The Students Train Station

For new students traveling from Sydney or Nowra, North Wollongong train station is UOW's main station. It is the closest station to the university, with trains running up and down the South Coast line seven days a week. New students alight here to walk, ride or bus to the university. Most students after catching the train, like to hop on the free bus which takes them to university.This is perfect for students that are late to class or just don't want to walk. The walk to UOW is about 15 minutes. The peak times for North Wollongong train station are approximately 7:00am to 9:00am and 3:00pm to 5:00pm. For those students worried about costs all students receive a discount on train tickets which allow them to buy a student ticket. All you have to do is keep your student card with you at all times when traveling.
By train travel it takes about 90 minutes to get to Sutherland Shire and approximately 80 minutes to get to Nowra. Trains run every 20 minutes in peak times making it easier for students to get to university. All trains are wheel chair accessible to those with disabilities. Students that wish to catch the blue free bus to the university from the station should look up the bus timetable and confirm that a bus will arrive when your train arrives. After peak times the blue free bus does not arrive after every train arriving at the station. This is why it is important to look at the timetable.

Is the Wollongong University Carpool Threatening the Saftey of Students?

We have all been told of stranger danger, however would a student be more trusting to another student? The carpool at UOW has a rule of three or more people in a car to be allowed in the car park. This brings up the issue of people asking other students to take a ride in their car when they are near or in the universitry grounds to the carpool car park. New students be aware of these people. While this may seem like a good idea students can be heavily punished if caught.

The carpool was recently moved from the multi story car park to the Western. This makes it easier to access but also easier for people to sneak in using this technique to get a free park. There is also a new entrance at Robinson Road which is again an issue.

"Our policy is that students have to drive into the entrance of UOW with three or more people in their car to be able to get into the carpool. If this is not the case then action is taken against them" said Tony Figgieri, Car Park Manager "If we see this sort of behavior students will be punished usually with a ban for the rest of session."

Tony says the way they police this issue is if they see it with "the naked eye." "If a witness is to report something like this happening, we will tell that person that we have to see it ourselves due to the likeliness of false information. We have 24 hour surveillance on all the car parks which makes it easier to catch these students. Once caught we take their registration details and if they persist they go on a wanted list, this wanted list is then posted in all our parking offices including the carpooling one."

People from the wanted list sometimes continue to break the rules. " I have had instances where some people from the wanted list continue to try and park in the carpool or pick people up however only in extreme cases are the police called" said Tony.

Sites like carpoolworld.com are sponsored by the university to help students to find other students in their areas that they could carpool with to university. New students should be aware however that these sites are outside UOW control, therefore the university takes no responsibility.

New students here are some tips for you to avoid risking your safety:
1 make sure you walk with students/friends wherever possible
2 when using the carpool make sure you are entering the university with three or more people in the car
3 don't decide to pick up a friend or another student to get free parking while at the university
4 be aware of the cameras filming the car parks
5 abide by the rules of parking at the university
6 follow the signs and be aware of any changes to parking conditions
7 be careful when using the sites for carpooling

"My advice to new students would be to use the carpooling service because as long as you abide by the rules its a great advantage to you."said Tony. "I think that the UOW carpool has been successful because it limits traffic on the roads, provides 352 more parking spaces and has had good feedback from students and transport managers."

For more information please go to
http://www.carpoolworld.com/
http://www.uow.edu.au/parking/students/UOW002245.html
http://www.secureparking.com.au/

Public Transport or Car?

This is a very controversial issue for a lot of students at UOW, both sides of the argument have good and bad points. This is a summary of some of these points so you new students can decide for yourselves whether you think it is better to drive or take public transport. UOW does everything it can to encourage students to take public transport for example introducing three free buses and introducing campaigns for example: secure lockups, showers and lockers now available and UOW shuttle phone app and transport surveys. This is because UOW has very limited availability for parking. However for students travelling from a distance driving often seems like the better option.

