The City Council yesterday voted unanimously to advance a measure that would allow voters to decide whether the city should build a $3.7 billion commuter rail.

However, that question won't land on the November ballot unless it can survive two more votes. That depends on whether council members can reach a compromise to place the rail question on the ballot paired with a separate question that would authorize the creation of a new agency to build and run the planned public transit system.

The council's Executive Matters Committee passed proposed city Charter amendments, but scheduled another hearing on the measures for Wednesday.

Council members spent much of yesterday's four-hour hearing pleading with each other to compromise in order to pass both measures. Council members remain at odds over how to craft a rail question and how much autonomy to give the new transit authority, which would oversee design, construction and operation of the commuter rail that would link East Kapolei to Ala Moana.

Pairing the two transit-related Charter amendments together could bolster the chances they end up on the November ballot. Both measures could die, if they cannot garner six out of nine total votes.

"We've gotta hold hands and work together on this," said Councilman Charles Djou, who opposes the rail project. "If we drop putting a (rail) question on the ballot, transit authority is going down, too. We all do it together or we don't.

"It's very clear the public want some kind of question on the ballot."

According to the Hawai'i Poll released Sunday, 76 percent of those surveyed said the electorate should get to decide whether the city builds the rail system. Nearly two-thirds of those polled said they would cast their ballot in favor of rail.

Council member Romy Cachola said the council needs to put the rail question before voters.

"I'm willing to hold hands (and pass the Charter amendment), because if we don't, the public will crucify this institution," he said. "For us not to pass something out of this council, we will be blamed for it."

One of the remaining stumbling blocks is whether the rail and transit authority issues should be combined into one question or split into two.

The current proposed amendment to the city Charter states that the city shall "establish a steel wheel on steel rail transit system." A vote against the measure would not prevent the city from proceeding, though politically it could be difficult to build a project rejected by voters.

Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann could kill the council's ballot resolution via a veto, which, in this case, cannot be overridden. However, Hannemann has said he would support putting the rail question on the ballot, if it were paired with the transit authority question, depending on the final language of the measure.

"Our position is that we would prefer it to be one question," said city transportation director Wayne Yoshioka at yesterday's hearing. "But again we're open to the discussion on this issue."

Planning for the 20-mile elevated commuter rail project is well under way, and Hannemann hopes to start construction in late 2009 or early 2010. The project is expected to cost an inflation-adjusted $5 billion and take nearly a decade to complete.