Kirkliston First Bus update

In September, we held a well attended public meeting in Kirliston on the issue of the 38 bus.

This followed major cuts to the frequency of the service and ongoing problems with time keeping and ticketing.

We have now received the following update from First Bus following the meeting.

  1. Time keeping of services

First Bus say they have had inspectors out in Kirkliston on both a covert and overt basis to conduct monitoring surveys on the route.   Their surveys indicate that up to 15 minutes is needed to travel from Kirkliston West End to the Distillery at peak times due to traffic volumes in the area and the traffic light sequence at the Kirkliston Crossroads.

They say they are developing an “On-time performance strategy for service 38”. This involves monitoring to make sure that vehicles leave the depot on time and, in turn, start out on their first trip on time from the terminal points. They have also re-checked all of the GPS locations for bus stops along the route to confirm the robustness of all running time data.

The Performance Supervisor is monitoring the service on a day to day basis to identify specific issues and has promised to address them as quickly as possible.

It is important that any and all issues of buses not keeping to time or not turning up at all are reported to First (see below) and to Bus Users Scotland (see end).

2. Size of buses (e.g. double deckers)

First Bus say local measures have been put in place at the Livingston Depot to make sure that double deckers are allocated to peak time journeys.  Their  observations are that double deckers are not necessarily needed in terms of passenger loadings per trip.

The Inspectors who carried out the street surveys did not conclude an overall lack of capacity. If customers have not been able to board a journey due to capacity, First Bus want to hear of this so they can investigate specific issues.

Please make sure to copy us into any correspondence you have with First on this point.

3. Real time information at bus stops

First Bus say they are continuing to work with the SEStran Real Time Information supplier to find a solution to the screens issue which is still not resolved.

The real time information system which was on the buses had been switched off because they believed the ticket machines could give the required feed. This has not been the case and so they are now in the process of putting the old system back in place. First say the app has been looked at and appears to be working.

We intend to keep pressure on First to get this real time information issue resolved as soon as possible.

4. Customer complaint response times

The serious issues with getting responses to questions and complaints has been raised with their Customer Service Centre management team so that improvements can be made.

Customers should submit their comments through the FirstBus webform here: 

Alternatively, customers should phone 0345 646 0707 (Mon-Fri 0700-1900, Weekends/Bank Holidays 0900-1700). The First Bus Twitter feed is also manned during the same hours.

First say their response timescales are set at 14 working days but the customer service team are supposed to respond sooner if needed. First Bus are not prepared to accept our request for a dedicated complaint email or webform for the 38 bus.

If you make a complaint and do not get a reply within 14 days, please let us know.

5. Ticketing issues

The only valid FirstDay ticket that customers can buy for travel between Kirkliston and Edinburgh is the Zone M FirstDay ticket, which can only be purchased from the driver on the bus at a price of £4.00. The ticket is not available on the M-tickets app (we are again querying why), it can be purchased and paid for on board using cash, contactless credit/debit card, as well as the Google/Apple Pay digital wallets.

The higher priced FirstDay ticket (£4.30) that residents have spotted and have (incorrectly) purchased from the M-tickets app only covers travel within Zone L (Livingston/Bathgate/Whitburn, etc). Kirkliston and Edinburgh are both located inside Zone M and, therefore, customers cannot buy or use a Zone L ticket for use in a different lettered zone to the one that it’s intended for.

We do not consider this a satisfactory answer and are pursuing this further.

6. Going Forward

Given the serious performance issues we have seen with First, we are strongly encouraging people to complain direct to Bus Users Scotland whenever buses are significantly late or do not show up.  Bus Users Scotland is the Scottish Government recognised body for complaints of this kind.

All complaints should be send to enquiries@bususers.org listing the date, time and nature of the complaint. To help us build a case file, please copy us into any complaint you make.

Working with Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP, we are also continuing our campaign to get Lothian Buses to start a direct service between Kirkliston and the city centre.  We continue to have serious doubts over the continued performance of First which makes it all the more important for the Council owned and operated bus company to properly serve the village.

