Car Free & Care Free
Congestion on Noosa’s streets can turn a peaceful daytrip into a summer bummer. With Go Noosa’s alternative holiday transport, Georgia Beard discovers how to spend less time in the car and more time at the beach.
There’s one thing we all grumble about when holidays come to Noosa – the traffic. Cars clog up roads and roundabouts, pedestrian crossings turn into battlefields and empty parking spots fade into legend. Instead of sun-soaked sand, lively boulevards and luxury accommodation, you might be spending your daytrip behind the wheel.
We can expect busy streets this summer. After such a turbulent year, the region’s destinations are waving goodbye to COVID-19 and welcoming visitors and locals alike. But there’s no need to battle over street space and carparks!
Thanks to Noosa Council, Go Noosa is bringing serenity to our shores with a convoy of transport alternatives. Give the car a holiday while you walk, hire a bike, ride a free bus or catch the ferry with a frequent traveller pass.
It takes just 20 minutes to ride a bike from Tewantin to Hastings Street, and even faster on an e-bike or e-scooter. You can’t explore Noosa from the car window!
With Noosa Council’s Cycling & Walking Map, get up close and personal with the region and enjoy the benefits of extra exercise too. The Department of Transport and Main Road’s Queensland Household Travel Survey 2018 identified that 12% of car trips in Noosa are less than 2km and 20% are less than 4km – ideal distances for walking or riding. Contact your closest bike hire providers in the Shire for a set of wheels.
You can also jump aboard the free buses within the Shire including the 065 Go Noosa Loop Bus. Running until 23 January, the bus will take you through Hastings Street, Noosa Drive, Weyba Road and Noosa Parade every 15 minutes from 7am to 7pm and every 30 minutes from 7pm to 10pm.
Head into Noosa on the hourly 064 service from Peregian Beach, or head out to the Hinterland on the 632 service from Noosa Junction, Civic or Tewantin to explore the townships of Cooroy, Pomona and Cooran. Park-and-ride by leaving your car at the AFL Grounds on Weyba Road or The J at Noosa Junction before switching to the free bus service. All buses within the Shire are free!
If you fancy getting off the streets entirely, catch the Noosa Ferry up and down the dazzling Noosa River between Noosa Marina and Hastings Street. These holidays, the service is offering frequent traveller passes to locals and tourists.
Noosa Shire residents can pre-purchase the Noosa Ferry Locals Pass which provides a 50% discount on all Ferry services. The card is preloaded with your chosen dollar value and can be used to buy discounted Ferry Cruise Tickets!
Visitors and residents can also take advantage of Noosa Ferry’s 4-in-7 Day Pass, allowing you and your family to travel on the Ferry any four days within seven days from the date of purchase at a saving of 50%. To find out more about, visit www.noosaferry.com
Go Noosa’s public transport services are not only good for your stress levels, it also frees the environment from noise and air pollution.
Vehicles produce 30% of Noosa’s carbon emissions so if we reduce our reliance on cars, we can also reduce the environmental impact to allow the sprawling beaches, rivers and bush trails to flourish for years to come.
Switch to sustainable travel these summer holidays!
Crowds can return without the congestion, reviving our local businesses and our natural surrounds too. For more of Go Noosa’s transport tips, deals and information visit
www.noosa.qld.gov.au
Fun Facts
• Cars take up 7 times more space than bikes.
• In the space it takes to move 2,000 people by car you can move 9,000 by bus or 14,000 by bike.
• A daily 30-minute cycle will burn 8 calories per minute, the equivalent of 11kg of fat in a year.
• Replacing one 10km car trip per week could save up to 104kg of CO2 emissions per year.
