The university already runs a shuttle bus to and from North Wollongong station and a second to Gwynneville and Keiraville.

The new shuttle, which will start on February 23, will connect the university with the Innovation Campus (iC) and four  accommodation sites – Campus East, Gundi, Keiraview and Weerona.

UOW manager of transport projects Tom Hunt said roughly 25per cent of people using the Gong Shuttle were travelling to and from the university.

The so-called iC Shuttle had been designed to free up seats on the Gong Shuttle.

‘‘The Gong Shuttle is heavily utilised by the university,’’ Mr Hunt said.

‘‘We’ve always recognised that. It’s been a godsend to us.

‘‘About 30 per cent  of the 16,000 people on campus now come on shuttle buses – half on the Gong Shuttle and half on our own shuttles.

‘‘So this will take the load off the Gong Shuttle and leave it open for more passengers.’’

The iC shuttle will run in a clockwise loop from the Innovation Campus, along Squires Way, Virginia Street, Church Street, Smith Street, Throsby Drive, Gipps Road  and across to the main campus and return to the iC via Memorial Drive and Montague Street.

It will operate in the morning and afternoon peak periods during university sessions and exam periods.

While it bears the name of the Innovation Campus, Mr Hunt said the prime focus of the shuttle was to link the student accommodation sites  with the university.

‘‘We have Campus East, a large student accommodation site at the Innovation Campus and also we have a number of other accommodation sites around Wollongong,’’ Mr Hunt said. 

‘‘To be honest, we’ve made good use of the Gong Shuttle in connecting those sites to the campus but we feel that we need to support the Gong Shuttle by  putting more services in at peak times to assist.’’

The route of the Gwynneville-Keiraville shuttle will also change to alleviate pressure on the Gong Shuttle.

Its route will be extended to include a trip along Crown and Keira streets.

Mr Hunt said the university shuttles were introduced to encourage people to catch public transport rather than drive, thereby reducing congestion and parking pressures.

He said the shuttles had made a difference,  with an 11per cent swing away from cars and to public transport in the last five years.

‘‘We’ve had significant growth in student numbers in that time as well and they’ve basically offset each other,’’ he said.

‘‘Things aren’t too much better than they were five years ago on the roads for parking, but they’re not worse either. Considering we’ve grown in that time it’s been a real plus.’’