A8 bus lane to be axed- your views online

A temporary bus lane which has caused traffic chaos on the A8, one of Edinburgh’s busiest roads, will be removed following calls from airport bosses and a councillor.

Fiona McCluskey: Finally common sense prevails! Another absolute waste of money. It’s not just to the airport that’s affected, it’s the whole stretch from Gogar to Newbridge that’s gridlocked at rush hour. For what – two or three buses an hour? Scandalous that someone is paid to think up these plans and think they’re actually a good idea. They should lose their job.

Christophe Bain: The simple fact is that taking public transport should always be faster and more efficient than driving. Why would someone chose to leave the car at home if taking the bus means they need to sit in traffic anyway? If everyone who could take the bus on that route took the bus, there wouldn’t be congestion for those who need their cars.

Jonathan Kain: The buses and trains are a mess. Sort them first then people will use them over cars. This was putting the cart before the horse.

Traffic is frequently at a standstill on the A8

William Kay: The main reason public transport becomes unreliable is because it gets held up in traffic that is sometimes unpredictable. That is precisely why there are bus lanes to try and get round this problem. It's getting on for 50 years since Edinburgh put their first bus lane into action on that wee section before Dean Bridge. Yes we know there are cancellations but that's a problem of now, not something that happened widely all the time.

Common sense

Andy Alexander: With the park and ride for the trams this bus lane made no sense whatsoever. You park on the outskirts and get in and out of town in 20 minutes.

Scott Wilson: Maybe too much to hope for an outbreak of common sense in the council, but it's a start. What they need to realise is that the car is here to stay and the less time it’s sitting idling, the less pollution it causes. Of course they’d rather we all rode horses to work.

David Carr: I often wonder if the person who thinks of the bus lane ideas has ever heard of rush hour traffic and driven along these roads during these times.

Allan Brooks: I think most bus lanes allow buses to avoid the traffic jams that wouldn't be there if it wasn't for the bus lane.

Robert Carson: What a joke of a change that was. Next should be the lane that merges on to the bypass at Hermiston Gait that causes ridiculous tailbacks towards the Gyle every time it’s busy.

Trudi M Dorr: The bus lane has not caused traffic chaos. It is the volume of cars and other vehicles that are using these roads. Public transport needs to be prioritised to get people out of their cars.

Henry Campbell Gillan: It will make not one jot of difference since the capacity of this road westbound is dictated by how much traffic can get through Newbridge roundabout. That will not change. What this measure will do is discourage even more of us from using the bus. Incidentally, the A8 is the main route for buses coming from West Lothian, Glasgow and Stirling. There is roughly a bus every couple of minutes or so on this stretch of road. They will now be caught up in the jams caused by excessive car use.

First of many

John Lamb: The number of vehicles on our roads has more than doubled in the past 40 years, so removing 50 per cent of the road space is going to cause a problem. I suspect all the main routes into Edinburgh are going to see an increase in the number of cars over the next few years, as we see more and more new homes appearing in the neighbouring local authority areas.

Paul Fagan: There should be bus lanes on both sides of the A8 – in and out of Edinburgh. No-one is going to use public transport if it’s not reliable and quick. What’s the point of having green policies and not using them?

Sue Campbell: I’m not going to use buses full stop. They can prise my car out of my dead cold hands before I will use a bus or train. I have a Jeep – that alone is a reason because I Iove my Jeep. And I don’t like people, there are people on buses so nope, no way.

Mark Ballard: Would you be happy to pay a bit extra to use your Jeep to travel in Edinburgh, if it meant the roads were clearer for you because free buses were provided for those who were happy to use them?

Simon Petty: What about opening Cockburn Street, Victoria Street and Waverley Bridge? Some of the taxi fares trying to exit Waverley are embarrassing.

Gary Redpath: Hopefully the first of many.

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