Motorists may have to pay to drive into city - your views online

Congestion charging for cars coming into Edinburgh could be on the cards if commuters shun improved bus links, transport convener Scott Arthur has warned.

Peter Wilson: The council seems to think we have all forgotten that we voted emphatically some years ago against its proposal then to introduce congestion charging. With no evidence whatsoever to suggest the public would vote any differently this time round they’re trying to bring it in by subterfuge instead.

Lorna Gatens: What public transport is that? Continuously late or non-existent buses, bus replacements for trains on strike or under-manned, long delays with roadworks and route changes that miss out whole communities.

Thomas Macdonald: They’re late because the buses are caught up in the traffic from cars carrying one person driving less than a couple miles.

Edinburgh residents voted by three to one to reject congestion charging in 2005

Louise Wilson: This is the same sort of thinking as the proposed and very expensive pedestrianisation of George Street. I went with a family member to buy a suit recently. We parked right outside the store. If we hadn’t been able to do that we would have gone elsewhere, and the store would have lost a fairly good sale. Businesses should be very worried because that is what will happen if the street is pedestrianised. The council should be doing their utmost to accommodate drivers, not demonise them, and that would be to everyone's benefit.

Lorraine Blyth: Most bus routes are good with a regular service but some are not, with buses every 30 minutes that are often late. Journeys are taking longer due to poor road conditions, tram works and other utilities digging up sections every day, More people seem to physically be on the bus but we have the same number of buses on the road. If you want fewer cars then the bus service must be improved.

Colin Mclennan: That's why there should be congestion charges brought in along with a tourist tax. it would raise money to get a better bus service,

Colin Mackay: The buses are good, but take forever due to the state of the roads, the shortage of drivers and the continuing roadworks – sort all that and more people will use them. Continue with the shambles that is Edinburgh’s road infrastructure and more will keep using cars to try to detour around problematic areas.

Ronnie Williams: We should all welcome measures to reduce car pollution in cities where the consequences are such that we are harming people who have no choice in the matter.

Colin Gilbert: Choosing to use a motor vehicle, above all other choices, has a massive impact on anyone using every other kind of transport. Buses are slowed down, pedestrians and cyclists are put at risk, and the air is polluted for everyone. Drivers have had it all their own way for decades. Unfortunately, now any amount of compromise feels like a punishment. Being granted a great big privilege and not recognising it is called “entitlement”.

Tully Tulley: This will have to be introduced to stop pointless journeys into the city centre. There are park and rides all around the outskirts of the city.

Paul McGee: I don’t drive, so always get public transport. Last Thursday, including waiting time, it took a little over two hours from The Exchange, just off Lothian Road, to my village, Mid Calder, just before Livingston. If I could and did drive, it would have taken around 30 to 40 minutes. Why on Earth would I stop doing that if it was an option for me?

Sandra Braidwood: The only reason people shun public transport is due to the poor service. Where I stay we have one bus into Edinburgh. I'd love to leave my car behind and use the buses but not when they're so unreliable.

Calum MacLeod: Drive to the nearest decent bus service stop outside the city.

Jake H Fraser: There should of been a congestion charge years ago. Every road and street around this city is a car park. These roads were not designed for this amount of traffic… it’s insane.

Craig Mackie: Thin end of the wedge. Get this through and it will be congestion charges at different zones, then residents having to buy permits.

Phil Allwright: Public transport needs to be run as a service and not as a business to entice people away from cars and the city street design needs to be altered to allow for faster, more reliable public transport and cycling routes.