Tag: public transport

Stagecoach: Ditch your car and try the bus for Scottish Bus Week

  • Community events planned across Scotland 
  • Free journeys being offered on vintage buses 
  • Help reduce carbon emissions – one full double decker bus takes 70 cars off the road  

Bus and coach operator, Stagecoach, is celebrating Scottish Bus Week (23 – 29 May) with a range of activities to encourage Scots to ditch their cars and try the bus.

The campaign, run by #LovemyBus, is an opportunity to celebrate bus and the role it can play as a solution to the environment, levelling up, and connecting communities. It is also a chance to show gratitude to those working to provide essential services now and during the pandemic.  

The operator has a range of planned activities across the Scottish regions to raise awareness of the crucial role buses play in local communities. 

The campaign encourages a shift from car to bus use, but also helps reduce emissions, where the average bus journey emits only half of the Co2 per kilometre than the average car journey.   

Community celebrations will include pop-up events in Ayr and Kilmarnock bus stations and a flash mob on an open top bus at Ayr beach. Stagecoach and the Scottish Bus Week team will be handing out freebies, competitions and chatting with communities about the important role bus plays. 

The #LovemyBus youth team will also be visiting local primary schools in East and South Ayrshire for some fun activities and games and classes will benefit from a tour of the latest Alexander Dennis electric buses. 

In East Scotland, there will be a free shuttle bus from Dunfermline Bus Station (stance 13) to the Scottish Vintage Bus Museum on Sunday 29 May for those who want to mark the occasion and see a selection of the best-preserved vintage buses in Scotland. Entry to the museum costs just £5 for adults, or £3 for children and concessions. Alternatively, a family ticket can be purchased for £12, which includes two adults and two children. 

For those who want to join in on the celebrations online, the team at West Scotland are running a Bus Bingo competition every day a new bingo card will be posted on the companies Twitter account @StagecoachWScot, play along while you’re travelling to work or to school and share with friends. 

Sam Greer, Stagecoach Regional Director for Scotland said: “The #LovemyBus team do a brilliant job of raising awareness of the benefits of using the countries bus and coach networks, and helping towards a modal shift from cars to public transport.  

“The teams across Scotland have planned lots of celebration and activities for our people, customers and communities to get involved and back the bus. 

“There has never been a more important time to take action to address the climate emergency and play a part in helping Scotland deliver on its net zero ambitions and by reducing car use and opting to use public transport, we can reduce our carbon footprint to help meet these targets.” 

For more information about the activities in your area, visit:

 https://www.stagecoachbus.com/promos-and-offers/national/scotland-lovemybus 

Stagecoach opens new customer contact centre

Stagecoach officially opens new customer contact centre in Perth, offering improved customer service to communities across the UK

  • Demonstration of continued commitment to customers and communities served 
  • New centre has created over 60 full-time roles 
  • Improved seven-day a week service with extended opening hours 
  • Marks key milestone in its customer transformation strategy  

Stagecoach opened its new customer contact centre on Thursday, based at its headquarters in Perth.   

Stagecoach UK Managing Director Carla Stockton-Jones officially launched the contact centre with local authorities and industry bodies.  

Customers from right across the UK can now use the new one-stop phone and digital contact point. The new multi-skilled team of over 60 new customer service advisors and team leaders will operate an improved seven-day a week service and will move to fully extended opening hours on weekdays and weekends within the year to align better with how people travel.  

Customers can still contact Stagecoach in the usual way via Twitter, Facebook or email and a dedicated advisor will be on hand to support their enquiry. In addition, from this week, customers can now call 0345 241 8000 and speak to someone in the new customer contact centre.   

There will be one easy point of contact that customers can use to speak to a member of the Stagecoach team on any queries they have, including questions about timetables, feedback on services, help with smartcards and lost property.   

Major investment is being made in a new customer relationship management system to help provide tailored support, better understand customers’ end-to-end journeys, and quickly address any emerging common issues.

 Carla Stockton-Jones, UK Managing Director for Stagecoach, said: “This is a clear demonstration of our commitment to providing the best possible service to customers in our drive to a cleaner, greener country and also marks another major milestone in our customer transformation strategy.  

“I am proud of our team who have worked incredibly hard to introduce our new customer contact centre. This is an exciting and major step forward in our plans and from this week, our new customer service team will be serving our customers right across the UK.   

“There is a huge opportunity to attract people to more sustainable public transport in the years ahead as national governments look to move to net zero. Delivering the best experience to every single customer is central to helping people make the switch away from cars to public transport.”  

