Noosa’s congestion-busting free buses still a hit despite scooter challenge

Council’s evaluation of its free holiday bus service has revealed a 42 per cent spike in scooters and motorbikes entering Hastings St over the last break.

While scooters were the fashionable ride into Noosa's Hastings St, the Go Noosa free buses had more than 250,000 takers.

Scootering into Hastings St seems to be the in-demand way to beat Noosa’s notorious peak holiday traffic snarls, while Covid-19 may have slowed up day-trippers and other holiday blow-ins by about 20 per cent.

Noosa Council’s evaluation of its congestion-busting Go Noosa free holiday bus service has revealed a 42 per cent spike in scooters and motorbikes entering the shire’s number one destination over the last Christmas and Easter break.

There was a 4 per cent upswing in bicycles making a peak beeline to the tourist hotspot.

Despite this the council’s holiday buses maintained steady patronage levels with more than 250,000 passengers climbing on-board for free, according to the council’s 2020-21 Peak Traffic Management Evaluation report.

Nipping along to the beach in Noosa via the free holiday buses.

The evaluation survey results showed 98 per cent of respondents were satisfied or very satisfied with the service and more than 50 per cent indicated if it wasn’t for the free holiday bus service, they would have driven a car or been a passenger in a car.

“These results are significant given the impact of Covid on visitation to Noosa over the recent holiday period,” Mayor Clare Stewart said.

“Go Noosa holiday buses are proving to be a great success, giving locals and visitors a convenient and free alternative to driving into the Hastings St precinct during our busy holiday periods and searching for that elusive carparking spot.”

Data collected from Tourism Noosa showed local accommodation occupancy over the period was about on par with the previous non-Covid years, although visitation to the region, including day trippers, was 20 per cent down.