A new " loop " bus.

The state government plan to introduce " loop " bus services to Wollongong and other major centres is probably the best and most practical transport innovation in recent decades.

In Wollongong this 14.7 kilometres loop will service the beach, the entertainment precinct, the CBD and the Mall, the railway station, the hospital, the University - and the inner city suburbs from Fairy Meadow in the north.

Buses will run every ten minutes both ways in peak during weekdays - and at twenty minute intervals off peak - while weekend services will be on a thirty minute time frame. It is envisaged that the service will involve a thirty-five minute round trip.

One worrying feature is the suggestion of just seventeen bus stops, meaning that each stop will be just under a kilometre apart. The important thing will be to ensure that there is ample car parking available close to each of those stops.

The purpose of this loop bus is to get people out of their cars and using public transport. The planners need to take into account that most people will still use their car to get to where they intend to board the bus - and will use their car to return home after the journey.

The biggest remaining problem will be - inertia ! This is a marvellous idea, providing transport free of charge to solve the parking problem, but getting people to actual break their usual transport pattern and go by bus will be a challenge.

How to achieve that remains to be worked out, but the biggest tragedy this city will face would be to have these free buses running day and night - without passengers.

If the loop bus fails because of lack of patronage we will only have ourselves to blame - and it will fail if people turn their backs on it.

Somehow the promotional people have a job on their hands - to convince the people of Wollongong that driving their cars to destinations serviced by the loop bus is simply so anti-social that they will be condemned by their peers.

It worked with other conservation measures. How many people still waste water openly ? How many haven't changed to power efficient light bulbs ?

The challenge will be to convert public attitudes. How that can be achieved is the question still to be addressed !