The City Council will take up the issue of mass-transit technology for a fifth time today and will likely remain undecided, again.

That would mean Mayor Mufi Hannemann could go ahead with the steel-on-steel option he prefers for the $3.7 billion elevated rail system.

The council has been debating for months whether the proposed system should use steel wheels, rubber tires or magnetically levitated vehicles. Steel is considered more reliable but noisy. Rubber and mag-lev are less tested but may be quieter.

The council was expected to cast the fourth and final vote on transit technology on April 16, but deferred the decision after more than seven hours of testimony and several deadlocked votes.

"I strongly believe the majority of the council wants to see a mass-transit project go through. How exactly it will play out, I don't know," said council member Todd K. Apo, a rail supporter. "The question will be, will people want to go through the madness again?"

If the council is unable to decide on a technology, the city will move forward with steel wheels on steel rail based on a process previously adopted by the council.

Hannemann has said he is going with steel-wheeled trains regardless of what the council does today.

"They (the council) failed to make a decision," Hannemann said last week. "Our decision is steel on steel. Legally, I can do it. There's nothing that can prevent me from what I'm doing."

PANEL PREFERRED STEEL

A city-appointed expert panel in February recommended the steel option as the most reliable and cost-effective. If the council fails to select a technology, the city is to use the expert panel's recommendation, according to the rules adopted by the council.

"We said what we have to say on this matter and really don't have anything more to add," Bill Brennan, Hannemann's press secretary, said yesterday.

At last week's meeting, council members Romy M. Cachola, Charles K. Djou, Donovan M. Dela Cruz and Ann H. Kobayashi voted against the steel option. Apo, Nestor R. Garcia, Gary H. Okino and Rod Tam voted in favor of steel.

A ninth council member, Chairwoman Barbara Marshall, was absent for the vote because of a family emergency.

Marshall, who opposes the rail project, was on the Mainland yesterday tending to a family matter, but is expected to fly in before the meeting starts at 2 p.m., according to her office.

"We could wind up in the same pretzel that we wound up in last week," Djou said. "The mayor has been unable to find five City Council members who believe in steel on steel, and it's important for the public to understand that the mayor is going to proceed with what he wants without the majority support of the legislative" branch.

TRYING TO AVOID REPEAT

Kobayashi said the council should avoid a repeat of last week's dysfunctional meeting, which was marked by confusion, procedural maneuvering, 4-4 votes and repeated reviews of council rules.

"I'd hate to see us go through the same thing as last week," Kobayashi said.

Both Dela Cruz and Kobayashi oppose steel-wheel technology in favor of rubber-tire technology.

The current rail effort marks the fourth time in three decades the city has tried to develop a new mass-transit system for O'ahu. Previous efforts — including two rail projects and one bus rapid-transit system — failed because of cost concerns or changes in political priorities.

Hannemann has said he wants to break ground on the new mass-transit system next year, with the first segment starting service between East Kapolei and Waipahu in 2012.