Police Major Bryan Wauke said although state and city law do not allow the use of motorized scooters on public roadways and sidewalks, police have been unable to cite the users because there are no laws regulating the use of this type of vehicle.

"We feel that this bill gives us the authority to issue citations and respond to complaints from the community," he said.

Wauke said a national report indicates that injuries from motorized scooters are on the rise and in Hawai'i one or two collisions have resulted in serious injury.

The bill will go before the full council for public hearing at the Dec. 4 meeting.

Councilman Steve Holmes expressed concerns that the bill would ban the use of electric scooters, such as the Segway human transporter, and other electrically assisted vehicles that are "legitimate transportation modes."

Leilani Akana Ramsey, of Moanalua Valley, urged the committee to pass the bill. She said she has almost hit children on motorized scooters on three occasions and they have snickered at her when she tried to scold them about it.

"We have to do something about this because I don't want to have to come back and say I told you so," she testified.

In other matters, the committee passed a bill that would allow the Department of Transportation Services to issue free bus passes to city employees.

DTS Director Cheryl Soon said that 185 city employees pay for their bus passes through payroll deduction, which accounts for $60,000 in revenue each year. If an additional 20 percent of the 8,718 city employees opted to receive the passes, it would cost the city an additional $627,000, she said. "Just under $700,000 in revenues would be lost."