Queensferry High Street – consultation on specific proposals

Officials leading on the £1 million project to upgrade and renew the Queensferry High Street have now published specific proposals for consultation.

A special consultation event was held on Monday 24 September.  However, you can still feed in your views using this online survey.

The last round of consultation showed an almost exact three way split in views on the different options presented (limit on HGVs, one way only, no through road).  There was more than three to one support for using natural stone setts for the surface as opposed to tarmac.

Officials are now proposing the one way system, with a traffic light controlled junction at the west end of the High Street at The Loan and a new crossing point for pedestrians. HGVs would only be allowed at certain times of the day.

The west side pavement would also be extended on the Loan going round the corner to Hopetoun Road.

The surface of the High Street would be replaced with robust stone setts.

You can see all the presentation slides from the presentation event here.

Airport update on ‘offset arrival’ flight path

Over the last year, we have been working with Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP, Christine Jardine MP and a number of local residents in Cramond to get Edinburgh Airport to look at possible changes to its flight path for arriving aircraft.

The change being considered was a so called ‘offset arrival‘ which would see aircraft (when arriving from the east) approach from a more northerly direction to avoid Cramond and Barnton, The aircraft would then make a right turn to land.

The airport commissioned a detailed feasibility study to look at this option.  They also conducted a number of trials and consulted widely with airlines.

The report of the study has now been published and can be seen here. 

For a number of reasons, the airport has concluded this offset arrival path is not feasible at this time.  It would only be possible for some of the aircraft using the airport.  Plus weather and other operational issues means this route would be significantly less safe than the current straight arrival route which allows aircraft to ‘lock on’ to a signal which then brings them in at a steady angle of descent.

We realise this news will come as a disappointment to our constituents in Cramond and Barnton who had hoped a change might be possible.  We are satisfied the airport has looked at this in depth and considered all options.  We hope this can be looked at again in the future as aircraft and airport technology improves.

Meanwhile, the airport has now submitted its final plan to change the eastbound departure route which would, if approved by the Civil Aviation Authority, take aircraft slightly further away from Cramond.

We are also continuing to push or a limit on night time flights and hope to see progress on this by the end of the year.

SNP and Labour vote down action plan on local buses

Earlier today, we brought an urgent motion to Edinburgh Council, seeking a new action plan to address the declining bus services in rural West Edinburgh.

After the halving of services in Kirkliston, the loss of the St John’s bus link and changes which routed buses away from Newbridge, it is clear a different approach is needed.

Unfortunately, the SNP and Labour administration of councillors voted down our motion. They said the current approach was sufficient. We couldn’t disagree more.

Surprisingly, even the SNP councillor for Kirkliston and Newbridge voted against our motion. It is clear the SNP led administration simply doesn’t get the scale of the problem.

We will continue to stand up and fight for improvements to local bus services.

 

Garden tax – next steps

The following information may be helpful for those who have paid the new tax to continue brown bin collections or who still want to pay the new charge. We also have an update on the collection of unwanted brown bins.

START OF NEW SERVICE
The new service starts from Monday 8 October.
• Permits and calendars will be posted to residents the week beginning 24 September.
• The last free collection of garden waste takes place on 5 October. Residents who have not signed up for the service should check their current calendars for their last collection before this date. For some residents their last garden waste collection may be as early as 17 September.

NEXT PERIOD FOR PAYING THE TAX
• The next registration window opens at 9am, 1 October and closes at 12pm, 16 October. The easiest way to sign up is via the Council website.
• Residents without access to the internet at home can use the self-serve kiosks at the Council locality offices, internet at libraries or register by phone.
• Customers who can’t register online can pay in cash or card at Locality offices. They can also call on 0131 608 1100 (option 1, then option 9).
• Residents who receive Council Tax Reduction (formerly called Council Tax Benefit) do not need to pay for the service, however they still need to register to receive it. Other exemptions such as single occupancy discount do not qualify for free garden waste collections.
• Once residents have registered it will take 6 – 8 weeks to be added to collection routes and send a garden waste permit before the Council can start emptying their bin.
• Another registration window will be available for residents to sign up from 4 – 19 February 2019.

