Traffic problems
merit incisive reviewThe issue: Senate committees
have voted to repeal the law authorizing
speed-camera vans.THREE state Senate committees reflected the public's outrage in approving the repeal of the traffic-camera program. Legislators failed to see the program's flaws when they authorized it a year ago and obviously are prepared to end it. The experience should prompt an examination of Oahu's traffic congestion before approval of more corrective measures.
The Senate Transportation Committee's endorsement of a nonbinding moratorium and all three committees' unanimous approval of the repeal await further legislative action. However, the legislators' sentiment, like that of most motorists, is loud and clear.
The program's flaws include its payment to the contractor by the volume of tickets issued instead of a flat fee, the placement of camera-equipped vans that seemed to create speed traps, the departure from police practices in deciding the speed at which tickets should be issued, the legal issues that are to be debated in court, and whether the state Department of Transportation was the proper agency to administer it.
Sen. Ron Menor's compromise to examine those questions during a one-year moratorium was voted down, as was a moratorium proposed by Sen. Cal Kawamoto, the Transportation Committee chairman, to await resolution of the legal issues. Anything less than outright repeal would be unacceptable, the senators decided.
Brian Minaai, the state transportation director, told senators that repealing the program would cost the state more than $1 million. Marilyn Kali, the program manager, told the Star-Bulletin last month that the per-ticket fees were preferred to the flat fee for the contractor as a cost-saving measure in case the experiment would be only temporary. Judges have ruled that the per-ticket fee is unfair, causing the halt of traffic-camera programs operated by the same company in San Diego and Denver.
Sen. Colleen Hanabusa, who introduced the repeal bill, proposed that legislators examine the costs in a manner similar to that taken by a committee, which she co-chaired, that investigated the expenditure of state funds for special education. Such an investigation is warranted.
Traffic cameras have been effective in many jurisdictions. However, the technology is likely to generate opposition except where it is absorbed into existing police operations, operated consistently in enforcing speed limits and placed under police control. None of those applications were present in the legislation that resulted in the current road rage.
Gas prices remain
a point to scrutinizeThe issue: The Legislature
is sorting through proposals to
regulate the price of gasoline.
The numerous bills before the state Legislature attest to the public's concern about high gasoline prices in Hawaii. Whether any of the measures will emerge as law is uncertain, but until information from the state's price-fixing lawsuit is revealed, legislators should keep the issue alive.The state last month agreed to end a suit alleging that oil companies had conspired to set artificially high gasoline prices in Hawaii. Details of the settlement have not been disclosed, although sources have told the Star-Bulletin that the state will receive $20 million, or about 1 percent of the $2 billion the state had sought.
Most documents filed in the suit have been sealed, with the oil companies contending they contained competitive financial information. U.S. District Judge Samuel King in November had ordered that the companies make some of the material public because much of the case rested on the profits the companies earned. Before this was done, the case was settled.
It appears that with the settlement, at least some of the information will be made public, although the companies probably will be allowed to delete proprietary matter. The filings are crucial because they may contain data from experts who could help lawmakers understand how the oil companies operated and what their costs were in relation to the prices customers were charged. The information could outline how the state could ensure that the oil companies were pricing gasoline fairly.
Hawaii has been a profitable market. Chevron, for example, sold only 3 percent of its national gasoline volume in Hawaii last year, yet 23 percent of its U.S. profits were generated here.
A bill initially approved by House committees would tie wholesale gasoline prices to a percentage of crude oil costs. Other measures would give the Public Utilities Commission jurisdiction over pricing, require wholesalers to report earnings and losses to the attorney general or have the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism track oil supply and prices.
As expected, the oil industry opposes regulation, saying prices in Hawaii should be left to the marketplace. DBEDT and the PUC supported the industry position, contending that such controls could cause problems.
Price caps and government regulation may be difficult to establish and may be intrusive. However, until lawmakers see the details of the suit's settlement and review information from court documents, they should keep their options open. This will serve notice on the oil companies that someone is looking over their shoulders.
Published by Oahu Publications Inc., a subsidiary of Black Press.Don Kendall, Publisher
Frank Bridgewater, managing editor 529-4791; fbridgewater@starbulletin.com
Michael Rovner, assistant managing editor 529-4768; mrovner@starbulletin.com
Lucy Young-Oda, assistant managing editor 529-4762; lyoungoda@starbulletin.comRichard Halloran, editorial page director, 529-4790; rhalloran@starbulletin.com
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