David Littlejohn, Head of Planning and Development & Chief Planning Officer for Perth and Kinross Council helped to officially launch the event and said: “Stagecoach’s history in Perth stretched back more than four decades and this is a tremendous vote of confidence in the city and its workforce. 

“Sustainable transport is crucial in the fight against climate change and this new customer contact centre will make it easier for people to leave the car at home and travel in a more environmentally-friendly way.”

Bus service changes for May Day bank holiday on Monday

Some changes to services will take effect over the upcoming May Day bank holiday (Monday 2 May).

Lothian will operate a Saturday service on this day, with Services 45 and 47B operating to a public holiday schedule.

EastCoastbuses will operate a normal weekday service, although school services will not operate.

Lothiancountry will operate a normal weekday service.

Lothian’s TravelHubs will also be open as normal.

If you need further assistance, please connect with Lothian on  Twitter, Facebook and Instagram or contact bus information by phoning 0871 200 22 33.

City Centre bus diversions

From today (Wednesday 26 January), Lothian Buses are implementing a temporary diversion to stabilise our network and improve reliability for customers around the east side (York Place/Leith Walk/London Road) area of the city until further notice.

As we look to introduce our Monday to Friday timetables from Monday (31 January), we want to ensure operational network integrity, restore customer confidence and give certainty to our already pressured driving teams.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused to customers and continue to work with the City of Edinburgh Council and the Trams to Newhaven project to mitigate the impact of delays on our services.

Information about diverted services can be found below. If you need any assistance, please reach out on our social media channels – Twitter, Facebook and Instagram – or phone bus information on 0131 555 6363.

Services 1 10 11 16 22 – Eastbound
Princes Street, George Street, Hanover Street, Dundas Street, Great King Street, Drummond Place, London Street, East London Street, Annandale Street (Services 10/11) or Annandale Street, Elm Row, and London Road (Services 1/16/22).

Services 4 25 34 – Eastbound
Princes Street, Waterloo Place, Regent Road, Easter Road (Service 25) or Montrose Terrace (Services 4/34).

Services 5 49 – Northbound
Nicolson Street, Chambers Street, George IV Bridge, The Mound, Hanover Street, George Street, South St. David Street, Princes Street, Waterloo Place, Regent Road, Easter Road (Service 49) or Montrose Terrace (Service 5).

Services 7 14 – Northbound
Nicolson Street, Chambers Street, George IV Bridge, The Mound, Hanover Street, Dundas Street, Great King Street, Drummond Place, London Street, East London Street, Annandale Street, Elm Row, and London Road.

Service 8 – Both Directions
Nicolson Street, Chambers Street, George IV Bridge, The Mound, Hanover Street, Dundas Street, Great King Street, Drummond Place, London Street, and Bellevue.

Services 10 11 16 – Southbound
Leith Walk, Picardy Place, Leith Street, and Princes Street.

Services 19 26 44 – Both Directions
Princes Street, Waterloo Place, Regent Road, and Montrose Terrace.

Services 3 29 30 31 33 37 X29 X31 X33 X37 – Northbound
Nicolson Street, Chambers Street, George IV Bridge, The Mound, Hanover Street, George Street, Frederick Street to Princes Street (or Services 29/X29 to Howe Street).

Service 45
Eastbound: George IV Bridge, The Mound, Hanover Street, George Street, South St David Street, Princes Street, Waterloo Place, Regent Road, and Montrose Terrace.
Westbound: Montrose Terrace, Regent Road, and Waterloo Place.

Lothian: Changes to service levels from 6th – 22nd January

Saturday service to operate on Lothian and Lothian Country

Throughout the festive period, like many other organisations, we have continued to feel the impact of the Omicron strain of Covid-19 with self-isolation and rising sickness levels amongst our colleagues placing considerable pressure on our ability to deliver our services to the levels our customers would expect.

To ensure the stability and reliability of our network, we have taken the decision to operate a Saturday service with enhanced school journeys across all Lothian and Lothian Country services from 6 January until 22 January.

During this time, we will the situation under review and where appropriate we will update customers as soon as possible.

East Coast Buses will return to a normal timetable from 5 January.

We will, however, operate the school services which would ordinarily run on weekdays on Services 11, 42, 44, 45 and 400. 

Timetables for Services 42 and 45 can be found here.

We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this may cause and would like to thank all of our customers for their patience and understanding as we endeavour to cope with circumstances outwith our control.