"I live in Campbelltown and the bus timetables aren't very good as there are only three a day." said Josh Kitchen, a current student at UOW. "Due to this they are always really packed and since there are so many stops it turns a 40 minute trip into a 2 hour one"

Some bad points of driving to university include: the limited parking spaces, the cost of a parking ticket and having to move your car during the day to not incur a fine for staying there too long. 

"I'm at university all day, four days a week and to find a park is really hard. Mostly I park in the UOW car parking spaces however because they are only four hours, I have to move my car or buy another ticket." said James Vohradsky, current student at UOW.  "This gets really annoying because I can be late to my classes because of it. This is why I ride my bike. "

Here are some links to more information about public transport and driving to university
http://www.uow.edu.au/cgi-bin/parking/free-spaces
http://www.uow.edu.au/transport/index.html
http://twitter.com/

Free Buses!

So your probably all wondering what are the best buses to catch to and from university and just around Wollongong in general. Well let me tell you the three most popular buses for transport to university and around Wollongong are the three free buses of course! The 'Free Gong Shuttle Bus' is the green bus and travels to Wollongong University via the Hospital and Fairy Meadow stopping at different bus stops around Wollongong. The 'UOW North Gong Shuttle' travels to the North Wollongong train station then to UOW stopping at various stops around the university. The 'UOW Gwynneville Keiraville Shuttle' travels around the different UOW student housing areas in Gwynnvielle and Keiraville.
Depending on the way you look at it this can be a good and bad thing. Good because it's convenient for students and citizens and bad because they are so popular more buses are needed at peak times! No one wants to be the one left behind because the bus is too full. All these buses arrive at the Departs Station approximately every 20 minutes. For students that are travelling to university from a distance the 'North Gong Shuttle' is the perfect bus for you it arrives at North Wollongong station after the train so there's no need to walk! These buses run from 7:00am to 10:00pm every weekday. On weekends the 'Free Gong Shuttle Bus' runs from 8:00am to 6:00pm. The 'Free Gong Shuttle Bus' is also wheelchair accessible catering for disabilities.

For more information on the free buses here are some useful links
http://www.illawarramercury.com.au/news/local/news/general/free-wollongong-bus-service-finally-arrives/1463150.aspx
http://www.uow.edu.au/content/groups/public/@web/@bg/documents/doc/uow072724.pdf
http://media.uow.edu.au/news/UOW052915.html
http://www.uow.edu.au/content/groups/public/@web/@bg/documents/doc/uow075905.pdf

Tips on how to Park at UOW

Session has started and again you can spend hours driving around UOW looking for a park. There just aren't enough spaces! There are over 22,000 staff at UOW and only 3,000 parking spaces in the University to be shared with students as well. In my opinion this just isn't enough and something needs to be done. In this post I will detail my top ten tips in dealing with this issue. Firstly come early! There is almost always a park available if you arrive early enough which is around 8am or earlier. If you are a student buying a ticket for parking try to arrive at 12:30pm. Parking tickets last 4 hours and you will be most likely to get a park at this time. Take notice of the parking station signs. These signs will tell you how many spaces are left in the car parks in the University. Try to avoid parking underground or in the multistorey car parks as these are often expensive. If you have three or more people there is a parking area just for carpooling that is free. If there are no spaces available park your car further from the University and catch the free shuttle bus. Parking is also available close to the Wollongong Botanical Gardens so use those spaces instead of parking at the University.

"I park away from the University where I can easily catch the Green free bus. This is so much easier than spending hours finding a park at the University itself and saves me money on petrol"
said Cooper Dunn a current student at UOW.

The University also promotes using other forms of transport including trains and buses wherever possible to avoid this issue. New students follow these tips or take other means of transport to the University wherever possible to avoid the issue of parking.

If you want more information please go to:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=344438713969
http://twitter.com/#!/uowSmartPark
http://www.uow.edu.au/parking/index.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tC-EkpLRyYc