Restrictions during Edinburgh's 7-7-7 bus lane trial 'not as draconian as people make out' says transport convener
If trial successful, 7-7-7 bus lanes set to be rolled out across city
Restrictions under Edinburgh's 7-7-7 bus lane trial are "not as draconian as people make out", transport convener Stephen Jenkinson has claimed.
And he spoke of his hope that, if the trial proves successful, the extended bus lane operating times will be rolled out across the city.
He made the comments after businesses in Meadowbank said they were already feeling the impact of the parking and loading restrictions imposed as part of the trial, which launched last week.
The 7-7-7 trial - where bus lanes are operational from 7am to 7pm, seven days a week - is taking place on a route between London Road and Milton Road East for the next 18 months. The operating hours were previously peak time only - 7.30am to 9.30am and 4pm to 6.30pm, Monday to Friday.
But some businesses said they feared they would not survive 18 months, with shops, cafés and restaurants in the Jock’s Lodge area saying they were already experiencing a drop in customers.
Cllr Jenkinson said: "It's early days for the trial. And there has been a little bit of misconception of what it actually is. The restrictions aren't as draconian as people are making out."
He said it was cars parked in the bus lane which caused delays for buses. Parking on the trial route is restricted throughout the new operating hours - 7am to 7pm, seven days a week.
But he said: "There's a difference between the parking restrictions and loading and unloading. Loading and unloading, which is very important to businesses, is restricted from 7am to 10am, but from 10am until 4pm, Monday to Friday, you can load and unload, then it's restricted from 4pm to 7pm."
He said full details of the restrictions and when they applied were on the council's website.
"The measures have been in place for a week. Not everyone will be aware of these new restrictions. I would expect as the trial progresses, people will become more aware and will modify their behaviour.
"I would encourage people to read the website, understand the restrictions in place during the trial and if necessary modify their travel to the restrictions.
“The purpose of the trial is to gather the data and the evidence and assess whether it's having the desired effect of increasing bus speeds and their ability to keep to their timetable, which is key for services."
The route between London Road and Milton Road East was chosen for the trial because it is used by the number 44, which Lothian Buses has identified as one of the services most affected by delays and reliability issues outside of the current bus lane operating hours.
Cllr Jenkinson said: "Originally the plan was to have this trial run across the whole 44 bus route from Balerno to Wallyford, but there is a cost associated with putting the measures in place and the trial needed to be externally funded through the Bus Infrastructure Fund, so the scope of the trial was reduced to what we currently have."
He said the trial was a precursor to a change of policy on bus lane hours across the Capital. "This is just a trial for one part of a route. If the data suggests it has made an improvement, then I think this is a measure which could be implemented citywide - but not until we've got the data and the evidence.”
But he said the council wanted to hear from people about the problems they found with the scheme as well as the benefits. "Part of the decision-making process is the impact - that needs to be measured too.”
Although the trial will run for 18 months, it's during the first six months that the public is encouraged to give their views.
Cllr Jenkinson said: "After the 18 months, once we've got the data and the evidence and we understand whether it has been successful or otherwise, that's when we'll be at the decision point as to whether we roll this policy out citywide."