Edinburgh roads: Balerno-Musselburgh bus route chosen to trial extended bus lane hours

A trial of increased bus lane hours is to be launched on one cross-Edinburgh route before the end of the year.

The city council held a consultation on the idea of 7-7-7 bus lanes - bus lanes that operate 7am-7pm, seven day per week - but found some scepticism so decided against an immediate roll-out. 

The council hopes to roll out 7-7-7 bus lanes across the city if the trial is a success. Picture: Ian Rutherford. | TSPL

Transport convener Scott Arthur said: "It's fair to say the public's views were quite mixed - a large number still have questions about the approach, so the action out of that was that rather than go to 7-7-7 city-wide we would trial it. 

“So what we have confirmed now is that that trial will be on the No 44 bus route from Balerno into the city centre and on to Musselburgh.

"The idea is we will trial it along this route, we will work in partnership with local residents and collect data before and after to see if this approach is working and worth rolling out elsewhere in the city."

The aim of 7-7-7 is to reduce bus journey times and improve the reliability of the service. The trial will last 18 months and start later this year.  The corridor of the No 44 route is also used by a number of other bus services.

Cllr Arthur said: "This is a really important bus route because if you live away out at Balerno it can take so long to get into the city if you're using public transport, so with or without 7-7-7, improving public transport connectivity into the city right along that Lanark Road route is really important. It can be a real bottleneck in parts, so it only takes one set of roadworks and the whole thing grinds to a halt and a lot of people don't have alternative routes."  

And in a blog he added: “Right now buses are too often held up in congestion,  and those who are able to afford a car end up driving because it is faster. Of course, in a true Catch-22, those people end up making congestion worse.

“This situation is why the Council intends to trial 7-7-7 bus lanes before the end of the year along the 44 route (between Balerno and Musselburgh). This should benefit bus passengers along the route.

“If this works, it will be rolled out city-wide – and perhaps we really will enter an era of exponential growth in public transport use in Edinburgh.”