Once again, we are incredibly grateful to the teams across our business who have continued to work around the clock to deliver for our customers during these uncertain times maintaining vital links across Edinburgh and the Lothians – their patience and understanding is greatly appreciated.

If you are planning a journey on our services, we ask that you continue to help us to keep our colleagues and fellow customers safe by following the latest Scottish Government guidance which can be found on our Safe Travel page. 

This includes the wearing of a face covering over your nose and mouth for the duration of your journey unless exempt, and leaving windows open to increase ventilation.

Please allow more time for your travel.

If you need further assistance, please connect with us on:

Twitter, Facebook and Instagram 

or contact bus information by phoning 0871 200 22 33.

Lothian announces changes to festive bus services

In light of the Scottish Government announcement regarding large scale events and the cancellation of Edinburgh’s Hogmanay, Lothian, Lothian Country and East Coast Buses will be making some changes to our planned routes and timetables for the 30, 31 December and 1 January.

On Thursday 30 December, we will be operating a Saturday service. All diversions for the Torchlight procession have now been cancelled and bus services will operate normal routes.

On Friday 31 December, we will operate a Saturday service, finishing earlier than normal with last journeys through the city centre at approximately 2130.

On the morning of 1 January 2022, we will no longer be operating our special Hogmanay Night Service. We understand that some customers may be disappointed, however with the cancellation of the Edinburgh’s Hogmanay Street party and the latest advice from the Scottish Government, we do not anticipate sufficient demand for these night services.

As we highlighted this week, we are also continuing to be impacted by the pandemic in regards to team resource which is placing considerable pressure on our operations and therefore it is vital we continue to focus on providing critical links across Edinburgh and the Lothians.

Customers are reminded to allow extra time for their journeys and to plan before they travel through our website or our app. Updated data can be found from the 29 December on the Traveline Scotland website.

Our updated Christmas and New Year timetable is available here. You can also read more about our festive timetables here.

Thanks to all of our customers for their patience and understanding, and a massive thank you to all of our colleagues who continue to react and adapt to this ever-changing fluid situation.

Wishing you all a great Christmas and New Year.

megabus to double it’s service over the Christmas season

  • As Christmas makes a comeback after last year’s disappointment, megabus is set to double its service in an effort to ensure families can still connect over the festive period
  • The coach provider will be operating over 9,000 miles on Christmas day alone – double the mileage of last year. Over 48,000 miles will be covered on Christmas Day and Boxing Day combined
  • The increase comes after another tumultuous year of restrictions meaning families have missed out on quality time together, with older generations affected the most
  • Three quarters (73%) of grandparents say not seeing their grandchildren has been the worst thing about the pandemic – having missed out on 49 hugs, 47 kisses, 40 conversations and 25 family meals with their grandkids since it began

With the UK still planning to enjoy the festive celebrations this year, megabus is set to double its service in an effort to ensure that families aren’t separated for a second Christmas running.

The coach provider is due to operate over 9,000 miles on Christmas Day alone – more than double last years’ service – connecting loved ones from locations including London, Bristol, Manchester, Cardiff, Reading, Leeds, Birmingham Nottingham and many more

Across the festive period (17 Dec – 3 Jan) over half a million miles will be travelled – averaging almost 40,000 per day. 48,000 will take place on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.

With over 2,700 trips being operated by megabus this festive period, the company is clearly ensuring it is there to help families to spend Christmas together. 

The increase comes after another tumultuous year of restrictions meaning many families have missed out on quality time together, with older generations affected the most.

Three quarters (73%) of grandparents say not seeing their grandchildren has been the worst thing about the pandemic – having missed out on 49 hugs, 47 kisses, 40 conversations and 25 family meals with their grandkids in the last 12 months.

Seven in 10 (74%) parents claim to be making a concerted effort to reunite children with grandparents, with 80% saying that their kids missing grandparents has been one of the hardest things to deal with over the past year.

In a normal year, grandparents will spend an average of 90 hours travelling to see their grandkids, spending £240 each to enjoy precious quality time together.

The top moments grandparents have missed due to the pandemic:

  1. 49 hugs
  2. 47 kisses
  3. 40 conversations
  4. 27 playtimes with toys
  5. 25 meals together
  6. 24 walks
  7. 19 bedtimes
  8. 19 daytrips
  9. 18 school runs
  10. 18 hand drawn pictures

Mark Venables, Managing Director from megabus, said: “After so many families were forced to spend last Christmas apart, and we’ve all dealt with more restrictions this year, we’re determined to help bring as many people together as possible this festive season.

