Overheard in a Leith pub: “Never run after a bus or a woman, son. There’s always another one.” Readers will judge for themselves which part of that advice is good.

In Edinburgh there’s always another bus. Lothian Buses is one of the biggest and best urban bus companies in the country and we’re lucky to have it.

That’s the opinion of Gavin Booth, who for seven years was Chair of Bus Users UK, the passengers’ champion, sampling bus services the length of Britain. To mark one hundred years of Edinburgh’s buses and trams, Booth has brought out a cornucopia of a book: A Century of Edinburgh’s Trams and Buses, his enthusiasm for buses and attention to detail drips from every page.

It is generously illustrated and beautifully laid out. Every image has a full caption. The buses change, but it’s striking how so many streetscapes are still familiar. You can tell from the book that Edinburgh’s buses are specially blessed.

Some remnants of the old Edinburgh cable-tram system are still visible. There’s a 3 metre stretch of the track in the roadway in Waterloo Place with the central groove through which the driver controlled a gripper to the ever moving cable.

The two wheels displayed at the end of Iona Street around which the cables revolved, were uncovered in the recent excavations for the new trams.

The old Shrubhill depot has been developed beyond recognition into residential accommodation; a very attractive set of flats with a bit of character. They have kept the outer walls of the Engine Yards, right at the back on Dryden Street, where the cables were powered, together with the landmark tall chimney alongside.

It seems the present bus and tram operation owes a great deal to the much-loved General Manager in the 1920s, R Stuart Pilcher. His first job was to get the best from combining the very different Leith and Edinburgh tram networks.

He did more than that. He had a gift for getting on well with the workforce – the drivers, the cleaners, the backroom staff, and the engineers, as well as the Board and the political masters, the elected town council.

It has remained a happy, productive, efficient operation over the decades, valued enough by Lothian Regional Council to resist the lures of privatisation in the 1980s.

This is important. It means that the operation is run for the benefit of the council and therefore us, the community. Most other public bus operations around the country are run for the benefit of shareholders.

If we are serious about reducing our dependency on cars, there needs to be joined-up policies designed to make both active travel – walking and cycling – and public transport into attractive options

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For many decades public policy has been to lay enough tarmac to accommodate the ever growing number of private cars. Which makes Big Oil, the car industry and car-owners into kings of the road. At last, there are signs that pedestrians and other travellers have rights too.

We’re lucky: Edinburgh Council is pretty well disposed. It was one of the first to provide bus lanes to prioritise buses with 50 passengers over cars with only one or two people on board.

There are problems – as we know very well on Leith Walk. There just isn’t enough space to fit in trams, buses, delivery vans, cars, bikes and pedestrians.

Highlights:

1. The bike lanes are the joke of the cycling world.

2. Ever-spreading parking restrictions should encourage motorists to leave their cars at home. Out-of-towners are best using Park & Rides around the city, followed by the bus or tram.

3. Low Traffic Neighbourhoods should be expanded and re-named Community Living Areas.

4. Car clubs are a good way of sharing the overhead costs and giving access to cars without increasing the number of vehicles on the road.

With around 600 buses on the road at midday through the week and more in the morning and evening peak hours, is there room for improvement?

Of course there is.

Do you remember the City Sprinters around 25 years ago? They were smaller vehicles running along smaller streets through the schemes. They were run by a different operator. But if Lothian Buses could run them in co-ordination with main routes, it would take some cars off the streets. Active and shared travel are good for our health, good for sustaining local communities, and necessary in the battle against climate change.

We know it’s December when the drivers wear their best Christmas jumpers, with the occasional Santa hat. It’s a nice touch. It gives the service a family feel. And let’s keep up the lovely tradition of saying “thank you, driver” as we get off.

It’s not so easy from the central exit door - CAUTION: CENTRAL DOOR CLOSING - so let’s remember to say it when we get on. ■

Tim Bell

Info: You can find Gavin Booth’s book at Harburn Hobbies or
www.fawndoon.com £40