By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer

Transportation notes from near and far:

• Drive Time reader Bob Weaver has a simple suggestion to improve pedestrian safety:

"I am all for the $77 million sidewalk improvements, but why not spend say $200,000 for a few paint crews to go out and repaint the faded crosswalks?" he writes. "It would be a far more cost-effective measure, in terms of helping pedestrians (able and disabled) right away.

"The attitude is apparently that faded crosswalks aren't really a signal to stop for pedestrians. Freshly painted crosswalks and reflective bumpy things would help revitalize the driving community's respect for those of us who walk," he said.

Many of the new calendars focus on popular vintage cars such as Vintage Chrysler, Vintage Oldsmobile and Vintage Fire Trucks. A Studebaker calendar and a Woodies calendar also are new for 2003.

They are available on the Web.

• The city's neighborhood trolley service is growing in popularity.

Honolulu's first community circulator trolley offers a fast, one-hop ride between Kaimuki, Kapahulu and Waikiki.

The trolleys operate every 30 minutes from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fares are $1.

For more information, call the trolley hotline, 792-4490.

A route map is available online.

• The Big Island has added a route to its fledgling Hele-On bus service.

The route runs twice a week (Tuesdays and Saturdays) between Ocean View subdivision in South Kona all the way to the Keahole Airport, a two-hour ride.

It is designed to give the residents in rural areas a chance to get to shops and other places without cars.

• It didn't take long to get 100,000 Minis on American roads.

Mini USA announced Americans bought 100,000 of its mini-size cars in just the first 24 weeks of sales in the United States.

Mike Leidemann's Drive Time column runs Tuesdays.