What is it going to take to end the City Council's dithering on the mass transit project? A swift kick from the taxpayers?

After all, it's the O'ahu voters who have been raising the funds for the city's multi-billion-dollar fixed guideway system.

Since January, taxpayers have been forking over a general excise tax surcharge, which so far has garnered more than $14 million. Having that financing mechanism in place is meant to improve Honolulu's chances of securing up to $20 million in federal dollars for preliminary engineering work.

Looking back over our shoulders now, undoing two years of planning work, is not the way to fill Congress with confidence that this would be money well-spent.

The question, raised by Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi, is whether a system of bus-like vehicles that move on an elevated guideway and then move onto street level would be more efficient and flexible than the fixed-rail system favored by Mayor Mufi Hannemann and many others.

The answer, in a word, is no.

Kobayashi and others have some interest in the design by Phileas Advanced Public Transport System, a Netherlands firm that has invited council members to visit operations in European cities.

The prospect of an expenses-paid European trip may have helped to sweeten this proposal, because otherwise it seems ill-suited to city needs.

As is, the system would not meet capacity and speed specifications that were approved earlier. Redoing the plan to encompass this option means wasted time and money.

Also, many critics of a system that deposits vehicles back into traffic say that the additional travel time would deter ridership. The idea of rapid transit is to get from Point A to Point B, rapidly.

Thankfully, the notion of scuttling two years of planning doesn't have the votes to pass. The only thing it can accomplish is to make Honolulu leadership seem foolishly indecisive.

Let's hope our leaders get on track, and soon.