The bus saga –
It seems clear by now, from the many responses sent back in via this website, and FaceBook, ‘I Love Leith’ etc. that NOBODY received a leaflet about the bus route changes. A mystery.
So this is the latest message that Leith Links Community Council has sent to Lothian Buses. We are still awaiting a reply.
23 September
To: Lothian Buses
Dear Ms Marshall
Thank you for your most recent message.
I wonder if I could ask for clarification?
You say “We appreciate that some of our customers are unable to access our digital platforms and so in addition to bus stop information being refreshed to reflect the changes we reached out to approx. 22K households (in the EH6 6. EH6 7, EH6 8, EH7 6) areas with detailed information on Monday 12 September and Tuesday 13 September.”
May I ask you to clarify exactly what “reached out…to..households” means? On a first reading, we understood you to mean that you had leaflets delivered through the door of 22K households. However, this does not seem to be the case. Have we misunderstood you? Did you reach out in another way, and if so, can you explain precisely what form this took?
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We understand that the period since the Queen’s passing has, unexpectedly, been a very demanding period for Lothian Buses across the city and that it may take a while before things get back to ‘normal’, so we do not wish to be overly demanding. However, we would like to reiterate our request / invitation to meet with someone representing LB at some point soon, to discuss constructive ways in which we (i.e. the community council, as members of the local community and representing the local community) can collaborate and work with you and help to monitor the new services over the next few months, as you have stated you intend to do. You will obviously have access to passenger numbers and other objective data. And presumably, reports from drivers. We have access to ‘soft data’ in the form of the views of passengers as to how well the services are functioning, and meeting peoples’ needs, any important needs that are not being met, and so on.
Thank You
Sally Millar
Secy, Leith Links Community Council
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Leith Links Community Council received the following message from Lothian Buses, in response to our earlier email correspondence.
16.09.22
From: Gaynor Marshall, Communications Director, Lothian Buses
Thank you for your further email. All comments and feedback are duly noted.
In terms of our communicating the change I can advise that information was published in advance of the changes on 11th September. We appreciate that some of our customers are unable to access our digital platforms and so in addition to bus stop information being refreshed to reflect the changes we reached out to approx. 22K households (in the EH6 6. EH6 7, EH6 8, EH7 6) areas with detailed information on Monday 12 September and Tuesday 13 September.
Attached is a copy for your reference – it may be helpful for you to host it on LCC website.
I can also confirm that all decisions were made with the information available at the time following dialogue with colleagues at CEC (TTN).
The changes that came into place on 11th September will be monitored over the next few months with our immediate priority being stabilising the longer term commercial viability of the network and subsequent economic recovery of our business.
In terms of your further comments I refer you back to all previous communication which has provided our rationale and reasoning underpinned by commercial data and operational feasibility.
In closing I would add that Lothian strive to deliver for customers in continuing exceptionally challenging circumstances. We pride ourselves in being a part of the communities we serve and we will only endeavour to engage in meaningful and relevant dialogue when conducted in a professional and constructive manner.
Kind regards
Gaynor Marshall
Communications Director, Lothian Buses
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We will be responding in due course.
In the meanwhile, we would be interested –
- to know more about the leaflets. Please can you let us know if you got a leaflet through your door (or if you didn’t, but you think you should have, as you live along the bus routes). It would help if you added your street name and/or postcode.
- to hear more about your experiences with the new bus routes. Last week was highly untypical, but starting from this week – how is it going for you, so far?
Please write a comment below or email contact@leithlinkscc.org.uk
Sally.
I wonder if the issue that all the bus timetable info in shelters is written in a very very small font, maybe size 10, at least one that I as a 61 year old has difficulty with and the other problem that some of the bus info is So high up that only a 6 ft 5 man coukd read it, whilst there is empty poster below taking up tge space at the bottom. I was at the bus stop in portobello on the day of the change and i couldnt see any poster there to draw my attention to the fact the 49 and 21 buses were changing, so i could have had real difficulties in getting where I needed to go with heavy bags.
I live in EH7 along an affected bus route and never received any leaflet or notice of the changes.
I find the new 49 and 34 services to be less convenient than the 25 which seems to run more frequently. The west end/Dalry is now a 2 bus journey. If the stops of the 49 and 34 were synced in the city centre it would be more convenient and offer choice eg both buses served by the same stop at the St James Centre, you have to make a choice of bus stop and then if either service is delayed at least you’d have options. The 25 ran like clockwork. Didn’t receive any leaflet about the changes, saw it on the app. EH6 8
I live on the new route of the 34. The first I heard of it was when I did an online route planner on google maps and it came up as an option. I was well confused!
Wow seems to be LB using political speak – in what way do they think your enquiries were unprofessional. Is it that if you do not say what they want it is unprofessional? That comment they have made is just plain rude .Makes me wonder how they treat their staff have heard tell in the past they treated them badly if a query arose. Have observed lots have left recently. which is why they keep advertising. Surely not all their staff drive cars wonder how the service impacts them. They should have a talk with their communications team as they probably think if it is on the bus trackers that is enough when it is far from the case. Bus routes change so frequently it is confusing for passengers and drivers. Yesterday a 49 did not stop when I was standing at the end of George Street – it let passengers off behind the bus already at the stop and then drove off. Double checked the bus stop and it was supposed to stop. Fortunately a 14 came along and a lady passing by helped me to stop that bus but first we felt the need to check the bus stop to see if it was actually meant to stop there. Amazing how it is always the fault of something else this time it is the Queen’s passing that was only for a few days and they would have had plenty of warning and the professional approach would be to plan and organise as that is major part of the job.
We live in EH6 7DG and were not consulted.
Furthermore, nobody in Leith seems to have been asked prior to the 22 being scrapped. This was a lifeline to those of us who don’t drive.
These changes are particularly outrageous given that we are putting up with all the tram works, with no date still in sight. Lothian Buses could at least have done the decent thing and waited.
Kind regards,
Lara.