Hundreds of customers are expected to benefit from the extension of two bus services to leading shopping and leisure destination Fort Kinnaird. Continue reading New Lothian bus routes to Fort Kinnaird
Tag: public transport
Lothian Buses service changes next month
Lothian Buses will be making changes to services across the network from 23 April. Continue reading Lothian Buses service changes next month
Letters: Public support for truly public services
Dear Editor
One of the problems and difficulties most working people have is making ends meet. In most cases, and for many years, wages have been heavily restricted but prices have risen and local services have been repeatedly cut back.
It is no wonder people are searching about for solutions, or in some cases someone to blame. The press, television, etc. have entered the fray in a devisive way, fuelling the blame game on individuals or groups, not dealing with the basic causes of being unable to manage.
To survive, everyone needs electricity and/or gas supplies for heating, cooking and lighting – yet the main supply of these basic needs are in the hands of just six companies who extract millions upon millions of pounds for shareholders: money that could be used by the industries to benefit everyone.
This is a crazy way to run essential services; one most people would agree should be changed.
To survive, most people need transport by rail, bus or tram to access their workplace, paying high fares to do so. Again, these essential services are mostly operated by private companies – and again, most people would agree this should be changed.
These two industries, energy supplies and passenger transport, should operate for the benefit of all. Millions of people would agree with this and vote for it.
The Conservative Party and UKIP will never put working people before the shareholders, the Labour Party would and will do so. This puts the real reason for the non-stop anti-Labour, anti-Jeremy Corbyn campaign into perspective.
A. Delahoy
Silverknowes Gardens
What should we do with George Street?
Have your say on the future of George Street
Edinburgh residents are being invited to help shape the future of one of the city’s best-known streets. An open day to be held tomorrow will offer an opportunity to meet the designers working on a long-term vision for George Street.
Participants can give their views on a year-long trial in the street, which has seen the introduction of a dedicated two-way cycle lane and a one-way system for general traffic and buses.
They will also be invited to contribute ideas and opinions on a permanent layout, with the drop-in session featuring four themes for George Street: A Civic Place, A Place for Living, A Place for Enterprise and A Place for Movement.
Transport Convener, Councillor Lesley Hinds, said: “Throughout this trial we have involved the public to ensure changes take into account the users of the street, and I think that’s reflected in the positive feedback we’ve received along the way.
“Now, as the trial draws to a close, we want to include those who live, work and travel on George Street to help us decide its future, and that’s why it’s so important that people come along to our open day to give their views on a long term plan.
“Making the city centre a great place to be is about striking a balance between work and leisure, practicality and atmosphere – and I think that by working together we can achieve that.”
Throughout the trial, regular ‘stakeholder engagement’ and on-street interviews with passers-by (approximately 100 per month) have gathered feedback from the public.
Amongst the findings were the importance of cycling facilities to the future of the street to respondents, the need for George Street to be accessible to all and the preference for symmetry in any long-term designs.
Ironside Farrar have been appointed until October 2015 to turn the information gathered into design principles, which will be presented with the concluding report on the George Street Experimental Traffic Regulation Order (ETRO) to Committee in November.
The George Street ETRO finishes on 6 September, when the street’s layout will revert to that of pre-September 2014, when the trial began. This means both sides of carriageway will be open and the cycle lane removed, as will all marquees and decking. An interim cycle facility will then be introduced, as approved by Transport and Environment Committee on 2 June.
The open day will be held at the Roxburghe Hotel
on Thursday 13 August, from 3pm to 7pm.
Our bus is coming back!
Victory for community councils bus campaign
Local residents will be able to get a 42 bus to Craigleith Retail Park again from October. Lothian Buses have agreed to reinstate the service and support the alteration to the 42 route following a joint appeal by local community councils.
Drylaw Telford Community Council chairman Alex Dale, who coordinated the campaign, said local residents will be delighted to hear the news. “The 42 service into the Retail Park has been missed and I’m often being asked: ‘when are we getting our bus back?’ It’s taken a while but it’s great to be able to tell people that the service is to be reinstated from the beginning of October. It’s good news and I hope local people will take the opportunity to use the service.”
Drylaw Telford CC joined forces with Stockbridge Inverleith, Blackhall Craigleith and Muirhouse Salvesen community councils to petition for the return of the service back in March, and Alex received confirmation from Lothian Buses earlier this week that the 42 will return to the local Retail Park this autumn.
The service was withdrawn because traffic problems around the shopping centre caused delays and disruption to the timetable, but it’s hoped that improvements to traffic signalling will reduce excessive delays.
A spokesperson for Lothian Buses confirmed that the 42 bus service will return to Craigleith Shopping Centre from 4 October on Monday – Fridays as a trial.
New bus stops at Royal Infirmary
Two new bus stops will open at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh from tomorrow (Monday 25 May). The new routes will see buses coming from town, and out of town. travelling through the site.
