Residents of the City Council's 8th District, encompassing many West O'ahu communities, felt the brunt of this week's freeway shutdown and gridlock traffic episode. If nothing else, that ordeal should highlight the reasons for voters to return incumbent Gary Okino to office in the coming election.

Okino is running for the nonpartisan office against two newcomers, Kenneth Harmeyer and Inam Rahman, both of whom have commendable drive and worthy ideas.

However, neither can match the depth of knowledge about transit that the retired city planner has gathered. That knowledge and commitment to finding a cohesive set of solutions to the island's transportation problems will become an indispensable asset in the coming months, when the Council moves toward a crucial vote on the transit issue.

Okino points out that O'ahu could have been much further along in meeting transportation demands had the Council authorized the rail system 14 years ago. And he's right.

Encouragingly, he also acknowledges that a multi-pronged attack on the traffic problem is the way to go. A rail system would work best if it is coordinated with buses and other improvements. For example, he has long pushed for incremental improvements such as the upgrade to a major Pearl Ridge intersection, and to his credit, construction on that project is about to begin.

Harmeyer is a relative newcomer to the district but one who has shown commitment to political action in his former home of Hayward, Calif. Rahman rightly believes the Council should support a shift toward O'ahu's second city. They should continue to press these concerns.

But for the next four years, voters need Okino playing to his strengths in city planning and transit at City Hall.