Opponents of the city's planned $3.7 billion elevated commuter rail will need to step up the pace of their petition drive if they are to get an anti-rail ordinance on the November election ballot.

Stop Rail Now said yesterday it has collected about 11,000 signatures since launching the petition drive five weeks ago. The citizens group will have to collect names at a 50 percent faster clip to meet its goal of 40,000 signatures by Aug. 1.

"We're under the gun here," said Dennis Callan, co-chairman of Stop Rail Now. "Sure we're concerned."

Still, Callan said he's hopeful it can be done. "Each day we get more people offering to help us out," he said. "We're getting more organized."

Stop Rail Now contends the public has a right to vote on whether the city should proceed with the transit project, which would be the largest public works project in state history.

Mayor Mufi Hannemann hopes to start construction on the 20-mile commuter rail late next year. The system, which would connect West Kapolei with Ala Moana, is scheduled to open in phases between 2012 and 2018.

The issue of whether Honolulu should build a commuter rail has not been put to a vote.

BALLOT RULES

Rail proponents, including Hannemann and pro-rail council members, say a vote is not needed as the public has input on the project via elected representatives and public hearings.

City rules allow citizens to adopt measures via referendum, but they must first gather enough signatures to get their issue on the ballot.

Stop Rail Now's proposed ordinance reads: "Honolulu mass transit shall not include trains or rail."

Just how many registered voters' signatures Stop Rail Now needs to place the anti-rail ordinance on the ballot is in dispute. Callan estimates the group needs just 30,000 signatures, plus a buffer of an additional 10,000, in case some are ruled invalid.

The City Clerk's office maintains the group will need the signatures of at least 44,525 registered voters.

"Absent meeting that number, (the initiative) will not qualify for the ballot," said Honolulu elections administrator Glen Takahashi. "Those many have to be valid, so they'll have to collect more signatures than that because obviously some won't be registered voters and some people won't be verifiable because their handwriting is bad."

TWO EQUATIONS

The different counts result from varying interpretations of city rules governing voter-based ballot initiatives. The city clerk's office said Stop Rail Now needs signatures equal to at least 10 percent of total voters registered in the last mayoral election. That equates to 44,525 signatures.

Stop Rail Now argues it needs signatures equal to 10 percent of the votes cast for mayor in the last election. That equates to 30,026 signatures, which is 14,499 fewer signatures than the city's figure.

"That's what we're going on as of now," Callan said. "If it turns out that we need an actual minimum of 45,000, then we have to shoot for 55,000, but God forbid that happens.

"We haven't even asked (the city clerk's office) yet, so it's an open question," Callan said.

To gather more signatures at a faster pace, the group plans to drop off petitions at homes of registered voters and to collect signatures at shopping centers and large events such as concerts and parades.

Stop Rail Now has raised about $7,500 to fund the effort and has about 200 active volunteers, Callan said. The group also opened an office this week at 627 South St.

COUNTERPOINTS

Stop Rail Now, which is joined by other anti-rail groups including www.Honolulutraffic.com, wants the city to explore traffic-reducing alternatives such as high-occupancy and toll lanes, overpasses and traffic signal optimization.

Studies show the commuter rail line won't prevent traffic along the H-1 Freeway corridor from worsening due in part to population growth in West O'ahu. However, the rail would give commuters an alternative to congested highway travel while reducing urban sprawl.

Rail proponents contend there's limited federal money available for new road construction. Additionally, current law prevents money collected from a state transit tax from being used for road construction or bus rapid transit.

Stop Rail Now and other rail opponents "don't produce a real alterative that can be funded," Hannemann said at a news conference Friday announcing a possible addition to the rail route.

Hannemann said he opposes Stop Rail Now's proposed ordinance, but supports the voter-initiated ballot process.

"This is a democracy that we live in and I've always said initiatives are part of what we have to deal with here," he said.