How should we read this particular sign of the times?

Early walk-in voting ended Thursday, and the number of people choosing this particular “absentee voting” option has dropped since the last primary election.

Apparently, the idea of getting one’s civic duty done early at a limited number of polling stations appealed only to about 7,700 on Oahu. That’s a shade more than half the early-voting count, 14,859, of 2014.

Mail-in balloting, though, seems more attractive than ever this year. Does this mean voters don’t like leaving their easy chair to cast their ballots? Or do they still prefer it old-school, waiting for the election day itself? We’ll have to wait until Saturday to see.

A green light to sharing a car?

Any driver who has struggled to navigate urban Honolulu’s dense traffic — never mind finding a parking space — can recognize the possibilities of car sharing.

The concept allows members to use a car as needed. They pick up and drop off a car at designated sites and times, reserving and paying a fee online. It’s already in limited use here. And as the city gets more crowded and rail transit becomes a reality (we hope), sharing a car should make more economic and practical sense.

So Blue Planet Foundation’s scheme to expand the concept with a fleet of electric cars makes sense, too. It has applied for a federal grant to start a three-year pilot project with about 70 EVs and corresponding charging stations. It’s hoped the results will mean cleaner cars on the streets, and fewer cars overall.