“Complying with all current government guidelines, we have over 13,000 seats available for Christmas Day and Boxing Day alone – so we’re really excited to help Brits get around and travel with confidence to see their loved ones this Christmas.

“Seats are already selling fast, so I’d really like to thank all of our fantastic people who are working over the festive period and especially those who have volunteered to work on Christmas day to provide these services to our customers.”

megabus will serve a number of key destinations across the country, including Edinburgh, Manchester, Leeds, Bristol, Cardiff, Nottingham, and Bournemouth and many others.

Crucially, megabus will be operating up to every 30 minutes between Heathrow Airport and London Victoria on Christmas day and Boxing Day when there are no other public transport options available.

megabus will be running services across many key destinations over the festive period, including:

Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds, Sheffield, Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, Norwich, Bristol, Cardiff, Swansea, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Southampton, Plymouth, Newquay, Heathrow Airport, Manchester Airport, London.

City centre diversions due to closure of North Bridge

Services to be diverted while essential repairs carried out

Due to the closure of North Bridge for essential repairs from today (Sunday 14 November), a number of Lothian bus services will be subject to diversions across the city centre.

Where possible, these diversions have been designed to adhere as closely as possible to their original routes, whilst minimising delays. We would like to thank our customers for their patience and understanding while these diversions are in effect.

Please note that a network-wide service change will also come into effect on Sunday 14 November.

Details of how services will be affected can be found on our service change story.

Information about diverted services can be found below:

Services affected in both directions

Service 8 – will be diverted via Nicolson Street, Chambers Street, George IV Bridge, The Mound, Hanover Street, Dundas Street, Great King Street, Drummond Place, London Street, and Bellevue.

Services 26 and 44 will be diverted via Princes Street, Waterloo Place, Regent Road, Montrose Terrace.

Northbound services

Services 5, 7, 14, 45 and 49 will be diverted via Nicolson Street, Chambers Street, George IV Bridge, The Mound, Hanover Street, George Street, York Place, Picardy Place and London Road.

Services 3, 29, 30, 31, 33, 37, X29, X31, X33 and X37 will be diverted via Nicolson Street, Chambers Street, George IV Bridge, The Mound, Hanover Street, George Street, Frederick Street to Princes Street (or in the case of 29/X29, to Howe Street).

Services 29 and X29 will be diverted via Nicolson Street, Chambers Street, George IV Bridge, The Mound, Hanover Street, George Street, Frederick Street to Howe Street.

Southbound services

Services 3, 5, 7, 14, 29, 30, 31, 33, 37, 49, X29, X31, X33, X37, N3, N14, N30, N31 and N37 will follow normal routes southbound via North Bridge and South Bridge.

Nightbus Services

Nightbuses N3, N14, N30, N31 and N37 will follow daytime diversions with all services stopping on George IV Bridge.

If you need any assistance, please reach out on Lothian social media channels – Twitter, Facebook and Instagram – or phone bus information on 0131 555 6363.

Stagecoach announces free travel for veterans and military personnel on Remembrance Day and Remembrance Sunday

  • Free travel for military and ex-military personnel on 11thand 14th November
  • Commitment will continue annually
  • New employee led Veterans Network key to Stagecoach commitment

    Stagecoach has confirmed its ongoing commitment to the armed forces by announcing that it will be offering free travel for veterans and military personnel on its bus and tram services right across the UK on Remembrance Day and Remembrance Sunday.

The commitment to free travel, which will be ongoing every year, comes on the back of Stagecoach’s newly launched employee led Veterans Network.

The network was launched to allow Stagecoach colleagues to come together as one voice to make change, raise awareness, help influence business decisions and introduce new ways of working to make the company even stronger.

The Veteran Network is also currently engaging with the armed forces on a recruitment campaign directly targeting those who are leaving the military to find job opportunities at Stagecoach.

As a cause that is close to the hearts of its employees and customers, Stagecoach has been a long-time supporter of the Poppy Appeal, and in addition to free travel on 11th and 14th November, Stagecoach will be operating a number of Poppy Buses across its network, including Merseyside & South Lancashire, Cumbria & North Lancashire, Portsmouth and Aldershot.

Poppies will also be displayed on the front of a number of buses across the country with some of the destination blinds showing the messaging “We will remember them”.

