We’re excited to announce that the popular beach bus will be back from 1 January 2026, helping our community and visitors travel safely from Margaret River town to Gnarabup beach.
At a Special Meeting of Council on 12 November, Council once again supported the provision of a beach bus service for January 2026, with an additional service in the afternoon in response to community requests for an additional afternoon run to align with the last swimming lesson at Gnarabup.
Following the positive uptake and feedback on the Beach Bus service in 2024 and 2025, Council resolved to allocate $25,000 to fund a service from Margaret River to Gnarabup.
In 2025, the beach bus operated daily from 1 – 31 January and resulted in 1,353 one-way trips. A community survey was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the service, understand usage patterns, and gather feedback, which was presented to council in March. This feedback from our community was instrumental in informing Council’s decision to fund this community service in January 2026.
Shire of Augusta Margaret River President Julia Jean-Rice said that Council was pleased to support this initiative again based on the strong community support revealed in the survey results.
“The beach bus was really popular among our community, with 95.8 per cent of users stating they were a resident.”
“Survey respondents also told us that the service helped reduce parking and traffic stress, provided independence for teenagers and access for those without a car, and helped reduce emissions,” said President Jean-Rice.
One parent said that the beach bus was a ticket to freedom for teenagers during school holidays whilst parents were working, helping get the kids out of the house, off their devices and doing something positive. Another parent said that the bus was amazing for getting to VacSwim swimming lessons.
“While the results were really positive, we also recognise that our community wants to see more destinations and stops added to the routes,” Ms Jean-Rice added.
“This forms part of our long-term strategy to secure a permanent public transport service for our entire community.”
“We’ve been advocating for this and thanks to these efforts, the Public Transport Authority is currently undertaking a feasibility study into public transport services throughout the Shire.”
“If the Minister for Transport endorses the implementation of a public transport service within the Shire, we anticipate that coastal routes will be incorporated.”
“Passenger numbers using this Beach Bus initiative will help inform their decision-making and encourages the Public Transport Authority to implement a public transport service in our Shire,” Ms Jean-Rice added.
Public transport has been identified as a community priority through various community consultation, and as a result has been referenced in the Shire’s Strategic Community Plan 2025-35, Empowering Youth Plan 2022-27, Age Friendly Community Plan 2024-28, Climate Action Plan 2020-30 and the Sustainable Economy Strategy 2021-25.
More information and updates on the beach bus service including operating hours will be released shortly.
For more information from the Special Meeting of Council, click here.