Poll Parsing: Big Majority Sees Economic Benefit

It’s reassuring to know that the vast majority of our fellow island residents haven't been fooled by the anti-rail rhetoric encountered here and there. That’s one of our conclusions from the recently released public opinion poll conducted by QMark, a respected local survey firm.

The company polled 900 Oahu residents – 100 in each of the nine City Council districts. The sample was derived using QMark’s proprietary Random Digit Dialing software; the margin of error for a sample of 900 respondents is +/- 3.27 percentage points with a 95 percent confidence level.

Here’s why we think our fellow Oahu residents are right on the money: QMark asked respondents if they felt rail transit was a “good investment” in the future of Honolulu. Using a four-point rating scale (4 = very good investment, 1 = very poor), here are the totals:

Whenever a poll returns 69 percent agreement on anything, it’s a landslide, and that’s the percentage of respondents in this scientifically conducted public opinion survey who believe the rail project will be a good investment for Oahu.

The City’s been saying that all along – and it’s especially understandable as Hawaii and the rest of the nation look for ways to get through the economic downturn.

So if you agree with that sentiment, you might take some pleasure in knowing that 7 out of 10 people you see on the street, in the office and everywhere else on Oahu see it that way, too.