Employees across Stagecoach will also be asked to honour the minutes’ silence.

Stagecoach has also been a member of the Armed Force Covenant since March 2015, recognising the value of serving personnel, regular and reservists, veterans and military families to both the country and businesses across the country.

With Remembrance services planned at memorials across UK, it is hoped that people wishing to pay their respects will take up the offer to travel for free to the service of their choice.

This commitment from Stagecoach allows for the business to unite and offer the same great experience to all military and ex-military customers and it will continue each year on 11th November and the following Sunday* as well as Armed Forces Weekend.

Simon Tramalloni, Operations Manager in Preston & Chorley is co-lead for the Stagecoach Veterans Network. He previously served in the Armed Forces serving in Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Kosovo, Africa and the Middle East.

He said: “Stagecoach has a strong commitment to supporting the armed forces and our veterans, and it’s great that we are able to offer free bus and tram travel across the whole country as we mark Remembrance Day.

“We have thousands of ex forces personnel working across our business and having the new Veterans Network is allowing us to build on the work that Stagecoach has led over many years and identify how else we can support those veterans already working for us and those that may want to come and join the company.

“Remembrance Day and the Poppy Appeal are causes close to the hearts of many of our employees and customers and we are very pleased to be making this commitment that will hopefully help people to attend memorials across the UK.”

Stagecoach marks Scottish Climate Week with bus fleet net zero plan

  • Investment to deliver estimated cut of 67,000 tonnes in annual carbon emissions by 2035
  • Cut is equivalent to reducing the carbon footprint of more than 5,000 Scots to zero
    New electric bus fleets to be rolled out in Aberdeen, Kilmarnock and Perth later this year
  • Further 40 tonnes of CO2e a year expected to be saved through more energy efficient buildings
  • Stagecoach sustainability strategy aiming to deliver a greener, healthier and fairer Scotland
  • Government must show “strong and brave leadership” on transport to incentivise right choices.

Stagecoach, the UK’s biggest bus and coach operator, is marking Scottish Climate Week with a plan to cut tens of thousands of tonnes of carbon emissions a year from its business as it targets a zero emissions bus fleet by 2035.

Investment in clean technologies, including new electric buses, are expected to deliver an estimated annual reduction of around 67,000 tonnes of CO2e from its fleet of more than 1,200 buses in Scotland in less than 15 years.

According to Zero Waste Scotland, the average annual carbon footprint per person in Scotland is 13 tonnes of CO2e. This means Stagecoach’s plans are the equivalent of reducing the environmental impact of more than 5,000 Scots to zero.

Stagecoach services are already helping households across the UK reduce their carbon footprint by offering more sustainable travel. Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Centre for Economics and Business Research found that without Stagecoach bus services, there would be an annual increase of around 190,000 tonnes of CO2e through people using alternative transport, mainly cars.

The latest Stagecoach targets and commitments are part of the company’s new sustainability strategy Driving Net Zero: Better Places to Live and Work, published in advance of the COP26 climate change summit in Glasgow in November. Stagecoach is aiming to decarbonise its business by around 70% by 2035 as well as targeting a zero emissions bus fleet across the UK by that date.

The roadmap to becoming a carbon neutral business will see investment in new zero-emissions fleets and other green technologies over the next 15 years to reduce the impact of the company’s operations on the planet, as well as initiatives to cut waste, boost recycling and conserve water.

A £21.4m fleet of 46 new fully electric buses is being introduced by Stagecoach in Aberdeen, Perth and Kilmarnock this year as part of the Scottish Government’s Scottish Ultra Low Emission Bus scheme. It follows the UK’s first fleet of six fully electric buses serving rural communities which went into service earlier this summer under a partnership between Stagecoach and SP Energy Networks, connecting villages along the Irvine Valley with Kilmarnock town centre.

Stagecoach has already been converting its existing vehicles to make them greener in advance of the transition to electric and other zero emissions technologies.

The clean air retrofit programme has seen over a third of buses in Scotland retrofitted with either Euro VI or new exhaust systems, both of which mean they have 95% less emissions that standard buses. Stagecoach is also working with the manufacturing sector on how to use clean technologies that are applicable to coaches, which operate on longer routes not currently suited to electric vehicles.

Separately, five Scottish Citylink coaches in east Scotland have been fitted with new solar panels which provide clean solar energy to power all on-board electrical equipment. This reduces the requirement to create electric energy via the burning of diesel, a move that is estimated to save up to 7,500 litres of fuel and over 20 tonnes of CO2.

