STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2224

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2470

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Transportation and Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 2470 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Require the installation of leading pedestrian intervals, accessible pedestrian signals, and other safety improvements, as necessary, at state-owned or operated pedestrian signal heads;

(2) Require the Department of Transportation, in coordination with the counties, to develop a program that allows pedestrians and community members to request the installation of accessible pedestrian signals at specific intersections; and

(3) Appropriate funds.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Transportation, Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center for Law and Economic Justice, Hawaii Association of the Blind, Hawaii Disability Rights Center, Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization, Hawaiʻi Bicycling League, and thirteen individuals.

Your Committees find that according to the Department of Transportation's Vulnerable Road User Safety Assessment, more than half of all pedestrian crashes occur at intersections, making signalized intersections among the most dangerous places for pedestrians in the State. Leading pedestrian intervals provide pedestrians a brief head start before vehicles are given the green light, allowing them to establish visibility in the crosswalk and reduce conflicts with turning traffic. Your Committees further find that installing accessible pedestrian signals to accommodate blind pedestrians is an essential component of pedestrian safety and will ensure that all pedestrians may safely cross the street. This measure will reduce traffic fatalities and make the State's roadways safer and more walkable.

Your Committees note the concern raised by the Department of Transportation that requiring automatic installation of leading pedestrian intervals and accessible pedestrian signals at twenty-five intersections on an annual basis may lead to suboptimal outcomes without evaluation as not each intersection requires or benefits equally from the installation of a leading pedestrian interval or accessible pedestrian signal. Therefore, amendments to the measure are necessary to address this concern.

Accordingly, your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting language that would have required the Department of Transportation to install a leading pedestrian interval and an accessible pedestrian signal at state-owned or operated pedestrian signal heads upon first placement or replacement;

(2) Inserting language to enable the Department of Transportation to evaluate an intersection for the installation of a leading pedestrian interval and an accessible pedestrian signal at a state-owned or operated pedestrian signal head based on specific data-driven criteria upon first placement or replacement;

(3) Deleting language that would have required the Department of Transportation to install a leading pedestrian interval at a certain number of intersections on an annual basis, with priority given to intersections with high collision rates or adjacent to schools;

(4) Requiring the Department of Transportation to evaluate a certain number of existing intersections with a pedestrian signal head for the potential installation of leading pedestrian intervals on an annual basis until each intersection with a pedestrian signal head that shows a pedestrian crash within the last five years has been evaluated;

(5) Deleting language that would have required the installation of a leading pedestrian interval at certain state-owned or operated signal heads under certain conditions;

(6) Deleting language that would have defined "intersections with high collision rates";

(7) Clarifying that the funds appropriated shall be expended by the Department of Transportation to evaluate intersections for the potential installation of state-owned or operated pedestrian signal heads with leading pedestrian intervals and accessible pedestrian signals upon first placement or replacement;

(8) Amending section 1 to reflect its amended purpose; and

(9) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Transportation and Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2470, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2470, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Transportation and Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs,

________________________________ GLENN WAKAI, Chair

________________________________ LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair