Ho’opili will force traffic to forefront

The City Council seems poised this week to approve the long-debated and, for some, long-awaited Ho‘opili development. Although many mourn and overtly protest the loss of agricultural lands at the threshold of Kapolei, those who are eagerly anticipating it are residents hoping these workforce-priced homes will be within their budget.

In general, the addition of 11,750 homes to the Oahu inventory is needed, filling a deep supply deficit in the housing market. But the fact remains that such a large influx of population near the nexus of two major freeways on the Ewa-Honolulu is going to have an impact on the commuter traffic jam in that zone, and it won’t be a beneficial change.

That project and the Koa Ridge development toward Central Oahu have brought this county to a decision point about how it manages its transportation needs.

For communities on the west side, the 20-mile rail route that starts in East Kapolei should help with the burden of shuttling people to town and back.

But that’s not the only means at the disposal of officials — particularly considering that many of the people on the road work for the government.

The figures have wavered a bit in recent years, but Gallup polls and other measures of the workforce have shown nearly a third of Hawaii’s labor force as public employees. That’s enough to place the state in the top three in the nation for government employment, right up there with the District of Columbia and Alaska.

This means that city, state and federal agency managers own a piece of the challenge to deploy their workforces in ways less burdensome on the island’s already overtaxed network of highways.

Moving to "flex time" arrangements, in which employees may work an unconventional schedule that avoids the heaviest traffic periods, would be complicated by collective bargaining agreements, of course.

But that’s all the more reason why the conversation should begin on ways to expand scheduling options for government workers.

Among the complications: It’s not appropriate for all jobs, some of which depend on employees working business hours to deliver services when the public needs them.

Administrators would need clear lines defining which positions will or won’t have off-peak hours so it’s viewed more as a condition of the job rather than a reward.

<*h"No Hyphenation">Transitioning to a four-day work week for some positions would make sense, too. The roughly 40-hour work week condensed into 10-hour shifts could potentially reduce the traffic load.

Finally, agencies should consider plans to expand their office capacity in the "second city" rather than continue their Honolulu-centered orientation.

The initiative this past legislative session to purchase a downtown office building for state employees, whatever one thinks of the $90 million expenditure itself, clearly represents the wrong direction for a state government that should be expanding its Kapolei presence instead.

Ho‘opili developers D.R. Horton Schuler Division take the approach that the community’s contribution to the traffic solution lies in the design of the project itself.

They point to the mixed-use zones where sole proprietors can set up their business space adjacent to their home, negating the need to commute at all.

Company executives also have said the street design accommodating buses and bikeways, and the clustering of homes near the rail line, are steps meant to ease the use of mass transit. Further, there are plans for traffic improvements such as additional H-1 freeway lanes, bankrolled by Horton.

All of these measures are reasonable as supply-side solutions, meant to boost the ability of the transportation system to do its job. But there’s no escaping the fact that demand-side reductions, actual curbs on the numbers of people needing to hit the road at peak hours, also will be essential for maintaining some level of sanity for commuters.

The private sector should be engaged in the process, too. Many employers should find that allowing for employee flexibility through telecommuting or shifted work hours is a perk in demand among the best staff prospects.

Recent Kapolei job fairs have attracted people interested in living and working in the same community, staying off those congested freeways whenever possible.

The marketing focus in Ho‘opili is on the midsection of the income scale, with the required 3,525 "affordable" units priced for those households earning no more than 120 percent of area median income, just under $100,000 for a family of four. And about 1,175 homes, must be for those at 80 percent AMI, including 235 rentals.

Those are good numbers, housing Oahu distinctly needs. But without every tool in the toolbox employed to address the morning and afternoon commute, including changes in work schedules for public and private employees, the added traffic will create a truly bleak reality on the road.