Shore into the city were once a common form of public transportation, but with lack of government funding, as well as a lack of interest from the private sector, there has been the demise of a regular commuter ferry service – leaving Hobart's commuters relying solely on travel by automobiles and buses. There is however a water taxi service operating from the Eastern Shore into Hobart which provides an alternative to the Tasman Bridge. In 2021, State Government trialed a ferry service that operates on the Derwent between Brooke Street Pier and Bellerive. Due to the success of the trial, the ferry service was made permanent, with more than 2100 passengers in the first three weeks.

Hobart is served by Hobart International Airport with flights to/from Adelaide, Auckland, Brisbane, Canberra, Gold Coast, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, and regional destinations including the Bass Strait islands. The smaller Cambridge Aerodrome mainly serves small charter airlines offering local tourist flights. In the past decade, Hobart International Airport received a huge upgrade, with the airport now being a first class airport facility.

In 2009, it was announced that Hobart Airport would receive more upgrades, including a first floor, aerobridges (currently, passengers must walk on the tarmac) and shopping facilities. Possible new international flights to Asia and New Zealand, and possible new domestic flights to Darwin and Cairns have been proposed. A second runway, possibly to be constructed in the next 15 years, would assist with growing passenger numbers to Hobart. Hobart Control Tower may be renovated and fitted with new radar equipment, and the airport's carpark may be extended further. Also, new facilities will be built just outside the airport. A new service station, hotel and day care centre have already been built and the road leading to the airport has been maintained and re-sealed. In 2016, work began on a 500-metre extension of the existing runway in addition to a $100 million upgrade of the airport. The runway extension is expected to allow international flights to land and increase air-traffic with Antarctica. This upgrade was, in part, funded under a promise made during the 2013 federal election by the Abbott government.

On 9 August 2021, the Derwent River Ferry (owned by Roche Brothers' Navigator Group) was initiated as a year-long trial servicing between Brooke Street Pier in Hobart centre to Bellerive Pier on the eastern shore.[80] A one-way trip takes approximately 15 minutes, and the ferry operates on all weekdays, but not weekends. It starts the day at Bellerive and departs 8 times there from 6:20 am as the first time and 5:30 pm as the last (40-minute intervals), before returning from Brooke St Pier at 5:50 pm to Bellerive for the next day. The ferry provides a convenient alternative to crossing the Tasman Bridge, with its purpose being to reduce traffic congestion at a cost of $175.5 million. It can hold 107 passengers as well as 15 bicycle spots on-board. It is seen as a first step in diversifying Hobart's transportation infrastructure to solve traffic problems that involves taking cars off the road rather than increasing capacity.

Notable residents Hobart

Arts

Asta, singer-songwriter
Phillip Borsos, director and producer, best known for his films The Mean Season (1985) and One Magic Christmas (1985)
Saroo Brierley, author of A Long Way Home, adapted into the 2016 film Lion.
Jeanine Claes, artist, dancer, choreographer and dance teacher
Essie Davis, actress
Richard Flanagan, author
Errol Flynn, Hollywood actor
Frederick Frith, painter and photographer
Lisa Gormley, English-born Australian actress best known for playing Bianca Scott on the Channel 7 serial drama Home and Away
Lucky Grills, best known for portraying the unconventional detective "Bluey" Hills in the television series Bluey in 1976.
Robert Grubb, actor
John Harwood, writer and poet
Ernest, Tasman and Arthur Higgins, brothers and pioneering cinematographers during the silent era
Don Kay, Australian classical composer
William Kermode, artist
Constantine Koukias, Greek-Australian composer and flautist
Louise Lovely, the first Australian motion picture actress to find success in Hollywood
Dennis Miller, actor best known for his recurring role on Blue Heelers as Ex-Sergeant Pat Doyle (1994–2000).
Richard Morgan, most noted for playing the long-running role of Terry Sullivan in the Australian television series The Sullivans.
Tara Morice, actress
Gerda Nicolson, actress
Len Reynolds, illustrator, caricaturist, painter, cartoonist
Glenn Richards, musician, singer, songwriter and guitarist with Augie March
Brian Ritchie, musician, bassist of Violent Femmes
Clive Sansom, poet and playwright
Don Sharp, actor
Michael Siberry, actor
Jaason Simmons, actor best known for his role as life guard Logan Fowler in the TV series Baywatch
Freya Stafford, actress who has appeared on TV programs such as Head Start and White Collar Blue and the 2010 horror film The Clinic
Will Upson, pianist and composer, immigrated from the UK
Amali Ward, Australian Idol Season 2 finalist
Charles Woolley, photographer and artist

