West O'ahu residents are being asked to share their opinions on possible rail transit routes at two public meetings to be held within the next week.

State Sen. Brian Kanno, D-19th (Kapolei, Makakilo, Waikele), and state Sen. Will Espero, D-20th ('Ewa Beach, Waipahu), are hosting the meetings in their respective districts.

"The proposed transit project will have an enormous impact on West O'ahu," said Espero, in a news release. "It is important that our residents are informed, give their input and fully understand what is going on."

While the official public "scoping" period closed Jan. 8, "we haven't closed our ears," said Mark Scheibe, project manager for Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas, the firm doing the planning work under a $9.7 million city contract. The scoping meetings were held in December to gauge public opinion on the various transit and route options.

The planned community meetings aim to help disseminate information on transit planning and gather input from the public, Scheibe said.

"Certainly as we get additional information from the community ... it will enter into our analysis," he said.

The City Council intends to pick a new mass transit system in December that will stretch from Kapolei to Manoa and possibly Waikiki. In addition to fixed rail — light rail, monorail and magnetic levitation — options include enhanced bus service and a managed lane for buses, car pools and toll-paying vehicles. The city also needs to pick from four proposed rail routes.

Maeda Timson, chairwoman of the Makakilo/Kapolei Neighborhood Board, said residents in her community are eager to weigh in on the rail proposals.

"Transportation is our No. 1 issue whenever we have neighborhood board meetings," Timson said, noting that residents in the Kapolei community are concerned about some of the route proposals.

"Most of the routes are through West O'ahu, but a couple of them don't even come through where people live," Timson said.

One proposed route goes through Kapolei to 'Ewa Beach, but the other three bypass 'Ewa Beach and proceed directly through Waipahu.

That also concerns some 'Ewa residents, said Jeff Alexander, a member of the 'Ewa Neighborhood Board.

"The main route should include 'Ewa," Alexander said. However, he said, he fears that "no matter what input you give, (the city is) going to do what they want."

With only one way in and one way out of the 'Ewa community — Fort Weaver Road — something needs to be done to alleviate traffic congestion, Alexander said. He added that when the University of Hawai'i-West O'ahu opens in fall 2008 in Kapolei traffic problems would likely get worse.

The community meetings follow two scoping meetings, held at the Neal Blaisdell Center on Dec. 13 and at Kapolei Middle School on Dec. 14. Officials collected verbal and written comments that will be used by city planners to develop the mass-transit system. About 400 people attended the Blaisdell meeting, and 150 to 200 people attended the Kapolei meeting, according to the city.

The scoping meetings were part of a federally required process for all mass transit projects that hope to receive federal money. City officials have approved a 12.5 percent increase in the general excise tax to help pay for the project, which by some estimates could cost as much as $2.8 billion. The tax increase goes into effect in January.

Reach Loren Moreno at lmoreno@honoluluadvertiser.com.