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Campaigning for better rural transport: RELBUS regroups

RELBUS, the campaign group for better rural public transport in East Lothian, has appointed former Liberal Democrat councillor Barry Turner as Chair.

Former councillor Barry Turner is the new Chairman of RELBUS

RELBUS has been updated in the light of First Bus’s cuts in services, which forced a review of contracts for many commercial services supported by the council and a general increase in awareness of issues surrounding public transport provision. Former Dunbar councillor Jacquie Bell has also joined the RELBUS committee.

Speaking about his appointment, Barry Turner, who was Environment and Transport Convener prior to the May elections when he lost his seat said: “I am a life-long bus enthusiast and I have spent my professional and political life campaigning for better public transport. I am delighted to be asked to chair RELBUS which has an important role to play in improving accessibility for those living in East Lothian’s more remote communities and promoting alternatives to private car use. I intend to use my experience to enable RELBUS to forge better links with the council, local communities, operators and the Scottish Government and its agencies. Recent events have shown that the way public transport is currently organised is simply not sustainable. We must find new and better ways to meet diverse local travel needs.”

Early priorities for RELBUS will be to follow up ideas coming out of the recent local conference on community and supported transport, to scrutinise and constructively comment on the council’s new Local Transport Strategy and urge setting up a Bus Passenger Forum.

It will also work closely with Community Councils to achieve a better understanding of local travel needs. If anyone wants more information about RELBUS and its purpose, or wants to put forward ideas, they should contact the organisation via the website www.relbus.org.uk.

RELBUS, short for Rural East Lothian Bus Users, is a volunteer-led group set up to campaign for better rural transport in East Lothian. RELBUS is a membership organisation and joining is free. It holds public meetings, meetings with operators and has and ongoing dialogue with local politicians of all parties and the local authority.

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RELBUS proposes bus users charter for East Lothian

RELBUS, short for Rural East Lothian Bus Users, is seeking the views of bus users in developing an East Lothian Bus Passenger Charter. Got ideas on what you’d like to see in it?

RELBUS proposes bus passenger charter - click to give your views

The Bus Passenger Charter would be a list of commitments that each bus operator would attempt to meet. RELBUS are suggesting the commitments would cover at minimum fare structure, timetables and route information, plus related publicity material including information at bus stops and on buses.

But RELBUS suggest it could go beyond the basics to include commitments to accessibility and possibly a set of standards of service such as, for example, punctuality over and above any statutory obligations. Changes to timetables might also involve prior passenger consultation.

As RELBUS’s Philip Immirzi explains, “We aren’t starting from a completely blank sheet, as I found this over at the Bus Users UK website, but what do others think should be in the East Lothian Bus Passenger Charter?”

If you would like to offer your own thoughts, please visit the RELBUS website and leave your comments.

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113 bus timetable published but some commuters unhappy

The new East Lothian Bus timetable for the 113 route can now be viewed here [PDF]. However, initial reaction has not all been positive.

Is the new East Lothian Bus 113 Timetable going to work for you? Click to view [PDF]

According to commuters who regularly use the current service, buses used to leave from Pencaitland roughly 20 minutes past the hour and this broadly worked for those that hadn’t already given up on using First Bus or were driving to Tranent to catch a bus in to town.

However, according to the newly published timetable the 113 will leave at erratic times beginning at 6.35am, 7am, 7.25am, then nothing for an hour and twenty minutes when there is an 8.45am bus. It then runs hourly thereafter.

According to some commuters this is not optimal and they would prefer buses that operate at 6.20am, 7.20am and 8.20am from Pencaitland.

If you use the current First bus service, or would like to use the new East Lothian Bus from June and have concerns over the timetable contact customer services.

According to the East Lothian Bus website, “Your first point of contact is our dedicated Customer Services team – give us a call on 0131 554 4494 and select option 2. Most comments and queries can be dealt with immediately over the phone, however occasionally we’ll need to investigate your comment which can take a little longer. Our Customer Services department is open to calls from Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays); 08:30 to 17:00 and all calls may be recorded for training and monitoring purposes.”

BUS SURVEY: Pencaitland has joined forces with Humbie, East & West Saltoun and Bolton, Gifford and Ormiston Community Councils to find out what you want from the bus service. Register your views online now.

Related
East Lothian Bus Update: the 113 & 44 routes

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The clash of profit-driven bus routes v local public service

Local man Barry Hutton, recently wrote a comment for ‘Local Transport Today‘ with the title “Bus services can be profitable, or policy tools, but not both”. Given the recent brouhaha on our buses in East Lothian we’re reproducing his piece below.

Detailed analysis of Your report that East Lothian Council is considering setting up an arms-length company to operate bus services to replace those being withdrawn by FirstBus hides fundamental discontinuities between government policy and transport planning practice that are far from being confined to East Lothian. The Scottish Government, in common with the English, has adopted policies on climate change, on reducing CO2, on reducing car traffic and on tackling congestion, policies which rest in large part upon greater use of public transport. Those policies are echoed in the statutory Lothians Structure Plan, in the East Lothian Local Plan and by the South-east Scotland Transport Partnership.

A major issue at the Public Inquiry into the East Lothian Local Plan was a proposal to build upwards of 750 houses on the western flank of Haddington, the administrative centre of East Lothian, about 25km to the east of Edinburgh. This would swell the town’s population of 8,800 by about 25% and generate around an extra 2,000 journey-to-work/school trips per day.

