Antisocial behaviour on Lothian Buses has increased almost five percent in 2025 versus 2024 – despite incidents during Halloween and Bonfire Night dropping by almost half.
Antisocial behaviour on Lothian Buses has increased almost five percent in 2025 against 2024 figures – despite incidents during Halloween and Bonfire Night dropping by almost half.
Councillors will be told that antisocial behaviour had increased by 4.79%.
But, on Halloween and Bonfire Night together, incidents were down 46%.
The figures reflect behaviour on the entire Lothian network, including East Coast Buses and Lothian Country.
There was much less violence and disorder on Bonfire Night 2025 compared to other recent years, which council leader Jane Meagher hailed as a success.
Edinburgh Council is the majority owner of Lothian Buses, with Midlothian, East Lothian and West Lothian councils all holding small percentages of shares in the firm.
A “youth engagement policy” published in 2025, endorsed by the police and Young Scot, had been key to dealing with bad behaviour on the buses.
Though not directly mentioned as a cause in a report to councillors, free bus travel for under-22s has often been cited as a contributing factor to increased antisocial behaviour on bus services in Scotland.
But Lothian chief executive, Sarah Boyd, is said to have been “central” in efforts to draw up a behavioural code of conduct in Scotland for young people under-22 getting free bus travel.
Ms Boyd has also been pushing for legislation to be introduced allowing free bus travel to be revoked in cases where passengers behave badly.
Holyrood signed off on legislation making this possible last month, which will allow free bus travel to be removed from any free bus pass user.
Connectivity Minister, Jim Fairlie, said at the time: “Implementation will be phased to ensure a fair and robust system, taking account of business impacts, child wellbeing, poverty considerations, and the needs of older and disabled people.”
He added that the goal of the legislation was to make bus services in Scotland safer, and that criminal behaviour on buses would continue to be Police Scotland’s responsibility.
The council’s Transport and Environment Committee meets on 2 April.
by Joseph Sullivan, Local Democracy Reporter
