Seven out of 10 people reached in the September survey said a rail rapid transit line should be constructed as a long-term solution to the island's traffic problem. Of those, almost eight in 10 — which translates to 55 percent of all survey respondents — said they would support a tax increase if it were the only way to build the rail system.

"The most interesting thing was that even after past unsuccessful attempts to get rail off the ground, the public still generally supports it," said Gordon Lum, head of the O'ahu Metropolitan Planning Organization, which is beginning to develop a new regional transportation plan for the year 2030.

According to the survey results, O'ahu residents generally know just what they want: more and wider roads, a rail transit line and better bus service.

However, they aren't so sure about how to pay for them.

"The one thing that came through was that doing nothing is not an option," Lum said. Only 19 percent of the survey respondents answering a question about tax increases to pay for improvements said they "could live with congestion." On a question dealing with congestion alone, only 6 percent say they could continue to live with it.

The survey, based on telephone interviews with 401 residents in September, presents the most comprehensive look in at least five years about how the public feels about transportation, what it thinks should be done about it, and how willing it is to pay for improvements. The survey, conducted by Ward Research, has a margin of error of about 5 percentage points.

It comes at a time when traffic congestion tops the list of residents' concerns and Mayor-elect Mufi Hannemann has promised to make development of a new rail transit line serving the 'Ewa Plain a top priority.

The results will be used to help transportation planners determine what types of projects should be built and to help politicians decide how to pay for them, the bugaboo of previous rail efforts.

"Funding is one of the big issues that will have to be overcome if we're going to have another serious run at rail," Lum said. "This shows there's at least some support for new taxes."

When respondents were asked what was the best way to fix congestion problems if budgets are limited, 64 percent thought improving public transit was the most important thing planners could do; 33 percent favored building more roads.

The respondents were almost equally divided on whether they would accept a tax increase to pay for unspecified general improvements. Only 47 percent of the respondents said they would accept a general tax increase to improve transportation on O'ahu.

However, they were much more willing to support higher taxes for specific transportation programs such as widened roads (60 percent), a rapid rail line (57 percent) and improving bus service (54 percent).

"I'd support something new if I was sure the money was going to go specifically for transportation," said Pat Roberts, a Kailua resident waiting for a city bus in downtown Honolulu last week. "I just don't want it wasted on other things."

"I would probably pay more, as long as it's not too much," said 19-year-old Tamra Martin of Pauoa. "It would be especially nice if they had more late-night buses."

Survey planners included several questions about tax support to give policy-makers more information as the debate over paying for a rail transit system moves forward in the next few years, Lum said.

Finding popular and political support for funding a new rail transit proposal is particularly important in light of the three previous failures:

• In 1982, the city abruptly ended more than five years and $6 million in planning for a billion-dollar fixed rail commuter system when Mayor Frank Fasi was replaced by Eileen Anderson, who cited a lack of federal money for the project.

• In 1992, after Fasi was re-elected and spent years developing a proposal for a $1.7 billion light-rail system, the City Council refused, on a 5-4 vote, to approve a 0.5 percent increase in the state's excise tax on O'ahu that would have covered the local share of the project, causing more than $708 million in federal money earmarked for Honolulu to lapse.

• Most recently, Hannemann said he won't move forward on a planned $1 billion bus rapid transit system planned by Mayor Jeremy Harris, and the federal government refused to release money for the project. Instead, Hannemann said he'll start developing a new rail transit proposal.

That seems to be the path favored by many of those queried in the survey.

"There are way too many cars on the island, so I think it's a good thing to look for something else," said Matt Stevens, a 26-year-old Hawai'i Pacific University student who says he can't afford a car and rides the bus to school and work. "It's kind of easy to say, but I would support paying more for something that gets the cars off the road. That way everybody would get there faster."

There was little question about where the public thinks improvement should be made. Seventy-seven percent said transportation improvements should be focused on the 'Ewa-Central O'ahu area.

"They have to build more roads, and it has to be concentrated specifically from downtown to Kapolei," one survey respondent said. "They have to concentrate on the contra-flow lanes."

The survey also found that the public still supports bus rapid transit as a way to improve Honolulu's transportation system. Fifty-one percent said they would support a tax increase to pay for BRT.

Not surprisingly, responses varied greatly according to where people lived and whether they drove to work or rode a bus.

In general, drivers were far more interested in seeing road improvements, while bus riders favored new mass transit initiatives.

Sixty-four percent of those who regularly drive to work said they thought new and wider roads were the best use of new tax money. Only 48 percent of the drivers thought it should go to more buses. The figures were roughly reversed for those who primarily used the bus.

'Ewa and Leeward residents were the most supportive of tax increases to pay for new road construction. Urban Honolulu residents were the least willing to pay more for additional roads.

The strongest backing for a new rail transit system (77 percent) came from middle-income residents (those making between $35,000 and $75,000 annually). By comparison, 70 percent of those earning more than $75,000 annually backed a rail transit system and 66 percent of those earning $35,000 or less said yes.

The survey was part of OMPO's update of a federally mandated 25-year regional transportation plan. In addition to the survey, the group plans interviews with transportation stakeholders, regional and islandwide public hearings and another survey in 2005. The group hopes to have a plan for 2030, including a list of prioritized projects, approved by its policy committee by the end of 2005, Lum said.