Starting early next year a fleet of state-owned tow trucks will roam H-1 and Moanalua freeways during rush hour and offer free help to drivers in distress.

Freeway Service Patrol, a $3.9 million pilot program designed to reduce traffic delays, will fix flat tires, put gas in empty tanks, move stalled vehicles and provide other services.

Six of the custom-built trucks will operate 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, with a seventh in reserve, said Harvey Heaton, O'ahu project manager for Telvent Farradyne Inc., an international information technology company that will oversee the patrol.

"We'd like to have it ready to go by February," Heaton said. "The delay is just getting the trucks built and to O'ahu, but this program has proven in other metro areas it pays for itself several times over.

"By having tow drivers roaming the roads at peak times you minimize the impact stalls and accidents have on the motoring public. Research has shown 70 percent of the time our drivers come upon accidents and stalls faster than (emergency) dispatch gets called."

Telvent will hire 12 to 14 drivers who will be be trained in towing procedures, service policies, and how to work with and contact the ambulance, fire and police departments.

Richard Oshiro, chairman of the Waipahu Neighborhood Board, said the board hears a lot of complaints about how much time stalled vehicles cost all the other commuters.

"It already takes about an hour or an hour and a half to get into town during rush hour with no stalls," Oshiro said. "When there is a stall or accident it easily takes over two hours. That happens frequently.

"Anything that can help with traffic congestion is great, particularly since they changed the Zipper Lane rules to three people in the vehicle, instead of two, earlier this year."

Federal funds will cover 90 percent of the patrol's cost and the state will cover the rest, said Brennon Morioka, director of the state Transportation Department.

The state currently has a two-year contract with Telvent with two one-year options held by the state. After that, overseeing the program will be put up for bids again.

"As long as it is successful we're going to continue to fund the program," Morioka said.

COMMUTE REDUCED

Similar services have helped reduce commuter times in metro areas in Northern Virginia, Missouri, Florida, California and elsewhere across the Mainland, Morioka and Heaton each said.

Los Angeles County has been using roaming tow trucks since 1991 to alleviate traffic congestion. It started with 114 tow trucks covering a little more than 400 miles of highway. Today, it uses 151 tow trucks for 470 miles on a $22 million annual budget.

"It's a great program," said John Takahashi, the Metro Freeway Service Patrol Manager in Los Angeles since 2001. "The average response time to a breakdown is five minutes with roving tow trucks. It's mostly quick fixes. It keeps traffic flowing."

"People may have a hard time believing it, but this really is a free service for drivers and you're not going to be billed later for getting help," Morioka said. "This is going to be a tremendous savings to everyone. Not only for those who use the service, but to those who are on the road."

Morioka said studies have showed that for every minute a vehicle is stalled on the road, commuters on that road will spend an extra 10 minutes in traffic. Stalled vehicles will be towed to a safe spot not blocking traffic; the drivers will have to arrange for another tow to a mechanic or fix the car themselves.

In 2005, the state had tried to start a similar project but was blocked by a tow company that had a contract with the state and filed a lawsuit, Morioka said. That contract has since run out and the company eventually dropped its appeal, Morioka said.

If the original program works, he said, it could be expanded.

Richard Poirer, chairman of the Mililani Neighborhood Board said, said anything that relieves congestion is a blessing.

"It's very practical," he said. "If it works, people won't notice it, traffic will just flow."