Investment is also being made in Stagecoach buildings and depots across Scotland, with 11 depots around the country fitted with hi-tech energy management systems to control heating and help reduce gas and heating oil consumption.

Under the latest plans, by 2027 Stagecoach energy management systems will meet the international standard ISO 50001 and it will also be procuring all electricity from 100% renewable sources from April 2022. As a result, annual carbon emissions from Stagecoach buildings in Scotland are expected to reduce by 40 tCO2e a year from 2027.

Sam Greer, Regional Director for Stagecoach in Scotland, said: “There has never been a more important time to take action to address the climate emergency and play a part in helping Scotland deliver on its net zero ambitions.

“Our plans start with improving the sustainability of our own business. But we can also leverage the power of public transport focus on our plans to create a greener, smarter, safer, healthier and fairer Scotland.

“Making net zero a reality – and quickly – is about more than just switching technologies. We also need to change how we travel, moving people away from cars to walking, cycling and wheeling, and public transport.

“This needs strong and brave leadership from national and regional governments to create incentives to reward the right choices. We also need to make sure the country’s transport infrastructure is prioritised for people, such as bus passengers, whose are contributing to a cleaner and healthier country.”

Plans to reform Edinburgh’s public transport companies

Recommendations for the reform of Edinburgh’s Transport Arm’s Length External Organisations (ALEOs) would deliver a more efficient, better integrated public transport offering while retaining the identities of the Capital’s much-loved transport companies, according to a new report.

Reform of Transport Arm’s Length External Organisations, to be considered by the council’s Transport and Environment Committee on Thursday (19 August), proposes reconstituting the Lothian Buses legal entity to allow the management of all Council-owned public transport modes in the city, while retaining the brands and operational services of each of the transport companies.

While the changes wouldn’t result in any immediate changes for passengers or front-line staff, they would lead to improvements through easier ticket purchasing, integrated routes and customer services plus better collaboration and less competition between companies, as well as efficiencies for the business.

Proposals have been informed by a working group formed of Council officers and Non-Executive Director representatives from each of the Transport ALEOs (Lothian Buses, Edinburgh Trams and Transport for Edinburgh).

They’ve been working to a set of guiding and transition principles, which include creating a customer focused unified public transport approach through service integration, route optimisation and fare ticketing optimisation.

Councillor Lesley Macinnes, Transport and Environment Convener, said: “The reform of our Transport ALEOs offers the chance to significantly enhance and streamline our public transport offering to the benefit of the public. These changes would result in integrated ticketing and routing and the opportunity to expand into new transport modes , amongst other improvements.

“Of course, we know how important the Lothian Buses and Edinburgh Trams brands are to the people of Edinburgh, demonstrated by their consistently high customer satisfaction ratings, and we’ve no plans to change that. Any restructuring behind-the-scenes will only lead to a better experience when using the services we all know and love.”

Councillor Karen Doran, Transport and Environment Vice Convener, said: “The last year and a half has been extremely challenging for our public transport providers. Our plans for their future aim to support their continued recovery, delivering efficiency savings which can be reinvested in the services.

“We really value the public transport staff who’ve made every effort during this time to serve the city too, and we would be working closely with boards, management and trade unions to support a smooth transition to a new structure.”

A report to Policy and Sustainability Committee in July 2020 set out arrangements for the management of the Council’s Transport ALEOs, highlighting challenges and setting out objectives for future public transport provision.

As well as supporting public transport integration, a reformed structure could respond to new opportunities as they arise and facilitate mobility across the city and region. ALEO reform also aligns with Edinburgh’s City Mobility Plan, which outlines greater integration in areas like pricing, ticketing and routing, as well as expansion of the rapid transit system and a bus network review.

In addition, the commercial sustainability of any new arrangement is considered crucial, particularly given the likely recovery period for public transport in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Efficiency savings as a result of reform are particularly important.

If the proposed Transport ALEO is approved, the Council would maintain formal political oversight through the existing committee structure.

Read the full report, Reform of Transport Arm’s Length External Organisations, on the Council website.

You can watch discussion of the report by Transport and Environment Committee live from 10am on Thursday, 19 August via webcast.

I remember there has been opposition to this in the past. Back in 2016 concerns were raised that Lothian Buses profits would be used to plug the black hole that was Edinburgh Trams finances, to the detriment of the popular and efficient bus company. Changed days? We’ll see how the Capital Coalition ‘fares’ next week – Ed.