Wollongong City Council will be heading back to the negotiation table within the next three years with the goal of getting the state government to fund the Gong Shuttle bus in full, and keep it free.
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The council has allocated money in its budget for the next year to fund the popular service that transports people from the city centre to the University of Wollongong campuses.
If the draft budget is endorsed, the council will lobby the state government to continue the Gong Shuttle as an affordable service beyond 2021.
The Berejiklian government were going to make people pay to ride the shuttle in 2017.
Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery wants to avoid another eleventh hour decision that saw a deal struck where the university and council agreed to chip in $350,000 each and the state government pay half of the service.
But the timetable was changed and services were reduced.
"It is the state government's responsibility to look at ways to move people on public transport," Cr Bradbery said. "A lot of funds are going into public transport in Sydney Metropolitan and the least the state government can do is fund the free shuttle service in Wollongong."
The budget also indicated council staff would investigate a potential second Gong Shuttle route in the city centre and would advocate for a route for the south of the city centre to be established.
Cr Bradbury said it would take some time to build a business case with evidence about why the government should fund the service and then the conservation could start.
The bus service was introduced by a Labor government in 2009 as a way to reduce congestion around the CBD and reduce wear and tear on the roads.
Cr Bradbery said the council agreed to chip in money because of the benefits to the community and it meant the council did not have to provide more car parking or repair the roads as often.
He said if the government decided to provide a better train service in the Illawarra then the council likely would be more amenable to funding the shuttle service.
The draft budget will go on public exhibition on Wednesday and will be open for feedback until May 13.