One of the new stops will be located on Little France Crescent, with the other situated between the University of Edinburgh Chancellor’s Building and the University of Edinburgh Queen’s Medical Research Institute (click here for large map).
The main bus terminal moved from the West to East side of the site in May 2014 and the loop road, which runs around the site, has now been redeveloped to allow buses to pass through.
This development forms part of a programme of works which have been carried out to prepare the site for the new £150 million Royal Hospital for Sick Children and Department of Clinical Neurosciences.
Work started on the new hospital in early 2015 and the new building is anticipated to open to patients in autumn 2017.
Brian Currie, Project Director, Royal Hospital for Sick Children and Department of Clinical Neurosciences said: “The majority of the road works have now been completed and I would like to thank patients, visitors and the public for their understanding as these developments have taken place.
“The new hospital will conjoin the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh via a link building between both adult and child Emergency Departments. This link building will run across Little France Crescent and therefore the need to reconfigure the bus routes has been an important part of the construction programme.
“We would again like to thank you for your understanding as construction of the new hospital and work to redevelop departments within the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh continues.”
www.nhslothian.scot.nhs.uk/riecampus for more details.
Taxi! Keir calls for tighter legislation
‘Public safety is everything’ – SNP MSP Colin Keir
SNP MSP for Edinburgh Western Colin Keir has called for tighter legislation of taxis and private hire cars during a Holyrood debate on the Air Rifles and Licensing Bill.
Mr Keir is supporting moves to introduce a test for Private Hire Car drivers as well as tightening the legislation on booking offices. He also called on vehicles which are currently exempt from the licensing system to be included on the grounds of public safety.
Mr Keir said: “The legislation which deals with taxis and private hire cars was drawn up as a part of the 1982 Civic Government Scotland Act and needs to be amended. The use of mobile phones and apps were not known years ago and the law and the trade have to adapt to modern circumstances.”
Mr Keir added: “Everyone who uses a taxi or private hire car must know that it is safe to get into a vehicle and must have confidence that there’s a fit and proper person behind the wheel – public safety is everything.”
Service 29 at the double!
Customer demand drives bus service upgrades
Increased frequencies in the evening and at weekends plus extra capacity are just some of the changes being introduced by Lothian Buses at the end of March. Local service improvements include the 29 becoming a double decker and there will be increased frequencies for 23 and 27 on Saturdays – you’ll get one every twelve minutes.
Services have been reviewed in response to customer feedback and passenger demand, resulting in a range of improvements that aim to maintain high satisfaction rates.
Sarah Boyd, Head of Operations, said: “Our changes reflect our continued commitment to our customers at a time when more and more people are relying on public transport to travel around our city. Our research has shown that the vast majority of our passengers will benefit from these changes and will see an improved service as a result. We will continue to monitor all our services to ensure we are providing the best possible transport network for the people of Edinburgh.”
- Service 5 will see its frequency increased with buses now running every 10 minutes Monday to Friday during the daytime.
- Service 7 will run 24/7, with increased frequency during the day Monday to Friday and in the evening Monday to Saturday. New service N7 will be introduced running hourly each night.
- Sunday services doubled in frequency with services 8 and 21 to run every 15 minutes daytime and service 47 to run every 30 minutes daytime.
- Services 11 and 16 will have Sunday frequencies increased to every 12 minutes daytime and every 15 minutes in the evening. Additionally service N11 is extended to Ocean Terminal, meaning both services now run 24/7 on their full routes.
- Service 15 will have a revised route and timetable to create a quicker and more direct service from Penicuik.
- Services 23 & 27 will have Saturday daytime frequencies increased to every 12 minutes.
- Service 29 is converted to double-deck to provide more capacity. All Monday to Friday peak journeys will operate to Gorebridge with Mayfield no longer being served.
- Service 37 will see alterations in Midlothian. On Monday to Friday alternate daytime journeys will terminate at Easter Bush and will not serve Penicuik. Journeys which continue to Penicuik Deanburn will additionally serve Roslin. Roslin will now have a significantly enhanced bus service with service 37 and N37 providing a full 24/7 service. On Saturdays and Sunday service 37 will continue to run every 20 minutes during the day, with all buses running to Penicuik Deanburn via Roslin.
- Service 40 has been altered to serve Auchendinny ensuring local links to Penicuik and Loanhead are retained following the withdrawal of service 15 from the village.
- Service 41 will be increased at busy times to provide an alternative to service 43, which is withdrawn due to insufficient passenger numbers. Service 43 operated between Barnton and Waterloo Place, which is also covered by the service 41.
- Following customer feedback service 63 will be re-routed to serve Hermiston Gait Retail Park instead of South Gyle Crescent. The Monday to Friday frequency is increased to every 40 minutes with later journeys introduced. On Saturday and Sunday earlier and later journeys will be introduced.
- Following requests from passengers service 104 will now serve The Jewel instead of Brunstane.
- Service 113 is increased in frequency Monday to Saturday with buses now running every 30 minutes during the day. This will provide more capacity along the route and provide more direct journeys for Tranent following the withdrawal of service 44 from the town.
