FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                    
November 14, 2007

Release No. M-125-07

MAYOR APPOINTS WAYNE YOSHIOKA

AS TRANSPORTATION CHIEF

            Mayor Mufi Hannemann today announced the appointment of Wayne Y. Yoshioka as director of the Department of Transportation Services, effective December 1.

            Yoshioka is manager of transportation planning and traffic engineering and a senior supervising transportation engineer for PB Americas, Inc., the multinational engineering firm.

            Mayor Hannemann said, “I’m thrilled that Wayne Yoshioka has accepted this very demanding and difficult responsibility.  With nearly 30 years of professional engineering experience in all phases of traffic engineering and transportation planning, design, and construction, he’ll bring the requisite capabilities we need as we move into the planning and design phase of our fixed-guideway system, expand our multimodal transportation network, and make improvements to our streets and traffic management.”

            “Wayne is well-qualified to take over the reins from Melvin Kaku, who’s brought us this far during his tenure, and who has developed a solid record of accomplishment as director.”

            Kaku becomes director of the Department of Emergency Management on December 1.

            Yoshioka, an Iolani School alumnus, earned his civil engineering degree from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.  He has more than 29 years of work experience in project management and technical analyses of major transportation and engineering projects in Hawaii, Colorado, and California.  He is a Professional Engineer.

            While with PB, he contributed to the updating of the Oahu Regional Transportation Plan for the Oahu Metropolitan Planning Organization; designed traffic signal improvements for major intersections; analyzed parking demand and planned parking garages at Honolulu International Airport and Ala Moana Center; and worked on numerous traffic management, road capacity, high-occupancy vehicle, sub-area plan, and airport planning projects for state and local governments and private developers.

            Yoshioka was involved in the recently concluded Honolulu High Capacity Transit Corridor Alternatives Analysis, the analysis that led to the City’s adoption of the fixed guideway as the best alternative to meet Oahu’s long-term transportation needs.  He was also involved in the Primary Corridor Transportation Study, the project that examined alternative transit improvements for the Kapolei-to-Kahala corridor, and planning for the Pearl City bus facility.

            He is a guest lecturer on transportation and civil engineering at the University of Hawaii College of Engineering and a class mentor for senior engineering design courses.

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Contact:

Bill Brennan, 527-6928