Edinburgh Festivals lead to record numbers taking to capital’s bus network

Lothian Buses clocks up an extra one million journeys during three weeks in August

This year’s Edinburgh festival season was the busiest ever for buses in Edinburgh, with Lothian recording 7.8 million customer journeys between 6-26 August.

The figures are up 100,000 on last year and represent an increase of around 350,000 extra customers per week compared to the rest of the year.

This year, the publicly-owned firm said it engaged in a range of initiatives across the capital, including a partnership with Festivals Edinburgh, which saw specially trained volunteers act as welcome ambassadors to the city.

In addition, a partnership with Fringe Festival celebrated the 70th year anniversary of the festival and promoted their ‘Random acts of Fringeness’ show and travel ticket giveaways.

In a first for the UK, the company introduced an update for its travel app, which assisted the high number of international visitors to the capital by making its travel information available in 11 different languages. Fringe locations were also added to its journey planner to make navigation of venues and shows easier for customers.

The upgrades were said to have resulted in a 24 per cent increase in mobile app usage across the three weeks of the festivals.

Nigel Serafini, Lothian Commercial Director said: “Tourism is hugely important to Edinburgh’s economy and we’re very proud to have played such a vital role in the festivals yet again.

“Millions of people rely on us to get around the city safely and efficiently during this busy period.

“To carry over a million extra customers across the Edinburgh Festival season is testament to the loyalty and dedication of our team.

“Staff across our business, from our drivers to our engineers, office staff and retail teams, all worked exceptionally hard on the frontline and behind the scenes to keep Edinburgh moving.”

Lothian is the largest bus operator in Edinburgh, the only municipal bus company in Scotland and the biggest municipal company in the UK.

It employs over 2,000 staff, operates over 700 buses across Edinburgh and the Lothians and carries over 121m passengers per year.

0 Lothian buses had a busy August