Call to keep city bus stops
SCATTERING bus stops around the Geelong CBD will reduce bus patronage and put pressure on parking spots already at a premium in the city, the Public Transport Users Association says.
Geelong convener Paul Westcott said having bus stops around the city during the early 2000s had failed.
“Public transport only works well as a connected series of routes; as a network where people can get on and off buses in the same area. It needs to be competitive with car travel,” Mr Westcott said.
His position is a rebuke of Geelong developer Bill Votsaris’s call to have bus stops scattered around the city to improve trade and amenity in Moorabool St.
“Bill Votsaris’s suggestion to spread the bus stops out has already happened (in the early 2000s) and led to a decrease in bus usage,” he said.
Mr Westcott agreed that the amenity in Moorabool St would be improved if there were multiple bus stops between Ryrie and Malop streets, but he believes all routes should still operate via the major thoroughfare.
“Most people who are using a bus want to get off in the city not at the station,” he said.
Mr Westcott said bus use had risen by 6 per cent in the past year, and more than 1.3 million trips were taken annually from the Moorabool St bus interchange.
“The more people that use public transport the less traffic and the fewer parking problems,” he said.
“If you just rely on cars there will never be enough parking as the population of Geelong continues to grow.
“Buses are part of the solution and they need to operate as part of a connected network to be successful.”
Earlier this week Mr Votsaris, who spearheaded the transformation of the west end of Little Malop St, said the interchange should be moved from Moorabool St and bus stops scattered around the city.
“The interchange should not be in the premier street of Geelong. By having the bus shelters there you basically eliminate the most valuable pieces of retail real estate in the (CBD),” he said.
The Transport Department has floated a plan to move the Moorabool St bus interchange into the middle of the street.