CA-HI Transportation Symposium:
When An Idea Becomes Reality

Although California and Hawai’i are both part of US DOT Region IX, opportunities for the two states to collaborate are relatively few. They don’t share a border like Arizona and Nevada, but they do have a lot in common. For instance, people flock to both states from all over the world, while communities balance the impacts of additional traffic with a desire to enrich local economies. Shared themes like this, in wildly different contexts, allow us to learn from the processes and solutions explored in other parts of the country. When Stuart Mori of DRISI mentioned a desire to work with his home state of Hawai’i, the partnership with the Pacific Southwest Region University Transportation Center presented a great way to connect with the University of Hawai’i at Manoa (UH) and Hawai’i DOT and pitch the idea of partnering on a conference. With support from his supervisor Tyler Monson and Heather Oneto of the DRISI communications team, Stuart got to work developing the first annual California Hawai’i Transportation Symposium.

After a year of discussions and about four months of focused planning, DRISI and UH put on a virtual symposium on March 23rd, 2022 for over 419 people from California, Hawai’i and beyond. DRISI Division Chief Dara Wheeler opened the Symposium, followed by Ed Sniffen, Deputy Director of Hawai’i Department of Transportation, who presented on Hawai’i’s Transportation system. Attendees selected between four sessions with the following themes: freight partnerships, sustainable tourism, transit and technology, and climate change and emergency preparedness.

Deputy Director for Planning and Modal Programs, Jeanie Ward-Waller, closed the symposium by leading a Q&A session with members of Caltrans and CalSTA executive management. The event featured a lot of information, but most importantly, presented a different perspective on emerging issues and established new contacts across state lines.

In case you missed the Symposium, recordings and other information can be found on this website.