Edinburgh councillor blasts Transport for Edinburgh bus tracker app as 'utterly unusable'

The councillor has called for answers about ‘ghost buses’ and persistent problems with the app.

A councillor has branded the Transport for Edinburgh bus and trams tracker app ‘utterly unusable’.

Edinburgh residents have complained on social media about "ghost buses", where services are shown on the display boards but never actually arrive because the scheduled bus was cancelled. And now Danny Aston, SNP councillor, said the ghost buses are a persistent problem and described the app as ‘all over the place’.

He said: "Edinburgh bus users need an app they can rely on and currently that just isn't the case. Too often, it's utterly unusable. Huge numbers of folk rely on buses every day to get to work, school, and appointments on time. Any reasonable person gets that sometimes disruption is unavoidable - buses break down, roadworks, and so on. But the current, persistent problems go further than that. We need answers on what's going wrong with the app, and when the much-needed overhaul of it will happen."

Danny Aston says the app is often 'utterly unusable'

Locals expressed their frustrations on X after Mr Aston posted about the issue. One resident replied: “This used to happen to me when waiting on the 21 around the Gyle. The bus time would jump from 10 mins to due, then jump back to 4 mins, then it would vanish from the tracker & the live tracker would turn into a near-solid block of red lines. Now happens on most routes too. Mad.”

Another said: “Regularly get a 34&19 from restalrig heading into town and Regularly buses go missing when they are due ( according to the app ) which @on_lothianbuses tell you informs you with up to date info then when you ask where buses disappear to they blame congestion BUT the bus NEVER ARRIVES”

All buses are fitted with GPS trackers and Lothian Buses supplies all the real-time information on buses that goes into the Transport for Edinburgh app. At the council transport committee in November, councillors were told that a new app was being developed but no timetable on this has been confirmed.

It comes after the council was accused of causing "concern and confusion" among bus passengers with its new live waiting time screens. The LED screens at bus stops around the city should show live, accurate waiting times for upcoming buses. But currently they only show the timetable information for Lothian Buses, the city's largest bus operator.

The council approved the £2.9m project to upgrade the display screens four years ago. Sources told the Evening News that the new screens don’t use information from the app because it’s ‘unreliable’.

A number of councillors were contacted by fed up residents who say the screens just have the same info as the timetables in the shelter. Councillor Scott Arthur said they expected the new screens to display live Lothian bus times from early 2024.

The chair of Edinburgh bus users group said: "We're still hearing from bus users of various problems with the Bustracker system, including the app and on-street screens. Passengers want clear updates from the Council, and operators as necessary, on the current state of play and a timetable for resolving the problems.”

Lothian Buses declined to comment. Edinburgh council has been approached for comment.