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!
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.
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!
Travels With My Stroke
Yesterday, I proved that I could undertake simple journeys by myself. Admittedly, I had lifts to and from home, but everything in the middle was done by myself, whether on train, tube, bus or by walking.
Did I have any problems?
Not really!
I thought about it afterwards and feel it could be a newspaper column, followed by a book. I could visit all of those places, I’ve never been before, stay in cheap hotels or with friends, travelling most of the way by public transport.
Yesterday, was the first trip, although I suppose you could could the return from Hong Kong.
I travelled up and back to London, by train from Cambridge, then used the Circle Line to get to my hotel and then used buses to get back to Kings Cross. This would seem a model that could be used for many trips.
My first planned trip will be to Middlesbrough for the first match of the season. My secretary will drop me at Bury St. Edmunds station on the Friday afternoon and then I’ll take the train to Middlesbrough, changing at Peterborough and York. I’m still trying to find a hotel in Middlesbrough for two nights, as hotels and especially near the Riverside Stadium appear to be very thin on the ground. Surely, places to stay should be one of the priorities of a council these days, as it attracts visitors, who spend money and thus create jobs.
The next weekend, I’m going to Edinburgh to see Jarlath Regan at the Gilded Balloon. Again it will be by train, with perhaps a rush back to see Ipswich on the Saturday.
I’ll see how it all progresses.
The Anonymous Widower 