Envious of Utah’s projection of huge savings by having most of the state’s employees work four 10-hour days a week, Gov. Linda Lingle tried the system for three months in 2008 with more than 100 state employees. An audit of the Utah effort now indicates its projections were overblown, but this shouldn’t discourage Hawaii from considering its own system to achieve modest savings and possible reduction of rush-hour traffic.

Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona oversaw the pilot program at the departments of Health and Human Resources Development. As the Republican nominee for governor, Aiona now says a four-day schedule for many state workers "would make a significant impact" in reducing traffic congestion and the cost of government.

The Lingle administration made no proposal for such a work schedule while the state tried to cut costs during the hard times following the pilot program.

Aiona says the pilot program resulted in energy savings of 6 percent at Human Resources offices at the State Office Tower and 13 percent at Health Department offices at the Kinau Hale Building. Most of the employees did not drive during the peak rush hours. It’s a promising start, and Hawaii should learn from Utah’s experience to improve its own program.

When Utah launched its permanent four-day workweeks in summer 2008 for 13,000 of its 17,000 employees, Republican Gov. Jon Huntsman hoped to reduce annual energy costs by $3 million by scheduling offices to be open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Thursday. Those electricity savings totaled only $502,000, according to a legislative audit completed in July.

The audit found that many state office buildings were only partially closed on Fridays and some had labs and other areas that required constant temperature control throughout the week. And the extra two hours of heating and cooling on the four workdays canceled out savings gained by closing small buildings on Friday.

The four-day workweek was expected to improve employee productivity, but the audit found little to back up statements by managers and employees. Instead, Utah’s auditor general found, "Anecdotal evidence indicates both gains and losses in employee productivity."

The audit doesn’t mention the effect on rush-hour traffic, but Aric Jensen, a planning director for the Salt Lake City suburb of Bountiful, wrote in the Salt Lake Tribune that the lengthy work day has been "a traffic demand management tool. … The state’s 10-hour work day helps take the ‘peak’ off of peak rush hour and completely eliminates commuter trips on Fridays."

In Hawaii, a 10-hour four-day workweek would require approval by public employee unions, which may not be as difficult as one might imagine.

A survey of Utah state employees who worked such shifts say they feel just as productive as before its launching and want to maintain the four-day workweek. So does the public in Utah.

While Utah’s experience hasn’t brought the promised, substantial cost-savings, there are some — at least a half-million dollars worth. Hawaii’s own pilot project also seems to have yielded some benefits.

Whether it’s worth pursuing is a practical question, but any credible hunt for innovation beyond business as usual should be encouraged and explored.

A permanent four-day work week is one such innovation. Hawaii’s next governor should consider such a change to improve efficiency and ease the load on taxpayers.