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Thursday 12 November 2009

Edinburgh and the bus stops

My work colleagues in London and Scotland know and some share of my frustrations about the sheer volume and the close proximity of bus stops in parts of Edinburgh.

My bus journey in Edinburgh takes the same time as my old train journey from Kent into London, which is completely ridiculous.

So, my suggestion to Lothian Buses is to stagger the services to particular bus stops as they are on George Street, and Princes Street once it reopens.

Let us take Leith Walk for example and my bus, the number 10.

The bus turns onto Leith Walk and the first stop, often the busiest is at the foot of the Walk, then a mere 10-15 seconds on and only a matter of yards is the next one, now this is where they could start splitting the service and make that just for say the 16 and 22, then the next one could be the 10 and 12 and alternate accordingly.

By the time my bus is at the top of the Walk we have stopped, potentially, six times, seven if you count the driver change over.

If the alternation system came in it would stop the stacking that happens at rush hour, the other week I was in a snail queue of 5 or 6 buses that just crawled up Leith Walk, taking 35 minutes just to get up the Walk - it is just crazy.

Lothian buses - please have a serious think and see if it would work?

1 comment:

Brendan Macneill said...

That's just too much to ask of Lothian Buses. They operate with the attitude that the customer is an inconvienence. Look at the need for the exact fair. Do they let you know you can have credit? Have they a system of easy weekly/monthly ticket purchases in local shops? Will I go on?

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