Nearly three out of five registered voters surveyed favor building a rail system in Honolulu, according to a recent poll.

That 59 percent level compares with 38 percent of voters who opposed the project, according to the People's Pulse poll conducted by OmniTrak Group Inc. for the Hawaii Business Roundtable and Pacific Resource Partnership. The results jibe with a slate of recent polls indicating a majority of local residents support the $3.7 billion elevated commuter rail project.

Compared with one year ago, support for rail increased by 5 percentage points. According to the poll, support for the project was highest among voters in Leeward O'ahu (71 percent), Wai'anae (57 percent) and East Honolulu (55 percent).

Rail proponents argue the city needs to give commuters an alternative to the highly congested H-1 Freeway. They contend that the commuter line with its 19 stations will encourage more sustainable urban development, reduce suburban sprawl and spur Hawai'i's flagging economy.

Rail opponents point to the costs, aesthetics and noise as potential problems. They argue that not enough people will use the trains and that cheaper alternatives would do more to reduce traffic congestion.

Alicia Maluafiti, a spokeswoman for Support Rail Transit, said the poll shows that pro-rail groups are convincing the public of the project's merits.

"This impacts everyone and future generations and I think that is hitting home," she said. "All of us want to make sure people are hearing the message and I think the poll indicates people are hearing that."

Rail critic Cliff Slater said the poll's key rail question was "very misleading" and should have mentioned the project's large cost.

The poll asked voters whether they favored or opposed rail following this statement: "The City and County of Honolulu has approved developing a fixed-rail mass transit system as a means to reduce traffic."

"It doesn't reduce traffic," Slater said. "Traffic will be far worse in the future with the train."

In addition to rail, the poll touches on several topics including the economy and a potential state Constitutional Convention.

More than one-quarter of voters (26 percent) mention the economy as the most important issue for the state. That level of concern has not been evident since May 2003. Since January 2008, the percentage of voters mentioning economic concerns as most important has increased by 11 percentage points. That was a steeper rise than for any other period except for the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks.

Economic concerns coincide with a drop in Hawai'i consumer confidence, which has fallen since the beginning of this year. Over the past eight months, confidence has dropped a record 20 points, according to the People's Pulse poll. The drop was attributed to job availability concerns following the closing of Aloha Airlines, ATA and Molokai Ranch, as well as cutbacks by Maui Land and Pineapple and The Honolulu Advertiser.

About 46 percent of those polled expect there will be fewer jobs in the Islands six months from now. That compares with 27 percent of respondents who forecast job cuts in a January survey.

Among the poll's other findings is that 57 percent of voters oppose a ConCon if it costs between $5 million and $9 million. Hawai'i voters will be asked to decide at the Nov. 4 general election whether to hold a Constitutional Convention.

The last Constitutional Convention in Hawai'i was held in 1978. Voters prefer to have constitutional changes made through the Legislature a margin of almost 5-to-1, according to the poll.

The OmniTrak telephone survey of 1,500 registered voters was conducted between July 25 and Aug. 14. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

It was financed by the Hawaii Business Roundtable, which is composed of the chief executives of 50 major local companies. That group has not officially taken a position on rail.

The poll also was paid for by the Pacific Resource Partnership, which is an advocacy group that represents building contractors and the Hawai'i Carpenters Union. They support building rail.