Action demanded on slow bus journeys

Action is being demanded after a report revealed that the time one Edinburgh bus route takes has increased by 50% in the last two decades.

Some trips on the number 38 service are now almost 20 minutes longer than they were around 2005 – although the report did also find some successes in recent years.

Green councillors say they want the council to ask bus operators in the city to provide data on journey times to officers, in order to plan interventions to make trips faster.

Some of these measures they say could be explored to help include more bus gates and bus lanes, bus priority at traffic signals, and expansion of bus lane hours.

Green councillors also expressed dismay at the continued delay of the city’s 7-7-7 bus lane pilot, with only some bus lanes in the capital kept open for 12 hours a day, each day.

Cllr Kayleigh Kinross-O’Neill has said the council’s administration is “completely failing to support” public transport, and that action on a long-delayed bus lane scheme is needed.

Cllr Stephen Jenkinson, Transport Convener, said that the city was “too congested” with run-on consequences for journey times.

But he added that he was confident the capital was still on the “right track” when it comes to delivering public transport.

A report by the UK’s Confederation of Passenger Transport in October stated that bus and coach services across Scotland have been getting slower over time.

The group says that this is leading to worse service at higher costs, as slow travel times increase cost per mile of running buses and decrease their attractiveness. They suggest that improvements in bus travel times could bring increased ridership and economic gain.

In Edinburgh, three bus operators provided examples to the report which showed the impact increasing congestion caused on their services.

Lothian provided data for the 38 bus route, linking Granton to the Royal Infirmary, for the past 20 years.

It showed that travel times had increased dramatically since 2005, with southbound services Monday to Friday in the midday going from 53 minutes to 72.

Evening peak services running north, meanwhile, had risen from a 62 minute running time to 80 minutes.

Times were up across every other part of the day in both directions as well, including on weekends.

The report stated that frequencies had been reduced on the route due to the increased travel time, and that the council had shown ‘no appetite’ for adding bus signal priority.

Edinburgh Council subsidises the running of the service, as well as several others that have been deemed socially important but economically unviable.

Lothian also provided data for another service, the 43 LothianCountry route between the city centre and Queensferry.

The report cited it as an example of somewhere where bus lanes and other changes have led to positive outcomes.

Figures from Lothian Buses show that journey times now are largely similar to those in 2019, except trip times on Sundays where travel times have increased somewhat.

Data also showed that ridership had increased along the route, going up 42% between 2019 and 2025.

Cllr Kinross-O’Neill said the report showed Edinburgh, along with other cities, were failing to ensure buses were ‘quick and convenient’.

She added: “Despite repeated motions to support bus travel which have been agreed at committee, there has been no significant increase in the length of bus lanes in Edinburgh for over a decade, while the agreed trial of increased bus lanes hours has been delayed yet again.”

A consultation on a 7-7-7 bus lane pilot was held in 2019, but Covid meant that survey data was not passed on to politicians.

Since then, further attempts to explore such a scheme have been delayed.

A trial was set to be launched along the 44 Lothian Bus route in the first quarter of last year – but as of July, it had been pushed back to February 2026.

Cllr Jenkinson said: “I’ve said many times that our city is too congested, which inevitably has an impact on journey times. This is why it’s so important that we continue to invest in and encourage sustainable forms of transport.

“With the fact that both bus and tram patronage continues to grow year on year, I have every confidence in the strength and resilience of our operators.

“As we deal with the considerable challenges of a rapidly growing city, my focus is on ensuring that the people of Edinburgh retain a first-rate public transport network and I’m confident that we’re on the right track to deliver this.”

By Joseph Sullivan Local Democracy Reporter