Locally Owned Buses in Lothian (Lothian Buses Edinburgh)

Member Name: rosebud2001

Product:	Lothian Buses Edinburgh
Date:	01/10/08 (501 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Clean buses, good service, excellent value for money

Disadvantages: None

Lothian Buses is the company which runs the local bus service in Edinburgh.

Formerly known as Lothian Regional Transport (LRT) it was formed in 1996 and carried the LRT name up until 2000 when Lothian Buses was born.

Uniquely in Scotland, it is municipally owned with the majority of the company owned by the City of Edinburgh council.

The company runs buses city wide and to outlying towns such as Penicuik, Seton Sands and Tranent. The network runs most buses through the city centre, with the vast majority passing on or near to Princes Street. Leith is also a major interchange area in the city.

The buses are by and large very clean and pleasant to use. I really notice a difference when I travel on Lothian Buses compared to buses run elsewhere by privately owned companies. The staff on Lothian Buses are always well presented and very helpful, particularly with the large number of tourists Edinburgh attracts.

The fare structure is very simple. There is a flat fare system in operation and it costs £1.10 per one way journey for adults, and 60p for children. Child fares are for children aged between 5 and 15. If you are planning on taking more than 2 bus journeys in a day its well worth purchasing a day ticket which costs £2.50 for adults and £2 for children.

If you are a regular commuter, 1 week, 4 week and annual Ridacards are available from Travelshops within the city and can be topped up at various Pay Points citywide.

Most buses within Edinburgh are double decker buses but some routes have single deckers. The most frequent service is probably the number 22 bus which travels from Ocean Terminal shopping centre in the north to the Gyle Centre in the west, serving the Scottish Government offices, Leith and Princes Street on the way. It runs using a single decker bus but uses a guided busway in the Stenhouse area of the city to speed up bus times on what can be a very congested route.

Buses are always very clean and more modern buses have CCTV cameras and wheelchair access.

There has been something of a local commotion lately over misuse of wheelchair spaces by mothers with prams. Prams have always been banned on Lothian Buses but with the lowering floors on buses and wheelchair spaces this seems to have been ignored by both drivers and mothers with pushchairs which seem to be to get bigger with every passing year and most certainly can't be folded.

As disabled passengers have been unable to board buses due to a small minority of mothers being unwilling or unable to fold the buggies their babies are in, Lothian Buses published guidelines for all drivers regarding which kind of pushchairs could, or could not, be allowed on without being folded.

Sadly some mothers, aided and abetted by the local press, seem to think this constitutes a total ban on mothers being allowed on the bus with their buggies - however the truth of the matter is prams have always been banned from buses and Lothian are merely explaining clearly their position that foldable small pushchairs are welcome - its the larger non-folding prams that aren't.

It is also worth mentioning that by law the disabled space on the bus is for a disabled person - and any pram, pushchair or bulky luggage items have to be moved to allow a disabled person to board.

Personally I think if someone refuses to move to make way for a disabled person an on the spot fine should be issued - this would, I think, be an excellent deterrent.

Lothian Buses also operates an excellent service to Edinburgh Airport, the number 100. This is a double decker bus with extra luggage space and it runs very frequently - you rarely have to wait longer than 10 minutes for a bus to or from the airport. The bus runs through Corstorphine in the west of the city and serves Edinburgh Zoo, Murrayfield, Haymarket Station and the West End, Princes Street and Edinburgh Waverley station. The bus runs through the night too.

The city also has a good network of night buses, with some services running all week and others only running on early Saturday and Sunday mornings. These buses cost slightly more than the usual fares and if you bought a day ticket this won't be valid.

It costs £2.50 for a ticket but this is valid all night and you won't have to pay it again if you need another bus. If you have a Ridacard it costs £1.50.

The company have a comprehensive website which tells you everything you need to know about using the bus service including timetables, fares, news and even that pram policy!

http://www.lothianbuses.com/index2.php

If you are in Edinburgh whether it be on business or pleasure I highly recommend using Lothian Buses to get about - the company know the city well and provide an excellent service.

Update June 2009 - it's worth mentioning that Princes Street is currently closed to traffic due to works installing the new tram line so check the Lothian Buses website to find your bus stop if you are travelling into town.

Summary: If you come to Edinburgh use Lothian to get about!