2015-02-03 Infrastructure & Services Committee Agenda

INFRASTRUCTURE & SERVICES COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                             3 FEBRUARY 2015


TransLink also provided in-kind marketing support including but not limited to:

•    Inclusion of the additional shuttle services on TransLink’s journey planner;
•    Inclusion of messaging on webpages of all relevant TransLink routes;
•    Item in TransLink newsletter;
•    Web tile on TransLink home page leading up to and during free period; and
•    Newspaper advertisement in local newspapers.

4.     Passenger Assistant at Noosa Heads Bus Station

One Sunbus passenger assistant was based at Noosa Heads Bus Station from 9.30am to
4.10pm on the New Year’s Day public holiday (01 Jan 2015) and week-ends (27-28 Dec & 3-
4 Jan) to assist with passenger enquiries and movements at the station. Survey respondents
and the staff at the Visitor Information Centre all provided positive feedback about the
passenger assistant.

5.     Feedback Survey

A feedback survey was available on Council’s website and 40 hard copies were distributed
by the passenger assistant at the Noosa Heads bus station. The survey consisted of 16
questions seeking feedback on areas such as age, purpose of travel, satisfaction with trip,
residential status, reasons for using the Free Holiday Buses and awareness of public
transport. Of the 16 questions, 5 of the questions were targeted specifically at Noosa
residents. A total of 100 surveys were completed (60 online & 40 hard copy).

Points of interest include:

•    Nearly 70% of respondents who caught a Free Holiday Bus had access to a car in
     Noosa;
•    The main reason people caught a free holiday bus was to avoid traffic and congestion;
•    29% of users were satisfied with their trip and 70% were very satisfied;
•    85% of users caught a bus for recreational purposes e.g. to get to the beach,
     entertainment, dining etc., 18% used it to perform errands such as shopping, 14%
     caught a bus to visit friends/family and nearly 6% caught the bus to get to work (total is
     greater than 100% as people could select more than one answer);
•    If the buses had not been free, 57% of the respondents would have driven their car and
     20% would have caught the bus anyway;
•    As with previous years, word of mouth continued to be a primary means by which people
     found out about the Free Holiday Buses (40%), followed by street banners (27%), the
     newspaper (22%), and roadside traffic signs/posters (13%);
•    The residential status of respondents included – Noosa Council residents (34%),
     Queensland residents (23%), Sunshine Coast Council residents (20%), Interstate visitors
     (19%) and International visitors (4%);
•    36% of respondents were aged between 41-60 years and 28% were aged between 26-
     40 years;
•    Of the Noosa respondents, outside of the Free Holiday Buses, nearly 55% only catch a
     bus once a year and 20% never catch a bus. The main reason cited for not catching
     public transport was cost; and
•    When asked if there were free buses year round, would you/your household consider
     reducing the number of vehicles you owned, 63% of respondents said yes.




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