COLLECTION OF UNWANTED BINS
• Residents who have not registered and no longer want their brown bin can take it to one of the Council recycling centres.
• An online form will also be available at the end of October for residents to arrange for their brown bin to be uplifted. Residents without internet access will be able to call on 0131 608 1100 (option 1, then option 9) to request the removal of their bin. The online form will also be available at the self-serve kiosks in locality offices.
• The window for residents to say they no longer want their bin will last until the end of November.
• Officials will take a planned approach to collecting the bins during December.

Transport Scotland snub on Bo’ness Road


As residents in Queensferry will know, we have been pushing hard for changes to improve the safety on Bo’ness Road, particularly around Echline Primary.

This is important because of changes which arose from the Queensferry Crossing and which led to substantially more traffic using Bo’ness Road.

Back in June, we managed to secure £20,000 from the Council. This is enough to cover half of the cost of a new pedestrian crossing near the school. We hoped to use that money to leverage in the remaining money from Transport Scotland.

However, Transport Scotland has now turned down our request. They are not prepared to put any money into a new crossing.

We are delighted that our local MSP, Alex Cole-Hamilton has now picked this up and is pursuing the matter with the Scottish Government Transport Secretary. You can see Alex’s letter here.

It is simply not good enough that Transport Scotland think it can walk away from a problem which it has created.

Queensferry High Street project public event – 24 September

The Council is currently taking forward a £1 million project to redevelop the Queensferry High Street.  This aims to improve the local infrastructure, parking control, traffic management and pedestrian areas.

Two rounds of consultation took place earlier in the year. Of those who responded;

  • Almost 80% were in favour of the use of natural stone setts for the new street surface rather than tarmac.
  • There was an almost three way split on the different options around traffic flow (limit on HGVs but nothing else / a  new one way system / no through road).

The project consultants now plan to present specific proposals for residents to view and comment on later this month.

A new public drop in event will take place on Monday 24 September at Orroco Pier.  You can come along anytime 3-8pm to speak with the team, view the proposals and feed in your views.

Actual construction works are likely to commence around February 2019 and be complete in October 2019.

Please do come along on the 24th if you can.

Foxhall housing plan in Kirkliston gets green light

Plans to build around 100 new homes on the Foxhall fields just to the east of Kirkliston have been approved by the Council planning committee.

Like many local residents in the village, we strongly objected to these proposals during last year’s consultation. We were greatly concerned about the impact which another major development would have on the traffic and congestion problem in the middle of the village.   We think the problems being seen in Kirkliston need to be solved before we approve further housing.

As part of this approval, the developer has agreed to pay for improvements to the junction to try and address traffic flow.  This will be need to be considered alongside the results of the recent traffic study.  We will be working to hold them to that promise.

The approval by the planning committee is only for the principle of building on this site.  The housing developer will have to come back to the Council with more detailed plans at a later point.  This will include the layout and mix of housing (probably 25% affordable housing) as well as the road access (probably from the north).

We are pleased that the Council has insisted that the developer will have to contribute as much as £1 million towards increasing capacity at local schools to accommodate the additional pupils coming from these new homes.  This is essential given the pressures on local schools.

Campaign for a new Cramond-Gyle bus link

Add your support to our campaign for a new Cramond-Gyle bus link here.

We have teamed up with Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP to launch a new campaign for a Cramond-Gyle bus link via Maybury Road.

We know many local residents are frustrated that areas like Cramond and Barnton are so poorly served by Lothian Buses, with only the 41 and 43.  Compare this to Leith which is served by no fewer than eight different services.

Just look at how Cramond and Barnton is served in comparison to Leith.

A Cramond-Gyle bus link is one of the most commonly requested services.  That is why we have launched this new petition campaign to show the local support for a new service.

It takes just two minutes to add your name.  You can support the campaign by clicking on this link.

The more people who back our campaign, the better chance we have of getting action from Lothian Buses.

Add your support to our campaign for a new Cramond-Gyle bus link here.