There were no balloons and no giant novelty cheques, but the Gong Shuttle this week welcomed its one millionth passenger.The State Government doesn't know what day or what time, but has confirmed the magic mark was passed sometime over recent days.On average, 4545 people have used the bus each day since it was launched by Premier Nathan Rees and Illawarra MPs on March 18.
New, improved bus network for WollongongWeekdays are the most popular and new figures show around 6000 are climbing aboard each work day.Minister for Transport and Minister for the Illawarra David Campbell, the architect of the Gong Shuttle plan, reckons the service has been embraced."Locals and visitors have come to rely on the Gong Shuttle to get them where they need to go, whether that's work, university, hospitals, shops or the beach," he said.The shuttle runs as a free hop-on hop-off loop around the Wollongong CBD, in both directions, with stops at key locations and landmarks.A Mercury survey of 100 Gong Shuttle commuters over two days last month revealed that 36 per cent would have driven their cars if the bus did not exist. If that percentage holds true across the average weekday, about 2160 a day are now leaving their cars at home.Wollongong MP Noreen Hay said the bus had become a key part of the public transport infrastructure in the city."I've had a lot of great feedback from passengers who use the Gong Shuttle and it's good to see more people are taking advantage of it."
