A recent Councilor Column by City of Greater Geelong councillor Andrew Katos in the Geelong Times raised concerns about newly constructed bus stops on Ghazeepore Road that remain unused due to accessibility compliance issues. While the article focuses on the inconvenience to motorists and the frustration of delayed activation, it misses a more fundamental point: public transport infrastructure should be designed around the needs of bus passengers first. The situation on Ghazeepore Road highlights broader problems in how bus stops are planned and prioritised across Geelong.
Cr Katos’ article unfortunately illustrates a deeper problem in how transport infrastructure is often approached by the City of Greater Geelong. The central concern expressed is the disruption to motorists, while the year-long disruption to bus users is barely acknowledged.
If these stops have remained unused for months because they do not meet accessibility standards, that is not simply an unfortunate technicality. It points to a failure in the planning process. Accessibility requirements are not new, and infrastructure intended for public transport passengers should be designed correctly from the outset rather than needing post-construction fixes.
The design being defended also raises real operational issues. Indented bus bays often place the bus door well away from the shelter and waiting area. When shelters are located 20 or so metres from where the bus actually stops, passengers must move from the shelter to the bus once it arrives. This creates additional difficulty for people with mobility challenges and increases dwell time at each stop while passengers walk to the door.
Across multiple stops along a route, those delays accumulate and make services slower and less reliable. In practice, this can make indented stops worse for passengers than simple kerbside stops where the bus aligns directly with the waiting area.
The article also suggests buses stopping in the traffic lane create risk because motorists attempt to pass them. In reality, drivers attempting to overtake a stopped bus by moving into oncoming traffic are not responding to a design failure, but failing to follow basic road rules safely.
Public transport infrastructure should be designed first and foremost for the people who use it. If the discussion focuses primarily on keeping traffic flowing while treating bus passengers as an afterthought, we risk repeating the same design mistakes again and again.
Quotes attributed to Jarred Crowe, Public Transport Users Association, Geelong Branch Convenor.