Most Honolulu residents still believe twice-a-week rubbish pickup is important enough that the city should pay to support it if necessary — but they oppose a plan to ship garbage out of state, according to a poll commissioned by the City Council.

Nearly half of those surveyed agreed with the statement: "We should not ship our garbage out of state because it is not right to send our trash somewhere else."

Another 17 percent opposed such shipping because the costs are too uncertain.

City Council Chairman Donovan Dela Cruz said he looks to the results to get a better idea of what other residents are thinking who haven't taken the time to call or write a letter on some of these issues.

Dela Cruz said he was surprised that so many people opposed out-of-state trash shipping because they believed it was wrong.

"We haven't heard that," despite many hours of testimony on the issue as O'ahu's only municipal landfill nears capacity and no new community has stepped up to welcome a new one.

On the trash pickup question, 58 percent said they would favor the continued pickup schedule even if it takes away money from other services. And 24 percent said they'd pay extra for trash pickup.

Two years ago, the council paid a similar amount for a similar poll.

City Councilwoman Barbara Marshall, one of two council members who has voted against the rail transit project being considered, noted that a majority of residents support transit although most say they wouldn't ride it regularly.

There were some surprises. Some 76 percent of those surveyed said they had never been to a Neighborhood Board meeting. Of those who had, 66 percent said they were somewhat or very dissatisfied by the experience.

"I was taken aback by the level of dissatisfaction," Marshall said.

The survey indicated that two-thirds believed the city shouldn't borrow money to repave streets.

Half said the city should just repave what it can afford, although half believe that improving road conditions would warrant a property tax increase.

Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.