The Ministry of Transportation and St George’s Mayor Kenneth Bascome met recently to discuss how to bring more people to the town.Among the topics was the possibility of dredging Town Cut in the hopes of bringing more cruise ships to the town, which has seen numerous businesses close with even more closures still expected.Environmental studies are being done, but both Transportation Minister Terry Lister and Mr Bascome agreed that the public must be fully informed and given the opportunity to voice their opinions before any action is taken.The historic town has been hard struck in recent years, with a dramatic reduction in the number of visiting cruise ships being blamed for the majority of it’s economic woes.Mr Lister and the Mr Bascome, along with Permanent Secretary of Transport Ellen-Kate Horton, also discussed the possibility of arranging tour buses to spend longer in the town, and reopening King’s Square to buses.A Ministry of Transportation spokesman said: “Buses have been banned from St George’s town square for several years. The reason behind the policy was to ensure that visitors toured the Heritage Centre and then walked through the town to the square to be picked up.“However, this is difficult for some of the elderly visitors, so changes are necessary so that all visitors can enjoy their time in St George’s to the fullest extent possible.”Another issue broached in the meeting was a lack of public transportation in the town. According to Mr Bascome, visitors are often being left stranded in the town because taxi drivers do not wait in Town Square because the restaurants in the area are closed.Mr Bascome said: “I’ve had a number of friends who have had friends here complaining that they are not able to get back when they want to.”In order to help resolve the problem, the Mayor and the Minister discussed the possibility of improving the ferry schedule to and from the town.The Mayor said yesterday that the loss of two restaurants and the seasonal closing of a third had hurt the town during the winter months, explaining that restaurants help draw both visitors and locals and encourage them to spend more time in the area.Mr Bascome said: “We have had a few businesses come and a few go, but the restaurants are the most important component of any city or town. Restaurants drive any city or town.“We had the Carriage House, which was our flagship, and we lost that. We had St George and the Dragon, and now that’s up for sale. The White Horse is closed for the season until April.“Wahoo’s and the Tavern by the Sea are doing quite well. We thank them for sticking this out.”Despite the challenges, Mr Bascome said he felt the situation in the town would improve, with the support from Government, the business community, and the public as a whole.Mr Lister called the meeting “frank and positive,” and said the transportation issues discussed during the conversation will be reviewed in order to benefit both visitors and business people in the town.“I look forward to doing our part to do everything we can to revitalise this important piece of our overall tourism product,” Mr Lister said.