The people have spoken - the Gong Shuttle should be left as it is.
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In Thursday’s Mercury, NSW Taxi Council CEO Roy Wakelin-King raised concerns that the free shuttle’s operating hours and frequency were making it hard for Wollongong’s taxi drivers to compete.
“We’re not advocating it be removed but we think that its operating hours and its frequency probably go a bit beyond what the genuine need is,’’ Mr Wakelin-King said.
However, on the Mercury website and on Facebook, the support was well and truly with the Gong Shuttle.
Of 123 comments left on the Mercury’s Facebook page as of Thursday morning, just one was in favour of reducing the Gong Shuttle’s hours of operation.
‘‘Yes, cut its hours back like bus hours in the country - four hours a day,’’ wrote Troy Davis.
Others wanted the Gong Shuttle to stay – and even extend its coverage.
“The shuttle needs to be extended. I'm in a wheelchair and the shuttle bus does not come to my suburb of Balgownie,” wrote Cherie DeVries.
There was little sympathy for the taxi drivers, with many saying the fares were too expensive and the service not up to scratch.
“Taxis need to lay off and accept that free buses and other forms of public transport help people better get around,” wrote Murray John.
“They need to stop charging us ridiculous prices.”
Jill Whalan said taxis were “a last resort”.
“The cabs need to get used to a new norm and do business better if they want to compete,” she wrote.