Honolulu Rail Survey’s Most Remarkable Result: Every Council District Registered Majority Support

The QMark opinion poll on community attitudes toward Honolulu rail is chock full of nuggets, each worthy of its own post. We’ve already covered the basics – a solid 57-percent majority supports the project – and we’ll dig into the detail in the days ahead. From our perspective, here’s the most penetrating result:

A majority of residents in every City Council district who expressed a “support/don’t support” opinion to the pollsters said they support rail.

The above table from the QMark report (posted online) shows the breakout for all nine districts. With the “Don’t knows” included, the “strong support/somewhat support” ranges from 50 percent in District 5 (Manoa, Makiki, Kakaako, etc.) to 68 percent in District 8 (Moanalua, Halawai, Aiea, etc.)

Express Yourself

When the “Don’t knows” are excluded and only those who expressed an opinion are analyzed, the percentages showing majority support naturally increase.

District 5’s support becomes 52.1 percent, and District 8 rises to 69.4. Even with the “Don’t knows” included, the support for rail found in QMark’s scientific opinion survey is remarkable. While the greatest support is in districts through which the system’s 20-mile route will pass, even the districts far from rail registered majority support, which in District 2 (Mililani, North Shore, Upper Windward Side), District 3 (Kailua, Kaneohe) and District 4 (East Honolulu, Diamond Head, Waikiki) ranged from 51 to 55 percent. So it doesn’t matter where the typical neighborhood is on the island; residents everywhere show majority support for the rail project.

The survey examines attitudes about traffic, the economy, anticipated ridership, energy and the environment and several other factors, and we’ll get to them in future posts.