'That'll be just one journey then' - Edinburgh reacts to proposals to create a London-style 'hopper' bus ticket

Our readers have been giving their opinions on proposals to solve Edinburgh's congestion woes.

Lothian Buses admitted keeping their timetable during the festival season proved 'impossible'.

Removing cars from the city centre, a London-style 'hopper' fare, and dedicated bus lanes from the suburbs have all been suggested as possible solutions.

It follows Lothian Buses' admission to the Evening News that bus schedules were 'impossible' during the city's summer festival season. A bus users group branded the congestion the 'worst ever'.

One of the proposals is a London-style 'hopper' fare where users pay a set rate for unlimited journeys within an hour.

Other ideas include allowing fewer buses along Princes Street and creating dedicated bus lanes from the suburbs into the city centre.

The plans were met with mixed responses from our readers.

Jonathan Litewski was not impressed: "London-style hopper fares that five 'unlimited journeys an hour'? Aye, that will be just the one journey them, bus can take more than an hour at times which is bloody ridiculous."

Callum Kemp wrote: "As I said before how about scrapping the 20 limit, changing the traffic timings back to what they were and stop re-configuring junctions from two lanes to one.

"It's the council that have caused this, it wasn't an issue a couple of years back."

Jacqueline Carpenter said: "Might also have helped if half of Picardy Place / Omni Centre / Leith Street wasn't shut off due to the works at St James Centre. Surely they could have done some of what was needed then reopened the whole road for the festival then gone back to the rest of it when it was finished."

Lee Greaves proposed making utility companies coordinate their maintenance works so that roads are not repeatedly dug up by different firms.

And Brian Allen offered another bold proposal: "Make cyclists purchase road tax. That will help with the upkeep of cycle lanes. Because at the moment council tax foots that bill."

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