Seven year delay of Edinburgh bus lane trial 'will see public transport suffer'
Another delay to a bus lane trial that has been pushed back for six years will mean 'public transport will suffer', a city councillor has warned.
Edinburgh's Green group has been pushing for the introduction of '7-7-7' bus lanes – ones open from 7am to 7pm, seven days a week – across the capital since 2015.
A trial was supposed to begin at the start of this year, but traffic regulation issues and difficulty getting funding has now seen it shoved it back to February 2026.
Green councillor and co-leader Kayleigh Kinross-O'Neill said the delay was 'disappointing', and would aid in worsening the congestion faced by the city's bus network.
In 2019, Edinburgh's transport committee voted for a consultation to be held ahead of a trial of the scheme, with the survey running at the end of the year.
But the results of the consultation were never passed on to councillors due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In 2022, the scheme was revived when councillors voted to have officers explore the feasibility of rolling out 7-7-7 bus lanes in the capital.
It is unclear what progress was made with this, but two years later, in February 2024, councillors at the Transport and Environment Committee voted to have officers develop plans for a trial.
And in August last year they approved the trial, which would have seen 7-7-7 bus lanes be rolled out along the length of the 44 bus route by the first quarter of 2025 – but no trial has come.
At a meeting of the transport committee last Thursday, a councillor asked officers for more information on why the scheme was delayed yet again.
Green councillor and co-convener Chas Booth said: 'The original committee decision from August of last year stated that the trial would start in the first quarter of 2025 – so that's already at least three months delayed.
'Can I ask what is the reason for the delay, and whether we have a new date for the trial to start?'
Council officer Deborah Patton said: 'There are probably two main reasons. One is around orders, overlapping [traffic regulation orders] which needs to be sorted out, but will hopefully be sorted out later this year.
'The other really crucial one is funding for this piece of work. We had hoped that we would be able to secure some funding from Transport Scotland's bus infrastructure fund, and indeed have submitted a proposal for that to Transport Scotland several months ago.
'However, unfortunately, at the time of speaking today, we still haven't heard whether that bus infrastructure fund is going forward or not.'
Another officer, Jamie Robertson, said the council is aiming to complete preparatory works for the trial by February 2026.
Cllr Booth continued: 'Obviously, there is a long history to this. Committee, I think four years ago, even more, agreed to the roll-out of 7-7-7 bus lanes across the city.
'And now, we've seen a delay to just the very limited trial that committee agreed to last year.'
Council officer Gareth Barwell said: 'We'll have to look at some form of a plan B on the funding of this if it's not successful.
'This is an important thing to do. We'll continue to push contacts at Transport Scotland and we'll keep members updated if we'll have to look at using resources differently.'
Cllr Booth asked Mr Barwell if councillors could be provided with a written brief on the issues facing the trial. Mr Barwell said he was happy to do it.
Labour councillor and Transport and Environment Committee convener Stephen Jenkinson said: 'I think that would be helpful. I think if there's anything we can do as councillors to apply pressure in the right places to maybe speed up funding decisions, certainly as convener, I'm more than happy to do that.
"But maybe collectively as committee it's something we can take a brief on and take offline, and decide what a plan B might look like.
'I think it's fair to say, I'm slightly disappointed that it's taken so long to get to this point, and that we haven't managed to make as much progress as I would like to see.
'I want to see if there's any ways in which we could maybe speed this up.'
Several other cities in the UK, including Glasgow, have rolled out 7-7-7 bus lane schemes.
And in some parts of the country, bus lanes stay closed to other traffic 24/7.
Cllr O'Neill said: 'It was disappointing to be told in Committee that there have been delays to the 7-7-7 trial.
'While we wait, more and more buses will be stuck in congestion and our public transport network will suffer for it.
'Funding is an issue across the board and we understand this, however we need the council to be transparent and explain what is needed.
'If this doesn't happen, how can we expect the public to come on the just transition with us?'
Cllr Jenkinson said: 'Making public transport more efficient, reliable, and reducing journey times, are key objectives for us.
'I share the frustration over the delayed roll-out of this trial. Officers are working with transport partners to secure the necessary funding and progress experimental traffic orders to deliver improved bus priority infrastructure.'
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