BUS STOPS ARE WHERE THE PEOPLE WANT THEM

RE City Bus Stops Must Go ( GA 6/1), why should the views of Bill Votsaris be given more prominence than those of the 1.3 million people a year who board at our central bus hub?

Mr Votsaris claims, without any evidence, that removing the stops will result in “amazing activation” in Moorabool St.

The fact is that between 2005-10, when there were no bus stops in Moorabool St, shops there continued to close.

That’s because the main reason strip shopping in central Geelong is under pressure is the dominating presence of the huge Westfield shopping mall. Mr Votsaris effectively wants to condemn Geelong to even greater reliance on car use, which will inevitably result in even more traffic congestion and increased parking problems.

The more than a million people who board at the Moorabool St bus stops every year use the shops and keep appointments in the central city without adding to our traffic and parking woes.

People have voted with their feet — the bus stops are obviously where people find them to be most useful.

From 2005 and 2010, when Geelong’s central bus stops were scattered over nine separate locations, public transport patronage dropped markedly.

If public transport is to work effectively, and help ease our traffic and parking problems, bus stops must be where people want to go, and interchanges between different routes must be convenient and simple.

Ingrid Hindell, North Geelong