Residents
of
Hawai`i
Island
pay
some
of
the
highest
rates
for
electricity
and
petroleum
products
among
residents
of
the
United
States.
Moreover,
the
islands
of
the
Hawaiian
archipelago
rely
almost
entirely
on
imported
petroleum
fuels
for
both
transportation
and
energy
generation.
Though
Hawai`i
Island
has
integrated
more
renewable
energy
onto
its
electrical
grid
than
anywhere
else
in
the
U.S.,
the
reliance
on
fossil
fuel
remains
high
because
more
than
half
the
energy
demand
of
the
island
can
be
attributed
to
transportation.
Traditionally
mass
transit
systems
can
be
used
to
increase
energy
efficiency,
as
well
as
energy
sustainability
of
a
transportation
system;
as
a
result
the
University
of
Michigan
team
was
engaged
by
The
Kohala
Center
to
examine
and
analyze
the
public
transit
system
of
Hawai`i
Island
for
potential
improvements.
The
primary
objective
of
the
project
is
to
develop
a
set
of
recommendations
for
the
County
of
Hawai`i
focused
on
high-­‐impact
solutions
to
reduce
fossil
fuel
use
in
the
island’s
ground
transportation
system,
while
improving
accessibility
and
lowering
travel
times
for
commuters.
Our
team
completed
initial
research
to
gain
a
background
on
Hawai`i
and
its
energy
and
transit
challenges,
completed
data
collection
and
analysis
through
a
research
trip
to
Hawai`i,
and
designed
a
set
of
recommendations
for
optimizing
the
current
system,
as
well
as
potential
alternatives
that
include
the
establishment
of
carpooling
and
ride-­‐sharing
networks
that
would
employ
new
business
models
to
help
solve
some
additional
transit
issues.