Loopy closure as free holiday buses a hit

A loopy closure for a trial bus route

ALL ABOARD: The Noosa nippers headed to the beach the travel smart way on a free holiday bus over Christmas. Picture: Contributed

A BONUS free holiday bus loop is to be scrapped at Easter in wake of poor passenger numbers over the Christmas peak period.

Council believes timetable conflicts with the 620 Maroochydore to Noosa Heads bus saw just a daily average of 370 for the Noosa Pde to Weyba Road shuttle loop which was added to the 064 route servicing the eastern beaches.

However the council is hailing the overall holiday service a success with more than 4000 passengers daily during the 2017/18 festive period and "very positive” passenger feedback.

This found 66 per cent of respondents who caught a free holiday bus had access to a car in Noosa and 94 per cent of users were either very satisfied (67 per cent) or satisfied (27 per cent) with their trip.

As well, 77 per cent of users caught a bus for recreational purposes including going to the beach or dining out, while 21 per cent used it to perform errands such as shopping and 21 per cent caught the bus to get to work. This commuter use was a 12 per cent increase..

"The main reason people caught a free holiday bus was to avoid traffic and congestion, followed by convenience and limited car parking,” a council report said.

"If the buses had not been free, 49% of the respondents would have driven their car. Seventy-two per cent of respondents had caught a free holiday bus in previous years (up on last year's survey respondents of 53%).”

Noosa locals made up 49 per cent, 22 per cent were from Sunshine Coast Council areas, 12 per cent were from interstate and nine per cent came from overseas.