A FREE Park-and-Ride Loop Bus will hit the road this festive season as part of Council’s Christmas Go Noosa transport campaign.
It’s in addition to the popular free holiday buses, which again return in the lead up to Christmas – December 14 – and will continue to offer free transport through until January 27.
”The new Loop Bus is a brand new initiative designed to take the stress out of getting around key precincts and help ease congestion and demand for parking in the busiest centres,” Cr Brian Stockwell said.
The bus will depart the Noosa Heads bus terminal every 15 minutes in a clockwise loop along Noosa Drive, Weyba Road, and Noosa Parade. It will also operate at night, half-hourly from 7pm to 10pm.
“The night time service means people can jump straight on to a bus near where they’re staying, head off to a restaurant to enjoy a night out, then find their way home again quickly and easily on the bus for free,” Cr Stockwell said.
“Passengers can get on and off the bus at Noosa Heads Bus Station, temporary stops opposite The J, the TransLink stops at Williams Street and Quamby Place, plus the Weyba Road football club, which is our major park-and-ride location, with parking for up to 400 vehicles.”
Traffic controllers will help pedestrians cross busy roads around Hastings Street and assist buses to get in and out of the traffic quickly.
“We’ll be taking this a step further this year with the trial of a bus queue-jump on Noosa Parade on the approach to Hastings Street to ensure the buses keep moving.
“We’ll need to remove a small number of parking spaces to make way for the temporary bus queue-jump lane, but they’ll be more than made up for at the Weyba Road park-and-ride facility.
“The State Government has confirmed we can continue to use Noosa Heads Lions Park for our popular paid carpark for this Christmas and next Easter. That will be operated by the Tewantin-Noosa Lions Club,” Cr Stockwell said.
“We’ve upped the Lions Club’s percentage of the proceeds to 50% and the remainder will again fund the Go Noosa transport initiatives.”
Cr Stockwell said residents and visitors should download the Go Noosa app for real time bus information and car parking availability.
“By checking the app you can quickly decide the best place to park to catch either a free holiday bus, or the new free shuttle, to get into Hastings Street.
“Congestion will always be an issue in peak periods – that is a fact of life at popular holiday destinations all over the world. But with Go Noosa, we’re aiming to provide multiple options so that visitors and locals can make their way into our busiest centres easily and stress free.”