Nightbus services are also improving, notably:
- Service N3 – better links to Eskbank through the night on all days of the week.
- Service N7 – new route introduced from the Royal Infirmary to Ocean Terminal via Newhaven. This will run hourly each night, following the daytime route of Service 7.
- Service N11 – route extended from Leith Street to Ocean Terminal serving Pilrig, Bonnington Toll and Newhaven.
- Service N37 – serving Roslin on all days of the week, providing the village with a full 24/7 service.
Lothian Buses will have street teams promoting the service improvements starting on Saturday 14 March at Penicuik Centre between 9am and 2pm. Following this event staff will be travelling on buses in the Midlothian and Tranent areas in the two weeks leading up to the change to assist passengers with any questions.
The company reported last May that it had its best year ever in 2013 with a net profit of £8.5m, an increase of 7.8% on the previous year. It also announced it would pay a dividend of nearly £3.3m to local authority shareholders.
In December Lothian Buses announced bus passengers were up from 115.4 million to 118.4 million in 2014.
Last year the company also invested £15m in 65 new low emission and ultra-low emission buses that will significantly impact on improving the city’s air quality and lower carbon emissions.
Full details of the schedule changes are available at www.lothianbuses.com.
Is twenty plenty? Have your say!
The City of Edinburgh Council proposes to introduce 20mph speed limits for large parts of the city centre, main shopping streets and other residential streets.
You can find out more – and give your opinions – at an information session in North Local Office, West Pilton Gardens, on Wednesday 3 September from 10am – 1pm.
Alternatively, you can express your views online at www.edinburgh.gov.uk/20mph
Maps detailing the proposals will be on display in local libraries from 1 September, and if you need more info you can also email 20mph@edinburgh.gov.uk
All comments must be received by 17 October – so don’t put it off!
On the Move in Inverleith
You may recall that we paid tribute to talented Broughton High School students in a previous post about the recent Inverleith Neighbourhood Partnership community conference.
Well, on top of everything else the pupils did to ensure the conference was a success, they also took a few photographs of the event – correction, a few hundred photographs! A (very) small sample is included with this conference report by Broughton pupil Robbie Thomson:
It is always refreshing when Edinburgh youths and local residents alike are provided with the opportunity to pose any queries or concerns they may have in regards to their community. Even more encouraging is when people with the power to influence and change take the time out to listen.
Broughton High School was the venue for the Inverleith Neighbourhood Partnership Community Conference on 15 November, with a focus on transport. Presented by North Edinburgh News’ very own Mr. Dave Pickering, around 100 attendees were given an opportunity to engage in open discussion with key figures of transport in Edinburgh.
The set-up consisted of six different tables; parking, winter weather, road safety, road maintenance, walking/cycling and public transport. Attendees at each table rotated throughout the course of the evening, offering everyone the chance to make their voice heard.
Mr. Tony Lear of Edinburgh City Council discussed winter weather issues at length, and with an admirable clarity. He claimed £750,000 has been funded to the local authorities by the Scottish Government to prevent expansion and water retention in potholes throughout the winter, while also confirming that more funds are to be set aside from the revenue budget for off-road cycle paths. This winter will see pre-treatment and gritting on North Edinburgh cycle paths for the first time. Mr. Lear also noted that local care homes, sheltered accommodation and school access routes are to receive priority treatment.
As parents attended in large numbers, road safety was a particular topic of interest. Many parents raised issues over the poor lighting in local streets over the winter months, and the crossing difficulties at the bottom of East Fettes Avenue. Miss Helen Bourquin also addressed concerns over cycling restrictions in the Comely Bank area.
While the cycling infrastructure in the local area was generally praised, Mr. Phil Noble announced that design standards for walking and cycling in Edinburgh are soon to be revised. The Scottish Government have also recently increased the budget for the marketing of walking and cycling. Mr. Noble also stated that in the next year, 5% of the total transport budget (around £16 million) is to be spent on cycling, which would amount to around £1.5-2 million. There was also praise for Mr. Ian Bieniowski in regards to Lothian Buses pricing system, customer service and general consistency.
Certainly worthy of a special thanks are Broughton High senior pupils Fraser Young and Calum Chapman. Voluntarily, they again devoted their time towards helping set up the technical aspects of the evening, an essential aspect in the event’s overall success – particularly the ‘warm-up’ musical performances from Broughton pupils. The pair regularly volunteer their technical knowledge and organisational acumen in all events throughout the school – they couldn’t have done it without them!
The only downside of an otherwise very encouraging evening was the technical issue with the event’s twitter feed. Broughton High School pupils who had volunteered to help out were given I-Pads to regularly update the event’s twitter feed through the hashtag #inverleithconf, but the server became unresponsive midway through the event.
Nevertheless, the evening generated very positive feedback, on the whole. It would appear that the future is bright for the local residents as far as transport is concerned.
Robbie Thomson, Broughton High School
