FREE Tiger Bus to stop at Cataract Gorge

Published on 04 January 2019

The City of Launceston's free Tiger Bus service will add three daily stops to the Cataract Gorge during the busy holiday season.

City of Launceston Mayor Albert van Zetten said the increased service will be on a trial basis from January 5 through to Easter (April 20), seven days a week.

Mayor van Zetten said the Council will then evaluate the success of the trial in March 2019.

"About 6000 people visit the First Basin every day and we believe this addition to the free Tiger Bus daily service will only improve visitation numbers to what already is one of the most popular attractions in Launceston," Mayor van Zetten said.

The service to the First Basin car park will leave Inveresk daily at 9.30am, 12.40pm and 3.50pm Monday through to Sunday.

It will return from the First Basin car park at 9.50am, 1pm and 4.10pm, via the St John Street stop to Inveresk. The trip will take about 30 minutes.

Since its inception in 2009, the FREE Tiger Bus has travelled the city's streets each weekday, ferrying people between community facilities like the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, the Launceston Leisure and Aquatic Centre, the Launceston General Hospital, the Seaport and City Park.

The Tiger Bus service has carried more than 500,000 passengers, averaging almost 60,000 passengers a year.

"With the number of tourists increasing dramatically over the January holiday period, we fully expect this new service to be very well patronised," Mayor van Zetten said.

"But it's just not tourists that will benefit - we know very well how popular the Cataract Gorge is for locals during the summer months. I have no doubt that this additional service to the Gorge will be well patronised.

"And of course, it's totally free to use -- people just hop on and off at whichever stops they like, no need for tickets or anything like that."

The new service addition will start from January 5, 2019.

 The new timetable for the FREE Tiger Bus can be found here.