A push to have the City Council choose what type of vehicles should run on Honolulu's planned multibillion-dollar mass transit system remained stalled in its tracks yesterday after hours of far-ranging debate.

The council could decide in less than two weeks to hand the vital decision over to a panel of nationally recognized experts, as Mayor Mufi Hannemann has requested. But it remains undecided whether the experts should advise the council or make the final decision.

Meanwhile, recent free trips by council members to inspect a Japanese transit system and a Mainland manufacturing plant raised behind-the-scenes questions about the potential for influence peddling.

Those involved said they made the trips to become well-informed and make sure taxpayer money is spent effectively on the transit project.

A November trip by three council members to the Pittsburgh plant of Bombardier Transportation drew scrutiny this week because the $2,175 the company spent on their food and lodging was not disclosed and approved in advance as a gift to the city, as is normally required.

The company manufactures light-rail vehicles and buses, and is a potential supplier for the Honolulu project.

Council Transportation Chairman Nestor Garcia, who arranged the visit, said the timing of the trip had precluded prior approval, and that he had been unfamiliar with the details of such procedures.

He and members Todd Apo and Romy Cachola said they added the Pittsburgh visit to a taxpayer-funded trip they made to Miami Beach for a rail transit conference. The company invited them to visit because they would be nearby, Garcia said.

He said he decided to later seek approval of the gift, rather than spend more taxpayer money to cover it, because it's important to disclose such matters.

"I don't like not telling people what I'm doing, so I wanted to let it out there," he said. "I thought I was acting in the best interests of the city by going on a fact-finding trip, knowing I'm not going to be bought."

Garcia said he wanted the proposed expert panel to choose the vehicle technology for Honolulu, and not the council.

Apo and Cachola also said their decision-making would not be influenced by the fact that the company paid for their expenses in Pittsburgh.

"It was educational and helpful to the process," Apo said. "Even when I'm on a family vacation, I look at mass transit stuff."

Cachola said he is looking out for taxpayer interests when he accepts free trips.

"I look at what's best for the taxpayers, taking into consideration effectiveness, performance and cost, because ultimately taxpayers are the ones paying, and that applies to the transit system," he said.

But Councilman Charles Djou, who opposes the transit plan, said such trips should set off alarm bells because similar projects elsewhere have been plagued by bribery and corruption.

"The fact that Bombardier contacted specific members of the council comes really close to the line," Djou said. "I don't think any of my colleagues took bribes, but clearly the appearance of impropriety is there."

The $10,000 December trip to Japan by Garcia, Cachola and Councilman Rod Tam was paid for by the International Environmental Service and OM Science Corp.

The gift was disclosed and approved before the trip, and involved a tour of garbage treatment facilities and technology. But the three also were treated to a detour to inspect a transit system in Nagoya.

The system, which features magnetic levitation technology, is manufactured by Chubu HSST Development Corp., which has expressed interest in supplying vehicles for the Honolulu system.

Tam, who arranged the visit, said he did not know if the two Japanese companies were connected in any way, and hadn't inquired.

"Sometimes in Asia people have relationships, but you don't always know what those relationships are," he said.

At any rate, such trips would not unduly influence his decisions in Honolulu, Tam said.

"Anyone who does that is foolish," he said. "It's not worth having your name dragged down the drain."

But Djou said the trip was troubling. Although the garbage technology visit was disclosed in advance, the Nagoya side trip had not been acknowledged when the gift was approved, and he did not know of it until queried by a reporter, he said.

"This rail system is becoming the single best airline ticket in town," he said. "Are they doing it because it's best for the city, or because it's free travel?"

Council members often have taken free trips in the past to inspect public works facilities and the like, but questions about lobbying and political pressure surrounding the transit plan has made recent trips more controversial.

Cachola, Tam and council members Ann Kobayashi and Donovan Dela Cruz planned to visit France and the Netherlands last year at the invitation of a Dutch transit company, Phileas Advanced Public Transport System.

The council approved the $7,500 gift, but the trip was postponed after it drew public scrutiny. The council members had planned to fly to Europe after attending a National Association of Counties meeting in Washington, D.C.

Reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com.

Correction: A side trip by three Honolulu city councilmen to inspect a transit system in Nagoya while reviewing garbage processing technology elsewhere in Japan had not been disclosed in advance of the trip, which was paid for by a garbage technology firm. A previous version of this story incorrectly referred to a separate trip to Pittsburgh when describing an approval process for the Japan trip.