Edinburgh’s Buses
Since my stroke, I tend to use buses a lot more. My mobility means that I have no trouble boarding or even getting upstairs on a double-decker for the view. At least now these days, you get a comfortable seat in places like London, Cambridge and Edinburgh. And I suspect most places in the UK! So in most towns and cities across the UK, a bus is a sensible part of the transport network.
But good bus systems only work with easy ticketing, sensible fare policies and good signage. London is the benchmark, by which every otherb system shoiuld be judged in my mind, as being a Londoner, I’ve used them since I was a child. C and I also used to use Routemasters in the early seventies with three children under three, so my views on buses are not blinkered.
So how does Edinburgh stack up?
I was surprised that my over-60s bus-pass is not valid in Scotland. But then Scottish ones are not valid in England. I know there would be political problems, if they were interchangeable, but surely there could be a better system.
- Perhaps, there could be an extra charge for a free bus-pass, which might allow things like Scottish buses anywhere, London trains and tubes, and Manchester Trams. I think a lot of people would pay for a Senior Superpass, just as many buy a Senior Railcard.
- Or should there be a method of purchasing an Edinburgh bus pass for say your time in Edinburgh, when you buy your rail ticket. If that was the case, you’d get one of the old British Rail-style orange tickets, that work so well. After all, some tickets on Cambridge-Ipswich trains have an extension to buses at the destination.
And then there is the ticket you get in Edinburgh for a days travel. You don’t hand money to the driver, as you do in say London, but put it in a slot. Obviously, there is no change and a flimsy paper ticket is delivered from behind the driver. I know Scotland, likes to think of itself as a foreign country, but this system isn’t very tourist friendly. The ticket was good value at £3.00, but because it is just a scrap of paper, it could be easily lost. Surely, a credit card sized card would be better for a day ticket, as this can carry paid-for adverts. You could also sell weekly tickets for more money.
I think it is true to say, that rarely do you find flimsy paper tickets in mainland Europe, so why is the UK so keen on this type? Cost probably, but then London buses cope with Oystercards and rail travelcards with no problem at all.
Where Edinburgh buses are poor though is in the lack of signage on bus stops.
London sets the gold standard in this, but then as a Londoner, I would say that wouldn’t I! But if London’s policy of a local map in tube stations and on bus stops, coupled with a local bus map/index, wasn’t so good, why would it be virtually copied by several cities across the world including its big rival Paris.
Edinburgh gives no information at all on bus stops, except for little numbers saying what buses you can catch from the stop. So if you’re not sure which bus you need or where you are going, you’re lost!
I had thought there was no information of trhis kind until I found this at Waverley station, next to the train information booth.
Edinburgh Bus Stop Map
There are also other problems with Edinburgh’s buses. Apparently, the routes and stops are always moving, so even locals can’t find their bus. They also have computerised displays telling ewhen the bus is supposed to arrive. These are different to everyone other one I’ve seen and are unreadable for someone with limited vision and aretoo high up for short people. Red displays under the bus shelter like London, Cambridge, Colchester etc. are so much better. The one we stood at said a bus was due and then it never came.
Edinburgh’s Tram To Nowhere
I do not like badly conceived and managed projects, as you’d expect from someone, who designed one of the first modern project mangement systems. I had thought that there was nothing that could match the Cambridge Busway for being badly designed, managed and executed project. But it would appear that the Edinburgh Tram, may come close.
Strangely, the two projects have a lot in common; both will be about 40 kilometres long ,both are running years late and massively over budget. Although the Edinburgh Tram will cost six times more than the Cambridge Busway.
They also get up the public’s nose spectacularly. In the Cambridge case, buses proclaim, “Will I be on the Busway soon?” and in Edinburgh, a static tram is parked to block Princes Street.
The Edinburgh Static Tram
I suppose the static tram does have a point, in that it makes getting a bus in the centre of Edinburgh very difficult, so by the time the tram comes into service in 2014, people will be more likely to use the tram. That could be the only reason, as what idiot would deliberately create a traffic jam with something that doesn’t work. Even those twats with 4x4s and supercars get parking tickets, when they block the roads outside Harrods! Why hasn’t someone stuck a parking ticket on the tram?
To make it worse, I saw this sign too!
Edinburgh Road Sign
So trams can turn right, despite the fact the only one is static!
Changing Trains at Peterborough
WHen I went North on Wednesday to Edinburgh, I deliberately arranged to have an hour between getting to Peterborough from Ely and then leaving for the North, so that I could get some lunch.
Queensgate Centre, Peterborough
As you can see from tyhis picture taken from just outside the station, the Queensgate Shopping Centre is not too far away and it has a large Marks & Spencer with a Cafe Revive and a Waitrose. So I walked there and had a nice gluten-free salmon salad in the Cafe Revive. The offerings were better than those in the station.
I do hope that when they improve Peterborough Station, that they improve the access to Queensgate, as there is dual-carriageway in between and the bridge is difficult for anyone with limited movement like myself or someone perhaps elderly or with a child in a buggy.
Jarlath Regan
He was definitely worth seeing and his act delved into areas that I’d not heard before. The two ladies, both widowed like me, enjoyed the show too!
He also dealt with a nine year old,who probably was too young for the show very well.
He even worked his parents, Tadey and Moira into the routine. I shall go and see him again, preferably in Dublin.
WiFi on East Coast
It seems to be working fine and was a very easy connection.
Two Shows Yesterday
I did two shows yesterday and also met Jarlath Regan outside the Gilded Balloon.
Jarlath Regan outside The Gilded Balloon
It was good to meet him after all those years since his father helped saddle Vague Shot in 1990. He’s grown a lot and I’ve got a lot more decrepit. But as his father, Tadey, always says, “The Struggle continues”
I shall be going to see Jarlath’s show tonight with three other widows.
Yesterday, I really enjoyed Paul Sinha, who calls himself the only gay Bengali GP turned stand-up comdian. If I had more time, I’d like to catch his full show, as I only saw him in a preview show at the Pleasance. But I’ll be watching out for him.
I also saw Stripped, which was a one-woman play about a girl who turned to stripping to pay the rent. It lived up to its good reviews.
Edinburgh Buses
I’ve just found out that I can’t use my free bus pass on Edinburgh buses! Ridiculous! Shouldn’t they be free all over the UK, for every resident over a certain age? Perhaps, after 60, you only get your local area, but say after 65, you get the whole country. We want to encourage travel to create jobs surely!
Perhaps too we need to standise ticketing systems and enty and exit to buses. Because I hadn’t realised you put money down a chute here and that you had to take the tcket from a machine behind the driver, I caused a queue. All the buses are use in London and Cambridge are also entry at the front and exit at the centre. Let’s have some standrds!
New Uses for Old Railway Buildings
The BBC has done a piece this morning about the reuse of Edge Hill Station in Liverpool as an artistic creative space by Metal
Often these buildings were well-built to designs of the best architects of their day. Let’s reuse them rather than build something new and rather boring and anonymous.
How Much Do London Black Cabs Cost?
I am trying to buy a house in London and wondered how much it would cost to get there in a black cab from various parts of the city.
I searched the Internet and found this site. It is excellent!
I Can’t Fold Shirts
I’m just packi ng for my trip to Edinburgh tomorrow and have just realised that I can’t fold shirts, so they fit in my case.
But it’s not the stroke, as I couldn’t do it three years ago!
Perhaps I should try harder! Or should I get someone else to do it?
The Anonymous Widower 