HONOLULU -- On the heels of the bus strike, the Honolulu City Council will be voting again on whether to build a light-rail mass transit system.

Gov. Linda Lingle, who wants to know where the council stands before she makes her choice, is forcing the vote.

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It's been 11 years since the council was forced to vote up or down on rail transit. It died by one vote. Now, the governor has formed a task force trying to come up with a new plan in the next couple of months. She wants everyone on board.

"What the governor has made it very clear to the representatives of this task force is that we are going in united or we are not going in," state transportation director Rodney Haraga said.

Council leaders said the council has to take a vote on rail in the next month, but given the cost of rail, it may not be a final decision.

"I think once they know what the math is, they may need to pause before they actually make some vote on whether it actually goes to rail," Councilman Nestor Garcia said.

The council has been focusing on a system called bus rapid transit, a concept on which the governor is only lukewarm.

The Lingle administration is not saying that it fully endorses rail transit yet, but the transportation director said that if the council does not support rail at its next meeting, the whole process could fall into disarray and disagreement.

"If they would unanimously go with light rail, then I think it would help us considerably, but if they come in 5-4, it would be rather precarious for us to jump on light rail," Haraga said.

If agreement escapes the city and state again, they could each build their own solution and hope desperate commuters can bridge the difference.