"No way. I do not and will never support it," said John Hackney of Kailua, echoing the sentiments of many islandwide after the committees in both the state House and Senate passed legislation that would allow counties to raise taxes for transportation projects.

Others, especially those who live in Central and Leeward O'ahu, hope that despite the opposition this may finally be the decade a transit project gets up and running.

"Building a rail system is long overdue and the longer we delay it, the more it's going to cost the taxpayers," said Harrison Lee of Kane'ohe.

So is there agreement?

"I think we've got a consensus this time around that we need it and we can make it go," said Sen. Will Espero, D-20th ('Ewa Beach, Waipahu), who supports plans to build a rail line linking the 'Ewa/Kapolei area to urban Honolulu.

But that's far from a sure thing.

Although 55 percent of the public in a recent poll said they would be willing to pay more in taxes for public transit, Mayor Mufi Hannemann said it's necessary and City Council Transportation Chairman Nestor Garcia believes at least seven of the nine council members will vote for a rail tax increase, the devil will be in the details and a long public debate that's just heating up. The poll was commissioned by the O'ahu Metropolitan Planning Organization.

Transportation planners say voters often support transit projects but change their minds when they find out specifics, especially if it won't help them directly.

Honolulu officials have not settled on any specific mass-transit plan, but attention has been focused on a proposal generated by a governor's task force last year to build a $2.6 billion rail line running from Kapolei to Iwilei.

That left many residents outside of the proposed rail corridor, even those who support mass transit, unhappy or downright angry when lawmakers suggested they would have to pay for it.

Some residents said the route needs to be extended through town or to Hawai'i Kai. Some thought the city needs to consider alternatives — more highways, buses, better urban planning or even personal transportation devices. Others felt transit was OK, but questioned if raising the state general excise tax is the best way to pay for it.

"Debate is good," Garcia said. "Anything that keeps the issue out in the open and moving forward is good."

In the past, though, those widely divergent opinions and changing economic and political priorities have helped kill the city's transit proposals before they could be built:

• In 1982, the city abruptly ended more than five years and $6 million in planning for a billion-dollar fixed-rail commuter system when Eileen Anderson replaced Fasi as mayor and raised questions about projected ridership for the system.

• 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 half-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.

• And this year, Hannemann killed an already watered-down $800 million Bus Rapid Transit system that was nearly six years in the making during the administration of former Mayor Jeremy Harris.

Now, some people are wondering if the new rail proposal can have a more successful result, given the 10 years or more it will take to complete.

"What is the term? Deja vu all over again," said Kalani Valley resident Jack Stern, who thinks an islandwide system would be the key to winning taxpayer support. "What are the chances of getting approval when a mass of taxpayers are asked to pay for the discomfort of a minority of commuters? This is the situation we were in before, and unless we learn something new, we will be in for once again."

Others think that traffic is such a common problem today that there will be enough support for an initial rail leg that could ultimately be expanded islandwide.

"This is something that we aren't doing for just one community. It's something we're doing for the island for the next 100 years," Espero said.

U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, also thinks the right forces are coming together to complete a transit system.

"We are on the verge of a consensus," he said. "I've been greatly encouraged by the depth of support that I've encountered in numerous meetings with state and city officials over the last week. In a phrase, it's time to move."