The following testimony was submitted by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii for consideration by the Honolulu City Council’s Committee on Transportation on June 25, 2024.
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June 25, 2024, 2:30 p.m.
Honolulu Hale
To: Honolulu City Council’s Committee on Transportation
Tyler Dos Santos-Tam, Chair
Radiant Cordero, Vice Chair
From: Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
Ted Kefalas, Director of Strategic Campaigns
RE: Bill 9 (2024) — RELATING TO TRANSPORTATION
Aloha Chair Dos Santos-Tam, Vice-Chair Cordero and other members of the Committee,
The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii would like to offer its support for Bill 9 (2024), which would repeal sections of the Revised Ordinances of Honolulu relating to rental cars and tour vehicles.
Regarding rental cars, Article 2 of Section 36 the revised ordinances concerns issuing licenses to U-drive vehicles. However, as Bill 9 notes, the state Legislature in 1988 put the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs in charge of regulating businesses that lease or rent motor vehicles for periods of six months or less, including U-drive vehicles, so Article 2 is no longer relevant.
Regarding tour vehicles, Article 3 of Section 36, was enacted in 1937 to set maximum rates for certain touring automobile services, but, also as Bill 9 notes, this article has likely been preempted by state law regulating tour companies operating on public highways, and it is no longer being enforced by the city anyway.
Grassroot welcomes this move to repeal both of these articles, and hopes enacting Bill 9 will be the first step toward removing more outdated parts of the city code.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify.
Ted Kefalas
Director of Strategic Campaigns
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
