The hop-on, hop-off Explorer bus, which has toured some of Katoomba and Leura's most popular sites daily since 1986, is being reduced to a Saturday-only service.
It's another victim of COVID-19, said Fantastic Aussie Tours managing director, Jason Cronshaw.
Customer numbers fell significantly last year after the country's borders were closed. But it was the introduction of compulsory face masks that really sounded the death knell for the once popular service.
Last Friday, for example, one bus trip had just two customers on board.
"Before the announcement on masks we were still losing money running it but we were still running it to stay alive and be part of the industry," Mr Cronshaw said.
"Numbers have plummeted. Financially it's just not worth doing it."
Numbers have plummeted. Financially it's just not worth doing it.
- Jason Cronshaw
The Saturday-only service will mean just four circuits of the Upper Mountains towns, rather than 11.
"Hopefully with the people who do come for the weekend, we'll still be getting some people on it," Mr Cronshaw said.
The company will run to its normal timetable for the four days over Easter but then reconsider the long-term future of the service.
Fantastic Aussie Tours had to make a couple of people redundant in the aftermath of the bushfires and just as COVID-19 hit but has been sustained since by JobKeeper payments, albeit with significantly reduced hours for staff.
"Anyone who was full-time is working 15 hours a week and all our casuals, about 20 of them, the vast majority haven't worked since Christmas and those who have had only a couple of shifts," Mr Cronshaw said.
And while Australians were travelling locally, they were spending on accommodation, food and drink, not on attractions, he said.