During a recent visit to Edinburgh I had the pleasure of travelling on the Lothian Buses, and it certainly was a pleasure.

The Buses

The buses themselves all look new - I didn't see a scruffy one during the whole of my fortnight's stay in Edinburgh! The buses were clean and even the seats were all comfortable!

They all have CCTV on board to deter anti social behaviour and I didn't see any signs of it so maybe that's working. I don't know how long it has been in operation so I can't make too many assumptions I suppose.

The buses have ramps so that wheelchair users and parents with pushchairs can all board easily. There are designated spaces on the ground floor of the buses for the wheelchairs and their riders to be safe on board.

The Fares

This is the best part of the whole service - there is only one fare. Adults pay £1.10 (£1.20) and children pay 60p (70p) for any one journey of any length. Day tickets can also be purchased for £2.50 (£3) for an adult and £2 (£2.40) for a child giving a full day's unlimited travel on all Lothian buses.

The prices in brackets are the new fares as from 18th January 2009 but, as you can see, they are still excellent value.

There are ticket machines near some of the bus stops so you can purchase your ticket before you board the bus.

A night ticket will cost you £2.50 for all night travel after midnight and the buses are at least hourly even at night. It sounds like a good way to help cut back on drink driving incidents and it is certainly a lot cheaper than a taxi!

There is also something called Ridacard which are longer term passes valid for 1 week, 4 weeks or one year. The best value is the annual one paid for by direct debit. These give unlimited travel for the duration of the pass together with £1 discount on a night ticket.

Frequency

Obviously this depends on the route in question but they seemed to range from 5 - 10 minutes for the really popular routes to half hourly for the less popular ones. Even during the night there is a least one bus an hour sometimes a lot more.

Conclusion

I hope all of you who live in the area appreciate how good this service is! I have never before been anywhere with a 24 hour bus service, with such a high standard of buses at such a low price! I was extremely impressed!