Six months after becoming an international star, Casper the bus-riding cat has been killed by a hit-and-run driver.

Casper was a local legend in Plymouth, England. For four years, he lined up each morning at the stop outside his house and flagged the 10:55 a.m. bus. Once on board, he’d curl up in a corner and fall asleep. One driver estimated that Casper had travelled more than 32,000 kilometres by public transit.

A rider since he was 12, he sometimes slept through his final stop of the day – back in front of his house – but local drivers knew to wake him up and let him off.

According to the Plymouth Herald, a death notice was taped up at Casper’s bus stop this week:

“Many local people knew Casper, who loved everyone. He also enjoyed the bus journeys.

“Sadly, a motorist hit him ... and did not stop.”

“Casper died from his injuries. He will be greatly missed ... he was a much loved pet who had so much character. Thank you to all those who befriended him.”

Casper’s owner, Susan Finden, found him in a pound in 2002. She named him after the Friendly Ghost because of his habit of disappearing. She discovered his commuting secret when Casper followed her onto the bus one morning. The driver told her the cat was a regular passenger.

“He does love people,” Finden, a social worker, told the BBC back in July, “and I don’t know what the attraction is, but he loves big vehicles like lorries and buses.”