2020-07-07 S&O Agenda - Item 1 - Attachment 1 - Go Noosa Initiatives Evaluation

Christmas 2019/20 holidays saw the trial of the new temporary 065 Go Noosa Loop bus
servicing Noosa Parade, Noosa Drive and Weyba road. The nominated loop was derived from
Transport Strategy consultation requests for a Noosa Style Bus loop service and collaboration
with TransLink with the aim of linking with Park & Ride opportunities from The Junction, Noosa
AFL grounds and other locations along the route. The Loop bus was branded with Go Noosa
livery and used a smaller, modern style bus in keeping with the Noosa “look and feel”. The
loop bus forms a key trial of the Noosa Style Bus as described in the Transport Strategy. The
loop bus service operated every 15minutes from 7am -7pm and every 30 minutes from 7pm –
10pm (the only free evening service in Noosa).


Excluded Services
This report excludes information and evaluation on the other non-free TransLink services that
operate into and out of the shire including:
   •   Route 620 Noosa Heads to Maroochydore
   •   Route 623 Noosa Junction to Maroochydore
   •   Route 630 Noosa Junction to Nambour via Eumundi
   •   Route 631 Noosa Junction to Nambour via Eumundi and Cooroy


Operational effectiveness:
As detailed in Table 1 below the highest patronage bus routes 626 and 627 are scheduled at
a 15 minute frequency between Sunshine or Sunrise Beach and Tewantin. The newly
introduced 065 Go Noosa Loop service had the third highest patronage and also operated on
a 15 minute frequency. The other routes, 064, 628,629 and 632 operate on a less frequent
schedule and correspondingly returned a lower total patronage. The reduction in patronage
on the temporary 064 Peregian – Noosa Heads service when compared to the previous year
may be due to a shift in passengers choosing to Park & Ride and use the 065 Go Noosa Loop
service.
As part of the 065 Go Noosa Loop service, temporary bus stops were installed opposite The
J and outside the Noosa AFL grounds.
Data obtained:
Over the six week 2019/20 Christmas period there were a total of 245,096 passenger trips.
This equates to a 20% increase in bus patronage compared to the previous year with the
increase in patronage largely coming from introduction of the additional loop bus. Refer to
Table 1 for total trips per bus route.