Continue reading “The clash of profit-driven bus routes v local public service”
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East Lothian Bus Update: the 113 & 44 routes

The new 113 timetable is now available on the TraveLine website as timetable BAO113.pdf. It was temporarily down when checked today however.

Lothian Bus has started drip-feeding details of timetables to the Traveline website

It is believed the intention is to work the 113 route with single deckers based out of Marine garage, operated by a Lothian Buses subsidiary, East Lothian Buses.

There is an East Lothian Buses website detailing the timetables and fare structure for the new 113 route which runs to/from Pencaitland to the Western General Hospital starting 11th June. It assumes a travel time of about one hour and 15 minutes from Easter Pencaitland to George St.

There’s a leaflet you can view here [PDF]. Residents beyond Tranent will be charged a day ticket price of £5, with kids at £3. This is £1.50 and £1 more respectively than the equivalent costs to/from Tranent. For an additional 2 miles on the route this does seem disproportionate. On the plus side, East Lothian Buses day tickets are also valid on Lothian Bus routes and services.

The cheapest option is the East Lothian Bus Ridacard. Like the Lothian Bus version, it permits unlimited travel on Lothian Buses and the AIRLINK service. Assuming 261 workdays (Mon – Fri) the daily cost works out at just under £3.22. Full details on Ridacard costs for students and children can be found in the leaflet above.

The new Lothian Buses 44 timetable is also on the TraveLine site and says it serves Pencaitland but the detail so far omits stop locations out to the villages of Ormiston and Pencaitland. We understand that Lothian buses may still make further alterations to the final timetable that comes into force when the company takes over the route from First Bus in June.

As we learn more detail we will share it with you…

BUS SURVEY: Pencaitland has joined forces with Humbie, East & West Saltoun and Bolton, Gifford and Ormiston Community Councils to find out what you want from the bus service. Register your views online now.

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Meeting reveals more details on East Lothian bus routes

A special meeting of the Association of East Lothian Community Councils (AELCC) devoted most of its agenda to discussing recent changes in the provision of public transport.

More details have emerged on what services will actually be in operation from June 2012.

Community Councils from across the county gathered in Haddington to hear from Ian Dalgleish, Manager of Transportation Services, that:

  • The 44B to Pencaitland is to be replaced by a 113 going a revised route Pencaitland – Ormiston – Western General.
  • The flat fare structure will not apply (contrary to what Paul McLennan said at the 2 May Public Meeting in Trevelyan Hall, Pencaitland).
  • The X13 Express service will be discontinued (again contrary to expectations).

Ian Dalgleish is waiting for details of timetables and fares, and these will be issued in a press release as soon as the details are known (He hopes early next week).

For the full report from Pencaitland Community Council’s representatives at the meeting click here [PDF].

Many thanks to Phil Summerfield for putting together the report.

BUS SURVEY: Pencaitland has joined forces with Humbie, East & West Saltoun and Bolton, Gifford and Ormiston Community Councils to find out what you want from the bus service. Register your views online now.

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Lothian buses spotted in dry run at Pencaitland terminus

Shortly before the local council elections the then council leader Paul McLennan confirmed to a packed village hall that Lothian buses would be taking over the Pencaitland/Ormiston route when First withdraws its service in early June.

Click for a bigger picture.

One of our eagle-eyed residents spotted Lothian buses carrying out a dry run to the terminus at the end of the village. Unfortunately, at this time we still have no details on the frequency of service Lothian buses is planning on the route.

Don’t forget that Pencaitland has joined forces with Humbie, East & West Saltoun and Bolton, Gifford and Ormiston Community Councils to find out what local people really want from their local bus services. You can register your views online by clicking here.

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Lothian Buses users surgery at Fort Kinnaird, 24th May

With Lothian Buses due to take over the Pencaitland (via Ormiston) route from First in June, you may be interested to know that it is holding a bus users’ surgery at Fort Kinnaird on the 24th of May, between 10am and 3pm.

If you are a bus user here’s your chance to talk directly to the company and tell them your concerns or seek information about what’s planned for routes in East Lothian.

More information here

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Councillor Veitch named Cabinet Spokesperson for Transport & Roads

For many bus users the timing of the announcement of First Bus withdrawal of services could not have come at a worse moment. With council elections imminent it meant that there was no clear idea of who would be in charge of the transport portfolio after the elections.

Michael Veitch (CON) is now the Labour/Conservative administration's spokesperson on transport issues.
Thankfully this has now been resolved with the selection of councillor Michael Veitch (CON) as spokesperson for Transport and Roads in East Lothian.

Don’t forget that Pencaitland has joined forces with Humbie, East & West Saltoun and Bolton, Gifford and Ormiston Community Councils to find out what local people really want from their local bus services. You can register your views online by clicking here.

The survey results will be presented to East Lothian Council and its new Transport spokesperson, as well as the service providers, to help build a more efficient and effective bus network for local residents.

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East Lothian communities survey locals to assess bus needs

Following the success of the recent meeting to discuss bus service provision in the area, we have joined forces with Humbie, East & West Saltoun and Bolton, Gifford and Ormiston Community Councils to find out what local people really want from their bus service.

Click here to take part in the communities bus survey

A copy of the survey will be dropping through your letter box within the next week or so but if you prefer to register your response online, the survey can be found by clicking here.

The survey results will ultimately be presented to East Lothian Council and the service providers to help build a more efficient and effective service for local residents.

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