It’s increasingly easy to find out about public transport and journey planning options.
One spectacular advance in Edinburgh is Bus Tracker. On certain routes there are information displays at bus stops detailing times until the next few buses are due. This is live information – not just when buses are timetabled to arrive. BUT that information is available on the web for all bus stops and accessible on mobile phones.
transportdirect.info is a comprehensive, UK wide, journey planner. It includes estimated walking time between transport modes.
Edinburgh’s main public transport provider is Lothian Buses. It runs most of the buses within the City of Edinburgh and also to parts of Midlothian and East Lothian. (Route map). Regular travellers will save money with a Ridacard – £35 per month by Direct Debit.
A single ticket is £1.10 (September 2008) - though only £1 at on-street ticket machines or £21 for 21 single-use tickets. A pack of 10 Daytickets is £23 (saving £2). This can be bought at Travelshops or on-line.
Other bus companies with Edinburgh destinations include First (map of Lothians routes) (map of routes from the Borders), and Stagecoach – particularly from Fife.
Edinburgh has eleven stations (plus Musselburgh, just outside the city boundary). ScotRail runs most trains into Edinburgh. National Express East Coast and Virgin Timetable search. Live departure (and arrival) info can be found at livedepartureboards.co.uk.
