Earlier this week we acknowledged the Gong Shuttle as the singularly most popular action of this State Government in recent times. We love it - and commuters have voted with their feet.

But if we are going to have to pay more for vehicle registration to fund extravagant transport plans for Sydney, surely we are entitled to dream a bit ourselves in the Illawarra.

What better, we thought, than to extend the free bus service to residents in the southern suburbs. And today, after an admittedly superficial crack at a route, we unveil the Dapto Dash.

Unfortunately, Transport Minister and Member for Keira David Campbell has put the brakes on our initiative before it even got out of the depot. (Well, he did have a tough week.)

It was not the intention of the Government, he said, to provide free public transport across the board.

Sure, private operators have a keen interest in this issue and the Government coffers are not bottomless.

Nonetheless, we thought it was worth thinking outside the box.

After all, sustainable and, in this case, free public transport stands to help the environment more than any complex emissions trading scheme.