Sports

Darrel Baldock - Australian Rules footballer. Captain of St Kilda 1966 Grand Final victory over Collingwood. Legend status in the AFL Hall of Fame.
Scott Bowden – Australian cyclist
Al Bourke – Australian boxer of the 1940s, and 1950s
Josh Burdon – Australian racing driver
Roy Cazaly – Australian rules footballer who died in 1963 in Hobart, member of the Australian Football Hall of Fame
Adam Coleman, rugby union player
Rodney Eade – Australian rules footballer who played 259 games for Hawthorn and the Bears, former head coach of the Western Bulldogs until Round 21, 2011 and former head coach of the Gold Coast Suns.
David Foster – World Champion woodchopper
Ryan Foster – Middle-distance runner and first Tasmanian to break the 4-minute mile.
Brendon Gale – former Australian rules footballer, and is CEO of the Richmond Football Club
Royce Hart – Australian rules footballer, member of the Australian Football Hall of Fame with legend status and member of the Team of the Century
Peter Hudson AM – Australian rules footballer, considered one of the greatest full-forwards in the game's history, when playing for Glenorchy he kicked 616 goals in 81 games with some records stating he instead kicked 769 goals; he is also a member of the Australian Football Hall of Fame
Peter 'Percy' Jones – Australian rules footballer, played 249 games for the Carlton Blues in the VFL
Eddie Ockenden – midfielder and striker for Australia's national hockey team, the Kookaburras
Tim Paine – Australian cricketer and wicketkeeper
Alex Peroni – Australian racing driver
Steve Randell – Australian Test cricket match umpire; convicted of 15 counts of sexual assault against nine schoolgirls
Jack Riewoldt – Premiership winning Australian rules footballer for Richmond, winner of the 2010 and 2012 Coleman and Jack Dyer Medal, cousin of Nick.
Nick Riewoldt – Australian rules footballer, former captain of the St Kilda Football Club
Ian Stewart – Australian rules footballer who played 127 games for St Kilda, including the club's first (and thus far only) Premiership in 1966; he is also a member of the Australian Football Hall of Fame with legend status and a triple Brownlow Medal winner
Max Walker – Australian rules footballer and Australian cricketer, media commentator and motivational speaker
Paul Williams – Australian Rules footballer who played 306 games for Collingwood and Sydney, also previously caretaker coach of the Western Bulldogs
Cameron Wurf – Australian road cyclist and member of the Cannondale Pro Cycling Team

Others
Elizabeth Blackburn, Nobel Prize-winning biological researcher
Bob Brown, retired politician, former leader of the Australian Greens
William Buckley, escaped convict who lived with the native Wathaurung people on the Bellarine Peninsula for over 30 years
Alec Campbell, longest surviving war veteran from the Gallipoli Campaign
Peter Conrad, academic and author, teaching at Christ Church, Oxford
Mary Donaldson, Crown Princess of Denmark
Helene Chung Martin, journalist and author, notable for being the first reporter of Asian descent to report on the ABC
Bernard Montgomery, general who grew up in Hobart; served in both world wars and is famous for his victory at the battle of El Alamein
Alexander Pearce, convict and cannibal
Joseph Potaski, convict and first Pole to come to Australia
Harry Smith, Officer Commanding D Company, 6 RAR during the Battle of Long Tan in the Vietnam War
Ernest Ewart Unwin, educationist
David Walsh, art collector and founder of the Museum of Old and New Art
Charles Wooley, journalist, most famous for his role on Channel Nine's 60 Minutes

Sister cities

Yaizu, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan (1977)
L'Aquila, Abruzzo, Italy (1980)
Valdivia, Los Ríos, Chile (1998)
Xi'an, Shaanxi, China (2015)
Fuzhou, Fujian, China (2017)
Barile, Basilicata, Italy (2009)