By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Transportation Writer

When students head back to the University of Hawai'i-Manoa next month, they'll find a new, $400,000 bus terminal to greet them.

The overhauled bus stop at Sinclair Circle replaces the much smaller facility that thousands of students have used for years. Where once there was only a tree and a bench for comfort, the new stop has a number of creature comforts, not least of which are three shelters to protect students and their books from the famous Manoa mists.

The new stop will be the end of the line for CityExpress Route A, which serves 4,300 students and other riders each day.

In addition to the shelters, the project included new walkways, lighting, landscaping and wheelchair ramps heading onto campus. The city also widened and hardened Sinclair Circle to make more room for the larger articulated buses used on the route.

The terminal opened this month, bringing an end to nearly five months of alternative routing of buses through the neighborhood surrounding the campus, officials said.

The UH terminal is part of a continuing expansion of major bus stops islandwide. Earlier this month, the city opened a new $1 million bus transit center in Kapolei, which makes it easier for people to transfer between buses that serve six routes.

Similar transfer centers are planned for Wai'anae, 'Ewa Beach, Waipahu and Mililani. Eventually, the city hopes the major terminals will be used to convert the entire bus system to a hub-and-spoke system.

Mike Leidemann's Drive Time column appears every Tuesday. Reach him at 525-5460 or mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.