February 29, 2016

New-look bus fleet leaving a smaller footprint

The free UOW shuttle buses started afresh for 2016 on 22 February with a new look, more coverage, but a smaller footprint. 

The North Gong Shuttle to the station features a brand new timetable and a new hybrid bus, the first hybrid in the Illawarra, needing far less fossil fuel to get passengers around. 

Transport Project Manager, Tom Hunt, estimates that the hybrid bus will reduce our footprint by 11.3 tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum. 

“The buses also do a great job in enabling a large portion of the University’s 16,000 daily commuters to leave their car at home, reduce local traffic congestion, and reduce emissions overall,” he said. 

The GK Shuttle, linking Wollongong Campus to the city, Gwynneville, Keiraville and West Wollongong, features updated buses, runs the whole day, and buses run clockwise (GK-c) and anticlockwise (GK-a) on an improved route. 

The GK-a buses stop on the southern side of Northfields Ave. The trial iC Shuttle service started in 2015 has been discontinued in favour of running the improved GK services further into the area most iC shuttle users were coming from. 

Four buses in UOW's fleet are now low floor wheelchair accessible, covering 90% of services. 

UOW’s Transport Project Officer, Anna Bell, said all buses have a new distinctive UOW design, so it was important to pay attention to the destination displays to know which bus to catch. 

She urged bus users to pick up a copy of the timetables from campus help desks or on the website at uow.edu.au/transport. 

There is also a smart phone app to help you find your next connection ­see UOW Shuttle on iPhone or Android.