and pedestrians. In addition, other forms of multimodal transportation operating on time deadlines such as fixed route bus service, vanpools, and paratransit services for individuals with disabilities also utilize the shoulder lanes. While authorizing motorcycles to travel in the shoulder lane may alleviate traffic for riders, safety of all roadway users is of paramount importance.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying that motorcycles are entitled to full use of the shoulder on interstate highways as authorized by the Department of Transportation;

(2) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

(3) Making a technical, nonsubstantive amendment for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 517, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 517, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committees on Judiciary and Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Transportation and Culture and the Arts,

________________________________

CHRIS LEE, Chair